A Lesson in Short Fuses

The great thing about homeschooling is that everything counts as school.  Also, anyone can be your teacher. 

Archie has a bit of an infatuation with Mythbusters.  Wait.  Did I say a bit of an infatuation?  I mean an obsession.  He could sit in front of the Mythbuster tv show for hours.  If I wasn't the TV nazi, then he definitely would.  There has been a day when my attention was elsewhere for a period of time, when he watched so many episodes in a row that he got a headache.    He writes comics called "Archie The Mythbuster".  He has asked for 'more science!  The-blowing-stuff-up-kind' in his curriculum.  There are some things that just don't fall into the "Mama" category.  Blowing shit up is one of those things.  In cases like these, thank goodness we have Regular E. 

When he was a lad, Regular E experimented with explosives from time to time.  Purely recreational, teenage boy stuff...He's no unibomber or anything.  However, we're thankful he still has all his limbs and appendages.  So the lessons in the chemistry of explosives were to be taught by Regular E!

As soon as we arrived in Alabama, Archie talked non-stop about smoke bombs with Regular E.  So, after a bit o shopping (and my brother's name possibly now on the ATF's and Homeland Security's 'watch list') we have lessons in chemistry and smoke bombs!

Here they are beginning to prepare the ingredients.  Black powder, oxidizer, sugar, paper, tape, and pvc pipe.

I think some adult supervision is required here, don't you?

This one did make a bit of a pop, because it was wrapped pretty tightly in the tape. 

The leftovers. 

This is a smoke bomb they made out of pvc pipe.  It smoked for a long time, making me think that they need to be the ones who make the smoke bombs that fireworks stands sell.  The fireworks ones don't last as long as this one did!  The melty-goo on the pipe was the sugar.  The device itself gave off a bit of a marshmallow-y plastic-y smell after it did it's thang. 

The video below is the explosive Archie made by himself.  I asked him if it scared him after it blew up so close to his shoes.  He said it did!  A little fear is a good thing, in my opinion!  My favourite part of the video is when my sister-in-law was fussing at my brother to be more responsible.  While he is chuckling at the aftermath!  A good lesson learned:  Longer fuses!  Longer fuses!