Common Materials and Science Make for a 'Wacky' Night of Fun (With Video)

What do silly putty, dry ice and static electricity have in common?

For children, they can all make exciting science experiments.

Mad Science of West Jersey teamed up with the Reading Club at Bridgewater Library Thursday to bring a night of "Wacky Science" to kids and their families.

Mad Scientist Jose Rivera, known as "Helium Jose," entertained more than 50 children, taking volunteers for experiments with static electricity and polymers. Among other experiments, he showed them, through making silly putty, that a polymer is anything that is stretchy or gooey.

Other experiments included melting a witch head that was made of Styrofoam with acetone, turning water in a cup into a polymer, using static electricity to make a person's hair stand on end and making edible smoke using dry ice.

"Our goal is to spark imagination so kids see that science is fun," Rivera said.

Vietona Dragoiv, of Bridgewater, said she brought her two grandchildren—8-year-old Madalina and 4-year-old Nicole—to the event because she was excited for them to see what science could offer.  Dragoiv, a professional scientist, taught chemistry in Romania before she moved to America, and was looking forward to seeing what experiments would be done for the kids.

"I love science and especially experiments," Madalina said. "Science is my favorite subject in school."

Bridgewater resident Agitha Rajesh—who brought her 5-year-old child, Anjali—said she has been to these types of programs in the past and always has a great time.

"The programs are always excellent," Rajesh said. "We came to the Turtle Show in July and the kids loved it."

Fourth-grader Andrea Tamamas said she saw Mad Science when the program came to her school, and knew most of the experiments. But, she said, she was still excited to see what the program had to offer.

"I don't have one favorite, I love them all," she said.

At the end of the show, Rivera told the kids that the most important thing  is not what you learn, but how you help yourself learn in the future.

"It doesn't matter what you learn, as long as you learn to teach yourself," he said.

Wacky Science was the final event in the library's summer Thursday entertainment series. Programs ran throughout July, with such events as a puppet show, live turtle show and a Fourth of July Sing Along.

But none of the summer events would have been possible without the hundreds of high school volunteers, said Susan Kalas, Bridgewater Library's children's programming coordinator.

The summer festivities will be wrapping up with a carnival for all ages, Thursday August 19, from 1PM to 4PM.  The library encourages families to come out for games, prizes and activities, and no registration is required.

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