Six-year-olds Kyle Spendiarian and Johnny Evans didn't get to fly to the moon. But they did feel sort of what it's like to stand on it Saturday, during a UA celebration of the first lunar landing.
"One small step for a kid, one giant leap for kid-kind," University of Arizona mathematics professor Bruce Bayly proclaimed as Kyle and Johnny embarked on the science demonstration.
The two friends stood in a garbage bag while a vacuum sucked the air out of it — simulating the moon's lack of air pressure.
"It was kind of squishy, and there wasn't so much room," Johnny said.
That was one of many demonstrations Bayly and his assistants performed as part of a celebration event called Physics Factory for Kids. Bayly is an instructor in the Physics Factory, a nonprofit organization of scientists and educators seeking to share their zest for physics.
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"I hope that they're going to learn that science is fun, that it's worth giving some time and that they don't have to wait until they do it at school. There's a lot of things they can try themselves in their home," Bayly said.
Though there are a few Physics Factory demonstrations that kids shouldn't try at home — such as using liquid nitrogen — there are many that kids can do, he said. Johnny's brother Brian, 8, demonstrated one of those kid-doable activities during Physics Factory.
He tried to balance a beach ball on his nose, an activity that shows center of gravity and rotational stabilization.
Physics Factory for Kids was one of several children-focused events Saturday afternoon at the UA as part of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing 40th Anniversary Celebration, co-sponsored by the Arizona Daily Star.
As part of the commemoration, the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association ran an activity in which kids dropped balls on a pan of flour and cocoa, demonstrating how lunar craters are made.
Northwest-side mom Darlene Rowe took her 8-year-old son, Ashton, to the celebration because he has shown a keen interest in space since he was 3.
"He thinks he'll be the first man on Mars," she said.
Kyle Spendiarian's father, Kevin Law, took his son and the boy's friends to the lunar-landing celebration to expose them to a topic that sparked his imagination as a child.
"When I was a kid, I was very fascinated with space travel, the landing on the moon and so forth," Law said. "You never know what a kid will do, but as a parent you want to expose them to as many things as you can. Plus, it's fun."
"One small step for a kid, one giant leap for kid-kind."
Bruce Bayly, UA mathematics professor
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