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SPELLBINDING SCIENCE

Ever wondered what the gooey stuff in the movie Alien or Flubber was? Can a solid form transform into gas without changing into liquid first? Ever experience your hair literally rise and stick out due to static electricity?

Join the Mad Scientists this summer with DSS and learn and enjoy all this and more at the Deira City Centre during the last days of the Knowledge Surprises week.

Mad Science, a Canadian franchise company is stimulating children to the core this week at the first floor of the shopping mall with its five great shows, What's Up, Slime, Dry Ice, Matter of Fact and Tantalising Taste. “The workshops have been formulated to make it absolutely thrilling for kids, because there is no better way to learn something than the fun way," said Tamer Omar, senior instructor at the workshop.” DSS is a great platform to introduce such activities to children, and I have to say, the response has been awesome not just from the kids, but from the adults as well," he said.

The workshop cum show under the showmanship of the three instructors Omar, Yasser Khatib and Asim Al Bakri, is not just about entertainment. All five shows, which deal with different components of the scientific world, are brought alive to the audience with fantastic interactive experiments. The What's Up? show uses a Van digraph machine to teach children about static electricity. The fun part is, you can actually place your hands on the machine and watch your hair stand up. And if you wondered what all the slimy stuff in most horror movies is, you can have your questions dispelled with Slime. By mixing Polyvinyl alcohol and Sodium Borate with a dash of indicator for colour, the mad scientists produce slime much akin to the ones in the movies. The popular part of the show which the children watch open mouthed is when they get to physically handle the matter and even take some home.

Dry Ice, which attracts most spectators to the spot is the lesson on how matter can change from solid to gas form without passing the liquid form. Matter of Fact teaches about matter with the kids getting a chance to try it out with pieces of marshmallows while Tantalising Taste introduces to them to the main tastes and the part of the tongue that identifies each taste in a fun way.

“Mad Science concentrates on taking a step forward towards learning science the fun way by upgrading the perspective of science. The great part about these workshops is that when kids learn something hands-on, you can bet that they're never going to forget it for the rest of their lives,” said Omar. The half hour event is held at the Deira City Centre until Wednesday from 5pm to 10pm. Mad Science workshops are also held in schools and other institutions on request.