Science Demonstrations: the art of seeing things differently.

One of the highlights of the last few weeks was attending the premiere of Demo: The Movie by Alom Shaha and Jonathan Sanderson.

Mingling with the gliterati of the science communication world, the event, the conversations, and the film all helped me to reflect on the purpose of science demonstrations.

To me the purpose of a demonstration is to highlight one aspect of the everyday world, and to allow us to look at it ‘differently’.

This is necessary because for most of us, for most of our lives, the world doesn’t seem mysterious: our world comprises familiar objects that behave in a familiar way.

So famously in 1848 Michael Faraday gave a series of six lectures about an object which must have been extremely familiar to his audience: a candle. And this ground-breaking lecture series is the starting point for Demo:The Movie.

From this point Alom, a teacher, travels from his classroom to San Francisco via the western deserts of the USA performing demonstrations and reflecting on the their role in teaching as he travels.

He concludes that performing a successful science demonstration is an art which incorporates elements of stage magic, understanding of teaching aims and objects, and that most difficult to pronounce word, pedagogy.

For me the most important point made in the film is the profound (and paradoxical) point that demonstrations are different from videos of demonstrations.

This point is made by showing a plastic bottle (which you previously saw Alom fill with air at the top of a mountain) has been crushed when he reaches Death Valley, exactly as viewers probably expected.

But Alom points out that seeing this on video, you have no idea whether this is the same bottle you saw filled earlier. Indeed, you have no idea whether that it was even ‘earlier’.

It is the power of seeing things for yourself which is personally challenging. In terms of my own favourite demonstration, anyone who has ever seen a sausage attracted to a balloon is in some way personally challenged to ask themselves’ What is going on?’.

I can strongly recommend this 30 minute epic to anyone who engages in science communication in any form, but most especially to teachers who might feel inclined to simply show a class a video of something happening instead of performing the demonstration themselves.

And if you want help on performing demonstrations and tips on ‘getting it right’ Jonathan and Alom have created a website Sciencedemo.org which has many videos showing you how not to use videos in class!

Finally, if you love the movie as much as I do, you can check out the bloopers movie/trailer below.

 

 

Copy this!

A GIANT Jelly Baby Wave Machine at Protons for Breakfast together with some of its constructors!

At school we are told ‘not to copy’. But in real life, learning to copy from people who do things well is an essential skill. But it is important to give credit to the people from whom you copy!

For example, five or six years ago I took one look at the Jelly Baby Wave Machine  and fell in love. If you are prepared to register you can see a slightly longer demonstration here. At Protons for Breakfast we make a bigger version – about 12 metres long – and everyone loves it!

And then a few years ago I saw a beautifully simple demo of a motor – which I thought had been invented by Alom Shaha – and I immediately made a short film.

But in fact both these demonstrations were invented by Science Communication maestro, Jonathan Sanderson (This hub has links to all Jonathan’s web personas). 

Jonathan’s talents extend from classy cinematography and photography, to insightful story-telling, both of which are informed by a delight in science and human ingenuity.

Anyway, the other day I received a tweet – or a ping back – or a something – that indicated that Jonathan felt slightly peeved that his invention of these demonstrations had not been properly credited. Ooops.

Jonathan: If I have failed to give you full credit for your inventions – I apologise. And I hope this sets things out clearly. And Oh Yes, Thanks:-)