A group of Luther North students eagerly anticipated a chance to share a little science with the students at Lutheran Unity West School. Unity West held a Science Night recently, where a number of science demonstrations and activities enlightened their students about the wonderful world that God has created. Under the supervision of Mr. Grim and Ms. North, juniors Paul Dobria, Haley Hoffmann, Jennifer Rybicki, and Ryan Zimmerman, along with freshman Ryan Simpson, manned the Luther North demonstration table, sharing their knowledge with the younger students. At one station, the high school scientists led the students through a chemistry experiment in which a multitude of chemical reactions occurred, which helped the students improve their observation and analysis skills. The students placed quantities of sodium hydrogen carbonate (baking soda), calcium chloride (a common de-icing chemical), and phenol red (a pH indicator used for swimming pools) into a baggie, sealed it, mixed it, and observed a series of chemical changes taking place. At another station, our students set up a demonstration of a “sunken ice cube,” where an ice cube apparently sank instead of floated (in reality, the ice cube was in alcohol, not water, which allowed the more dense ice cube to sink rather than float). In the finale of the night, Mr. Grim (with the help of Paul and Ryan) did a demonstration of the Hindenburg, where they took a balloon, filled it with hydrogen gas and ignited it to the enjoyment of the crowd. As the fire ball exploded, the crowd cheered with approval!

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