The Amazing Chemical Circus is a full length theater show featuring three sets of demonstrations as the acts of a circus. Each set is performed by a different science educator and investigates a scientific question. Host characters of Ringmaster and Squirt introduce each question, interact with the audience and interject humor into the show. They also coordinate “Act-It-Out” segments that bring children to the stage to portray electrons, atoms, and molecules.

Circus development started with each chemical educator deciding on a set of demonstrations with one major learning objective. Then the team (educators, actors, and playwright) came up with a question to be answered by each learning objective. The question was then used to structure the demonstration presentation as an investigation. Act-It-Out segments were developed to help the audience understand concepts necessary to grasp the learning objective.

These were

ACT I: How do atoms produce colors of light?

Demonstrator: “Mr. Green”

Act-It-Out: The character of Squirt jumped off stairs of various heights while shining lights of different colors (energies).

ACT II: What is plastic?

Demonstrator: “Elasto-man”

Act-It-Out: Child volunteers represented monomers, who linked together to demonstrate polymerization and cross-linking

ACT III: What makes the biggest boom?

Demonstrator: “Madame KaBoom”

Act-It-Out: Child volunteers playing oxygen molecules were directed to make contact with fuel molecules (represented by balloons) that were bunched together in a clothes hamper and spread out on the floor. The difference in time required for each situation was related to rates of combustion in the demos.

We used a “loose” script for the Circus. The science educators made a basic plan of how they would teach their “act”, came up with their own “spiel,” and delivered it as they would in a classroom presentation. Actors were scripted in certain parts of the show, and improvised in others.

For a script of the original Amazing Chemical Circus, click here.   We can help you tailor the show to your audience’s needs and your team’s strength.

Our audiences filled out questionnaires before and after the show. Here are some of our findings:

ATTITUDE: 92% of the children attending said they liked the show “pretty much” or “very much,” and 87% of parents said they would be “extremely” interested in bringing their kids to more shows of this type.

CONCEPTUAL: The children answered concept questions about rates of combustion and polymers before and after the show. The number of correct answers almost doubled for the first question and almost tripled for the second.

For a complete report on the data, including the questions asked and children’s comments, click here.