MIDDLETON -- After collecting pounds and pounds of pennies in February, students at the Fuller Meadow School got to reap the fruits of their labor recently as Michael Bergen brought his Top Secret Science experiments to every classroom.
"The fact that they have been holding their penny drives for me is sort of humbling," said Bergen, whose visit was paid for with the collected pennies.
Each class got a lesson tailored to their grade level. Kindergarten students learned about forms of matter, first-graders witnessed wave bottles and crystals, second-graders studied roller coaster rides, and third grade students experienced "crazy chemistry."
Kelly Hobey's third-grade class sat enthralled on recent a Tuesday afternoon by Bergen's spell-binding chemical reactions.
He even made water disappear — or so it seemed.
Bergen performed what he called the baby diaper trick, in which he poured water into one of three cups. The students were then told to guess which cup held the water after he switched their positions on the table, humming a circus tune and pretending to strain. When the children had narrowed it down to only one possibility where the water could be, Bergen held it above Hobey's head as the students shrieked with delight at the possibility of their teacher being drenched. But as he tipped the plastic cup, and Hobey winced at the impending soaking, there was no water there either.
The students were perplexed. Where could the water have gone?
The science behind the magical disappearance came from a baby's diaper. Bergen had put the same powder that absorbs liquids in a baby's diaper into the cup, which sucked up the water and stuck it the bottom.
"We hope we can bring something to everything single kid," Bergen said of his Woburn company.
After an hour, Bergen broke the news to his eager pupils that the program was over, to which Mrs. Hobey's class responded with a chorus of "Noooo..."
"That was so cool," said 9-year-old Isabel Azevedo after the presentation. "And I learned a lot."
Isabel's favorite parts of the scientific spectacle were when Bergen heated up marbles and dropped them in a bucket of water, causing the insides to explode into tiny chambers but the outside to remain intact. She also liked when the class made bracelets with beads that changed colors in the sun.
Abigail Dempsey, also 9, liked when Bergen added salt to a plastic bag of water, which made it turn hot, but then added fertilizer to make it cold.
"It was really fun," she said.
And the girls were proud that their efforts in the penny challenge had paid for such an entertaining experience.
"It was definitely worth it," Isabel said.
Staff writer Cara Spilsbury can be reached at 978-946-2230 or via e-mail at cspilsbury@towncrossings.com
