‘Squonk Opera’ teaches science of air
Steve O’Hearn, left, and West Greene student Sam Wilson wait to see how much pressure West Greene student Derek St. Pierre needs to apply to break a balloon sitting on 100 nails. Squonk Opera, an art and music performance ensemble from Pittsburgh, is on a mission to teach kids about air.
Steve O’Hearn of Squonk Opera thumps on his open-ended drum to create a blast of air pressure strong enough to knock a plastic cup off the top of sixth-grader Olivia Kiger’s head.
ROGERSVILLE – Squonk Opera, an art and music performance ensemble from Pittsburgh, is on a mission to teach school kids about the science of air, in a thoroughly entertaining way.
Thanks to an education outreach grant from EQT, the Squonk performers put on a lively show Monday at West Greene High School to teach elementary students about the science of air.
“Applying science is what we call technology,” ringleader Steve O’Hearn told his audience of sixth-graders.
The students would soon learn air trapped and released in cylinders is essentially what powers the hydraulics of bulldozers.
Air also powered the assortment of Squonk Opera props that were used to make music and put into motion the hand crafted devices that would soon be blowing smoke and snowflakes and inflating long, open ended plastic streamers across the front rows of students, hovering long enough to be touched and wondered over.
O’Hearn, also known to the group as “Dr. Pneumatica,” started off the show with a star costume that inflated to prove Pascal’s Law that air pushes out in every direction.
When he pushed on a point and it popped back out, showing the power of air that seems invisible in everyday life.
But now, thanks to these science minded props, kids were seeing air in action.
Sixth-grader Samuel Wilson came onstage when surface pressure distribution was being demonstrated. He agreed that the nails were sharp as inflated balloons were squeezed, first against a board with one sharp nail in it. So how much pressure before it popped? Not much, the students learned.
But how about a board with ten nails in it? How about a board with 100 nails in it? Given enough nails, they learned, the board would turn into a mattress that they could sit on comfortably.
The Squonk science lesson also included Bernoulli’s Principle, which is “how huge airplanes fly,” O’Hearn said.
He demonstrated the principle of high pressure moving slower than low pressure with a long plastic bag, opened at one end.
His assistant, Derek St. Pierre, tried to fill it with air by blowing into it while holding the open end almost closed and blowing into it as the kids counted his breaths.
After 20 breaths the bag still looked empty. But when O’Hearn let the open end remain open and blew once into the top of the opening, the students were amazed to witness the air rushing into the low-pressure area created by O’Hearn’s breath.
The bag filled in one breath and applause filled the air.
The force of air being thumped out of a large open-ended drum was another dramatic moment of discovery.
Sixth-grader Olivia Kiger’s long hair helped show air pressure in motion as O’Hearn thumped a large open ended drum with enough force to blow her hair up while knocking the paper cup off her head. In order to see this force better, smoke was added to the mix and Kiger and O’Hearn thumped smoke rings into the audience. Later, a canister of carbon dioxide was used to prove that this unique gas gets very cold under pressure. Soon snowflakes were shooting up into the air, with plenty of drumrolls and shouts from the kids.
Musician Jackie Dempsey played the keyboard for the dramatic score and brought out an accordion to show how captured air makes musical notes. O’Hearn also played the bagpipes and was pleased when he was asked to play another tune during question and answer time.
“Play Copperhead Row!” someone yelled from the audience.
“This is the first time I’ve ever been asked for an encore,” O’Hearn said with a grin as he got ready to play.
For more information about Squonk Opera’s educational program and music, go to www.squonkopera.com and click on the media link to get to the workshop learning guide.