Lincoln Public Library Summer Reading Program
Nitro Joe delights kids with science

 

[June 16, 2023] 

At the Lincoln Public Library’s Summer Youth Program, Thursday, June 15, Nitro Joe showed the children several high energy science experiments.

Youth Services Librarian Donna Cunningham introduced Nitro Joe and reminded children to turn in their weekly reading logs.

Nitro Joe has been doing science-based entertainment for over 35 years and shows both children and adults how fun science can be.

Before beginning the program, Nitro Joe said he is called Nitro Joe because he is not some regular, old-fashioned Joe, but makes things bigger, better, faster and crazier. Nitro Joe takes regular stuff and draws the science out of it.

There were three rules Nitro Joe asked everyone to follow during his program:

1. No talking while I am talking.

2. Don’t touch my science stuff because there are some things that are poisonous and corrosive. There is even something that could freeze your nose off.

3. Have fun.

The children screamed yes when Nitro Joe asked if they wanted to have some fun.

For Nitro Joe, it is all about science, not magic tricks. He said magic is about deception, while science is about learning and making bigger and better stuff.

The program started with a basic card trick. Nitro Joe shuffled the pack and had a child draw a card from it. He said the person who drew it should not be afraid of being set on fire.

For the card trick, Nitro Joe told the child to take the back of the first card he could not see and hold the card up high to show everyone but him. He then lit the card on fire, which produced light, heat, smoke and ashes.

The card was placed on a plate and covered with a lid. When Nitro Joe pulled the lid off, the card was not on fire and showed no signs of being burned. He said the cards are made from paper, which makes the trick work.

Paper can be torn and crumpled, but it is still paper. Nitro Joe said in science, that is called a physical change. Light, heat, smoke and ashes from fire cause a chemical change.

Nitro Joe showed the children tools used to make fire and had them repeat, “I will not play with fire.”

Science is about observing. In science, people make educated scientific guesses called hypotheses.

Nitro Joe made a guess that any kind of paper would burn. When he lit a small piece of paper on fire, the paper seemed to disappear into thin air. Nitro Joe said he was using flash paper made of a chemical mixture designed to fool people. It was just a chemical change and not magic.

Next, Nitro Joe took frozen carbon dioxide also known as dry ice out of his cooler. He read the warning label about not touching the dry ice without gloves and not letting it touch the skin, mouth or eyes. The biggest warning is to keep out of the reach of children.

Dry ice is 109.3 degrees below zero Fahrenheit and could cause frostbite. Nitro Joe asked the children who would be willing to put their nose in the dry ice and several raised their hands.

Instead of choosing children to put their noses in the dry ice, Nitro Joe took a quarter from his piggy bank and put George Washington’s “nose” in the dry ice. The quarter shivered and shook in the cold dry ice and continued to do that when he added more quarters.

A plastic bottle and glass jar were part of the next experiment. Nitro Joe placed the bottle in the jar. He then put some dry ice in the jar around the bottle and poured in an alcohol that does not freeze until 135 degrees below zero.

Using two old pieces of lettuce, Nitro Joe showed that they would not break easily. After he placed the lettuce in a jar with liquid that was 109.3 degrees below zero and pulled the lettuce from the jar, it shattered into pieces.

Taking a small water balloon Nitro Joe bounced the balloon without breaking it because the balloon was just half full. He said a half full water balloon is bouncy, smushy and viable.

Water will freeze at 32 degrees, so when Nitro Joe put the water balloon in the bottle, it looked like an “ice egg” when he pulled the balloon away from the ice. When he threw the ice egg in a bucket, it shattered.

Dry ice will never melt but goes from a solid to a gas. Nitro Joe said carbon dioxide in water vapor. It is like a cloud, fog or our breath on a cold day.

Putting soda water in a green bottle and shaking it, Nitro Joe placed the bottle near his mouth. He said the bubbles were like a “sprite soda burp.” Nitro Joe walked around the room and let children experience the “burp.”

Since bubbles make so much pressure and explode, Nitro Joe reminded the children why they should never shake a soda bottle.

To test acidic levels, Nitro Joe poured a substance in green water then added a powerful alkaline.

When Nitro Joe added dry ice, the water went from purple to blue to green to yellow. After the water sat for a while, it became golden. Nitro Joe reminded children they should always brush their teeth. He said if they drink too much soda, their teeth will turn yellow.

For another experiment, Nitro Joe put baby shampoo in a flask. He then added dry ice to make cloudy baby shampoo bubbles, which he let the children touch.

The dry ice was place in a big tube and Nitro Joe used it to blow bubbles with the shampoo. Blowing one bubble at a time through the tube, he let audience members touch the bubbles.

In the final experiment, Nitro Joe put dry ice in warm water to make a fog that he “poured” around the room.

The audience expressed amazement at the various experiments Nitro Joe did.

The program next Thursday, June 22 will be the popular Silly Safaris live animal show.

[Angela Reiners]