🧪 Science with Sarah: Balloon hovercrafts

Slide into the world of wind power

👉 Watch the video of Sarah’s science experiment at Thousand Oaks Elementary!

Hello parents, teachers and students!

On Wednesday, students at Thousand Oaks Elementary had the opportunity to slide into the world of wind power with a balloon hovercraft experiment.

Be sure to check out GMSA@9 on Wednesday mornings when Meteorologist Sarah Spivey does demonstrations and explains the science behind it.

Science with Sarah in partnership with the San Antonio Zoo (Copyright KSAT 2023 - All rights reserved)

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Materials needed for your hovercraft (Copyright 2024 by KSAT - All rights reserved.)
  • Hot glue gun
  • Old CD or DVD
  • Large Balloon
  • Pop-top cap

DO THE EXPERIMENT

STEP 1: Decorate your CD or DVD if you’d like

STEP 2: Using the hot glue, glue the closed pop-top to the middle of the CD or DVD

STEP 3: Blow up your balloon and twist it -- do not tie it! By twisting it you’ll temporarily keep the air from flowing out of the balloon

STEP 4: Put the balloon over the pop top

STEP 5: Open the pop top and watch as your hovercraft floats on the table!

SCIENCE WITH SARAH

If you’d like Sarah and David to come to your school and conduct a science experiment live on KSAT, fill out this form. “Winners” are selected at random.


About the Authors

Sarah Spivey is a San Antonio native who grew up watching KSAT. She has been a proud member of the KSAT Weather Authority Team since 2017. Sarah is a Clark High School and Texas A&M University graduate. She previously worked at KTEN News. When Sarah is not busy forecasting, she enjoys hanging out with her husband and cat, and playing music.

Ben Spicer is a digital journalist who works the early morning shift for KSAT.

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