Mr. Kelly Christian, chemistry and physics teacher, got into the Halloween spirit Tuesday, Oct. 31, in his classes.

Christian showed his students how fun science can be with Halloween-themed experiments.

He started off by blowing up a pumpkin he had carved beforehand.

Christian put the pieces of the eyes and mouth he carved out of the pumpkin back into their original slots and began with the experiment. He poured water and a mineral known as “old time miner’s lamp” into the pumpkin.

These two things create a flammable gas.

He then lit the pumpkin and the eyes and mouth that he carved out blew out of the pumpkin and shot across the room.

The next experiment he did was causing a pumpkin to foam up.

Christian and the class turned their attention to a smaller pumpkin by the sink with eyes and a mouth carved out. Christian poured a substance that he likes to call “goats blood,” in honor of Halloween, into the pumpkin.

The guts of the pumpkin react with the mysterious substance and an orange foam began to ooze out of the pumpkin and run down the sides.

Senior Amanda VanOoteghem likes seeing these experiments.

“I think they are fun to watch,” VanOoteghem said, “and it gets us out of class.”

VanOoteghem’s favorite experiment was the exploding pumpkin because “it was the most exciting to watch.”

But it’s not all fun and games, a lot of thought and time went into these experiments.

Christian said it took him two hours of prep time before school to set everything up and make sure it all went smoothly.

He also stayed after school many days to practice the experiments to make sure there were no safety hazards.

“You always have to think about the safety issues,” Christian said.

Some safety precautions Christian took were having his students stand a safe distance away from the pumpkins and counting down before any type of reaction occurred.

Christian enjoys doing these fun experiments and has been doing them for the past 20 to 25 years.

“The experiments are fun,” Christian said. “They show what science can be. I like showing the students this because it shows that the more you know about science the more fun it can be.”