A Practical and Inexpensive Set of Videotaped Demonstrations John J. Fortman and Rubin Battino Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45435 For the past seven years Wright State's chemistry department has offered chemical demonstration shows for students in the high schools, junior highs, and middle school8 in an eight-county region. After a high of 22 shows done for 15,000 students in the 198&87 academic year, the program hasleveled off a t a yearly average of 15 shows given to 10,000 students from 52 schools. Last year nine shows were done on campus for combined audiences of smaller groups, and six shows were done a t assemblies of up to 1,200 students a t larger schools. The shows are fully booked within one month of our yearly announcement, and we have a waiting list for road shows so long that we have had to establish a policy of turning down invitations for repeat visits more frequently than every three years. The purpose of the shows is to illustrate the fun and wonder of chemistry and learning by experimentation, while teaching simple lessons like distinguishing between chemical and physical changes, seeing chemistry in practical uses such as car engines and matches, and learning more about oxidation and burning. About 32 demonstrations are typically done in a 1h and 15 min show. Most of the demonstrations are taken from common sources ( I - I l ) , but we are always developing new ones ourselves or addine ones we learn about, although there is usually a personal touch added. Our inability to meet the yearly demand and the grouping of the shows during winter A d spring breaks when they did not neces~arilyfit into the school's science program at the best time, led us to prepare a set of videotaped demonstrationsduring thesummer of 1987, with theaidofthe telecommunications center at Wrieht State. The idea was that these tapes could serve those sc
