Have you ever awakened early in the morning, jumped out of bed, and been excited to start the day? This is the way it was for me as a child. My parents bought me a science encyclopedia when I was in elementary school. I devoured almost every page. It was one of the coolest pieces of literature I ever owned. It had science projects at the end of each chapter. Hands on… cool stuff.
I remember one of the projects vividly. It consisted of a pop bottle, balloons, some tin foil and drain cleaner. You mixed the ingredients in the bottle and put a balloon over the mouth. Soon the balloon filled with hydrogen gas from a chemical reaction. You would wait till the reaction stopped and tie off the balloon. Since Hydrogen is lighter than air the balloon would rise.
This experiment in itself was pretty cool and most kids would say wow and probably stop there. But being an innovator I had to modify the experiment. I got a bigger bottle and used bigger balloons. Soon I was adept at filling balloons quickly and with great success. This is when the project really became interesting. I made multiple balloons and tied them together. I had enough lift to send a balsa wood glider into the air. I made a time release cord that would release the plane after 2 minutes.
I released it into the air. Upwards it floated, the balsa glider hanging from a string. Sure enough after two minutes the glider released and began a graceful decent. I followed the plane on my bicycle and recovered it up the street. This was just the beginning of many awesome aerial adventures.
Do you just follow the book or do you experiment, innovate and find a better way?
Can you think of a new application for that same old project?
Here is a thought, think outside the box!
Try something new… Today!
