Wholly Irresponsible Experiments

Sean Connolly (author)

Icon Books, UK: 2007

ISBN: 9781840468120

Genres: information text, Science

Note: adult supervision strongly advised!!!

A book that contains instructions for activities that will create some fantastic backyard ‘family album' moments.

At the risk of sounding pedantic, the title of this book should be 'Wholly Irresponsible Demonstrations'. Scientifically, an experiment involves a hypothesis which the experiment seeks to provide evidence to support or deny.

The ‘experiments' in this book are obviously great fun - often messy, explosive, showy or just plain gooey - but they are designed to model or demonstrate fairly standard scientific facts (e.g. CO2 is heavier than O2). Although this is perfectly valid, what would make this a better, more useful book would be not just the existing ‘scientific excuse' (explanation) but many more real world examples than those only occasionally provided.

If students can't make connections between demonstrations and real events then while the show will stick in their minds the actual science won't. Reliable, repeatable demonstrations are admittedly difficult to design but those that are a bit temperamental to complete successfully should come with a warning. One of the potential problems with a number of these ‘experiments' is that although the instructions are commendably clear, it is obvious that in a number of examples the expected ‘wow' could easily turn into a disappointed ‘oh, it didn't work'.

That said, there is much here to enjoy. The infamous ‘coke and mentos and reach for your umbrella' gag is here, for example. This is a book that contains instructions for activities that will create some fantastic backyard ‘family album' moments but most are not the kind to educate or enrich a person's scientific knowledge without further research or explanation from an experienced science mentor.

Word to the wise: students are often inclined to replicate these activities when entering Science competitions. Without considerable modification using correct scientific procedures - methodical manipulation of variables, accurate measuring and recording of results, and reporting these in the required format - most major competitions (e.g. STANSW, BHP Billiton) will not consider these to be experiments and the entry will not reach the shortlist. If, on the other hand, you are just after some messy, spectacular holiday challenges, then enjoy!