Maybe I shouldn't have started this blog now, not with everything that's been going on.

Returning to my discussion of the Interactive Science Exhibits last time, the extra presentation I gave to the student was for a lit candle to be standing in a bowl with water. One of the jars would be placed over the candle, and the water would rise until it reaches the wick or the candle burns out.

Depending on how the mouth of the jar is placed in the bowl, it can also form a sealed chamber with the bowl rising when the bottom of the jar is lifted.

Another submission was the swivel chair and the bicycle wheel with handles. When someone sits on the chair with the wheel in his or her hands and someone spins it, the guy in the chair can tilt the wheel towards the left or the right. Either way, he will move in the chair in the same direction.

A suggestion I had for the same project was also for the guy to have two dumbbells. If held at arms’ length on either side of the person and he is given rotation, when he pulls his arms towards his body, he will start to spin faster.

There was also a video presentation about Filipino inventors that the same student who performed the live demonstrations submitted for his E-Commerce class. It was playing continuously in one corner of the lobby.

There was one Integrated School submission. It was a single cell battery (as opposed to a single cell organism) attached to a Styrofoam hemisphere. Inside the hemisphere are a motor and a lamp, with the motor attached to the bottom of a plastic cup. When the switch between the battery and the hemisphere is turned on, the lamp lit and the cup starts to spin.

School Director Sir Joel brought out two exhibits. One was about ratio and proportion using a wall clock with no minute hand. The other showed how neon pens worked against a black light.

The Executive Vice President and Dean gave several potential displays. There was a sundial using a ceramic ornament in the shape of the sun with one extended ray acting as the pointer. A variation of the cans with strings communicators was there, with two open bottomed vases. Cloth was stretched on the openings with strings tied to the center to facilitate the transmission of sound.

He also gave a lamp without a shade. All we have to do is make a vertical cylinder for it so that a spiral can be attached to the top and make it spin from the column of hot air rising.

Lastly he passed on a two-sided glass tile with bubbles on the surface, so that someone on one side can see several replicas of the face of the person on the other side. He suggested putting it in the middle of a wall, have people see their companions on the other side. He also recommended having a visual explanation of the phenomena.

On the second day, the guy who submitted the animation wheel finally replaced the battery-operated motor with a crank, and used the motor to attach to another of his toys made from the same attachable pieces: a six-legged walking insect.

There are more demonstrations to talk about, including the water clocks that I told my mechanics lecture classes to make, but those will be for tomorrow. Class dismissed.