Science for Everyone

The Science Machine Makes Science Exciting

Who knew science could be so much fun? With everything from trying to burn a balloon that wouldn’t burn because it was filled with water to turning liquids into solids you couldn’t pour out of a cup, Michael Green makes it happen. He makes science exciting and this is the mission of his well-known Science Machine.

Mr. Green will bring his Science Machine to Fort Valley as part of the 33rd Georgia Peach Festival with an exciting event at the Austin Theater on Saturday, June 8, at 11 a.m. Tickets are on sale now for $5 and can be purchased by cliicking the button at right.

Green -- whose alter-ego is a six-foot, two-inch tall, green-haired giant, to the smallest students -- is attempting to make science more interesting, through interactive demonstrations, and lessons in physical science and chemistry.

Green, though, is not a scientist nor a science teacher. He studied English at Morehouse College in Atlanta, and pursued a career in speech-writing in the 1990s, following graduation. Now, he conducts  45-minute, interactive science demonstrations with young students.

"I love it," said Green, 41. "I feel so much more free. I used to be the most corporate person you could imagine."

Green said early in his career, he landed a job at the Science & Technology (SciTrek) Museum of Atlanta, where he was a speechwriter to the president of the museum and special projects coordinator. While at the SciTrek Museum through the mid-1990s, he said, he was able to develop the interactive science outreach program, the original "Professor Weebil and the Science Machine."

"I didn't like science, particularly growing up," he said. "But I began working at the science museum, and I realized the reason I didn't like science was the way it had been presented to me. It wasn't taught in an interesting way."

Green, who has held speech-writing positions at the Atlanta-based Georgia Pacific and Delta Air Lines, said he devoted his full attention to his business, visiting schools in 2002, and spreading the word about his one-man show.

"Since the inception of the company, we've probably served close to half a million students," noted Green.

The entrepreneur said he exhausts many hours researching different scientific experiments he can use at the events he visits. He said he conducts about 10 experiments per demonstration.

His mission is supported by the price of a ticket, in the case of the Peach Festival appearance, $5 for children in grades K-5.

"I think, most importantly, is I don't know of a better way to genuinely capture a child's curiosity through science," Green said. "I can take a bar of Ivory Soap and make it expand to the size of a volleyball in 60 seconds. I can make a pickle glow in the dark. I can take a cup of water and have a kid try to pour it over another kid's head, and none of the water comes out.

"If you can hold a child's attention, you can teach them anything," he continued. "A lot of kids don't even realize how much they're learning along the way."

Information from a story in The Henry Herald