Physics Circus!

We went on a field trip with our homeschool co-op this past Monday, to the Physics Circus, put on by the University of Minnesota Physics professors.  The intention behind the event is to dispel the commonly held belief that physics is boring and that all physics profs or students are nerds.  Though I hate to admit it, I will...I had a wobbly belief that physics is boring and that so are the physics profs!  AND I was kinda scared of physics too - all of which explains why I never actually TOOK physics in high school or college!

But I am now a convert...and I think I missed out on some major physics fun in my early days!  I think I will have to live vicariously through my kids' learning!

So how do a bunch of college professors make physics fun and interesting for a 4 year old, 10 year old and 12 year old (not to mention a physics-dumb 35 year old mama)? 

CLICK HERE and watch several of the videos of the various experiments...SO FUN!

My faves are:  Hoot Tubes, Boiling Flask, Barrel Crush (super duper cool...made me jump in my seat!), "Monkey & the Hunter" (anything involving shooting a cannon whilst dropping a person several feet HAS to be cool!), and the Giant Puffer (my son is currently working to figure out how we can do a "home sized" version of this one)!