BILL BLAGG’S THE SCIENCE OF MAGIC
Educator Resource Guide
Dear Educator –
We are excited to welcome you to the 2016-17 Season, filled with engaging artistic and educational
opportunities for you and your students. Join us as we celebrate the voices of community and culture that
have the power to unite us all. As part of The Boldt Company Beyond the Stage Education Program, this
resource guide will provide you with lesson ideas to prepare your students for the upcoming performance.
Please feel free to adapt any of the activities in this guide to make them appropriate and meaningful to your
students.
Your students will go on a rare, never-before-seen journey behind the scenes of the magic world where they
can discover firsthand how science is used to create the impossible! We are excited for you to join us for Bill
Blagg’s comedy-filled, action-packed presentation of a highly interactive way to make science fun and exciting
by levitating teachers and making homework magically disappear!
We look forward to recognizing each unique voice and providing a platform for expression through the arts.
From lesson ideas and professional development workshops to backstage tours, allow us to partner with you
to provide students with exciting educational opportunities!
For questions contact the education sales department (920) 730-3726 or [email protected].
INSIDE THIS GUIDE
Community Partner
Welcome
3
Discover the Arts
7
Standards
4
In the Spotlight
10
About
5
Resource Room
15
Lesson Plans
6
Series Sponsor
With additional support from
WELCOME TO THE FOX CITIES P.A.C.
We are in need of an audience – are you up for the part?
THEATER ETIQUETTE
•When entering the Fox Cities Performing Arts
Center, remember to show respect for others
by waiting your turn and speaking quietly.
•Remember that while during the performance
the live performers can see and hear you. Even
the smallest sounds can be heard throughout
the theater, so it is best to remain quiet so
everyone can enjoy the performance.
•Applause is the best way to express how much
you enjoyed the performance!
•Important things to remember:
•Student backpacks, gum, drinks and
food are not allowed in the theater.
•Cell phones should be turned off and
stowed.
•Note that recording or taking photos
in the theater is strictly prohibited;
however, photos may be taken in the
lobby.
•It’s a long way down – please do not
drop items off balconies.
This study guide was created for you by the Education
Team as a part of The Boldt Company Beyond the Stage
Education program. To download copies of this study
guide or to find additional resources for this performance
or view past study guides please visit:
www.foxcitiespac.com/educators
Questions about your show reservation? Contact our
education sales team at [email protected]
or call (920) 730-3726.
INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS
Be prepared to arrive early – You should plan on arriving to the
Center 30 minutes before the show. Allow for travel time,
parking and trips to the restroom.
Know your needs – To best serve the needs of you and your
students, please indicate in advance if you have individuals
who require special services or seating needs upon making
your reservation.
Seating – Seating is based on a number of factors including
when the reservation is made, size of group, students’ ages
and any special seating needs.
ENJOY THE SHOW!
DID YOU KNOW?
•Everyone at the Fox Cities
Performing Arts Center is able to
have great seats for every show, as
there is no seat more that 108 feet
from the stage in Thrivent Financial
Hall.
•There are eleven dressing rooms
backstage, with a total capacity to
house over 60 performers.
•The Thrivent Financial Hall is a
proscenium style space - a stage
configuration in which the spectators
watch the action through a
rectangular opening that resembles a
picture frame.
WISCONSIN ACADEMIC STANDARDS
To assist you in your planning the Wisconsin Academic Standards that are most likely to connect with this
performance are listed below.
SCIENCE
SCIENCE CONNECTIONS: Students in Wisconsin will understand that there are unifying themes: systems, order,
organizations and interactions; evidence, models and explanations; constancy, change and measurement;
evolution, equilibrium and energy; form and function among scientific disciplines.
SCIENCE INQUIRY: Students in Wisconsin will investigate questions using scientific methods and tools, revise
their personal understanding to accommodate knowledge, and communicate these understandings to others.
PHYSICAL SCIENCE: Students in Wisconsin will demonstrate an understanding of the physical and chemical
properties of matter, the forms and properties of energy, and the ways in which matter and energy interact.
SCIENCE APPLICATIONS: Students in Wisconsin will demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between
science and technology and the ways in which that relationship influences human activities.
SCIENCE IN PERSONAL AND SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES: Students in Wisconsin will use scientific information and
skills to make decisions about themselves, Wisconsin and the world in which they live.
SOCIAL STUDIES
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES: Students in Wisconsin will learn about the behavioral sciences by exploring concepts
from the discipline of sociology, the study of the interactions among individuals, groups and institutions; the
discipline of psychology, the study of factors that influence individual identity and learning; and the discipline of
anthropology, the study of cultures in various times and settings.
THEATER
RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS: Students in Wisconsin will research and analyze methods of presentation and
audience response for theater, the interconnections of theater, community, other cultures and historical
periods for use as general knowledge.
ANALYSIS OF PROCESS: Students in Wisconsin will work and think as theater artists and reflect upon and assess
the characteristics and merits of their own work and the work of others.
THEATER PRODUCTION: Students will think and work as playwrights, designers, managers, and/or directors to
create and interpret improvised and scripted scenes.
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Education | [email protected] | (920) 730-3726
ABOUT THE MAGICIAN
To say that Bill Blagg has had a magical life would be no exaggeration. From the moment he received
his first magic kit in 1985, his world was never the same. Bill professionally launched his magic
performing career in 1996, at the ripe age of sixteen. Bill became a stand-out in the magic
community, due in part to his off-the-cuff personality and his high-energy performance style.
After graduating college with honors, Bill hit the road to perform magic full-time. Today, Bill has one
of the largest touring illusion shows in the country. His show has been featured on NBC, CBS and FOX
television.
Having a love for both magic and science, Bill combined the two to create his one-of-a-kind,
educational show called The Science of Magic. Bill lives in Milwaukee, WI, with his wife Kristin. When
he’s not performing he can be found in his workshop, working with his dad to create new illusions to
thrill his audiences.
ABOUT THE SHOW
For centuries magicians have used scientific principles to make people levitate in mid-air and vanish in
the blink of an eye. Illusionist Bill Blagg’s one-of-a-kind educational experience, The Science of Magic,
takes students on a rare, never-before-seen journey “behind the scenes” of the magic world. Students
will discover firsthand how magicians use science to create the impossible!
Bill’s comedy-filled, action-packed presentation is highly interactive and makes science fun and
exciting! Students will use the Scientific Method to levitate one of their teachers in mid-air and even
learn how the science of reflection can make their homework magically disappear. In addition, Bill
performs some of his mind-blowing, grand-scale illusions with a scientific twist! Bill will present an
incredible display of the water cycle by making it snow from his bare hands. Students will watch in
amazement as science creates magic right before their very eyes.
The Science of Magic is designed to excite, educate, intrigue and promote students to think “outside
the box” and spawn their curiosity about how science and the Scientific Method are used by magicians
to create the impossible!
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Education | [email protected] | (920) 730-3726
LESSON ONE: PLAYING WITH STAGES OF MATTER
OBJECTIVE: Sometimes, certain scientific principles can be difficult to grasp if students cannot physically
witness the process taking place. In this lesson, students will be able to watch and experiment with a drastic
depiction of a few of the different stages of matter.
MATERIALS:
Large bowls
Ice
Rock salt
Water bottles (filtered, not flavor or mineral)
Thermometers
OPENING DISCUSSION: As a class, we are going to brainstorm different materials that change when
they are exposed to a different environment (i.e. ice cream, candles, water). There are five states of
matter, but today we are going to experience what happens when water changes from a liquid to a
solid. We will then explore what molecules and atoms are doing when they change states.
WARM UP
• Have the students think about a time when they were going to do something that they were excited
about! How did they act/feel when they were excited?
• Connect this idea to the molecules reacting when temperature changes.
• Explain how matter changes from one state to another and what causes this change.
• Give examples for each of the changes from solid, to liquid, and then to gas. These would be
best if they were connected to the materials that they mentioned at the beginning of class.
DID YOU KNOW?
The study of chemistry as a scientific method has been around since the 9th century, but do you know
what came before it? Alchemy!
Similar to studying the stages of matter, Alchemy was the Medieval process of transforming matter
into something new. Alchemy blended mysticism, spirituality and scientific discovery into one
discipline. The goals of the processes of Alchemy included turning base metals into gold or finding the
elixir of life to make oneself immortal (the philosopher’s stone). There were seven stages to the
alchemical process: calcination, dissolution, separation, conjunction, fermentation, distillation and
coagulation.
Alchemy has been practiced in many places throughout the ancient and modern world including
Ancient Egypt, Persia, India, Japan, Classical Greece and Rome, Korea and China. Practices differ
throughout each of the places, but they all have similar traditions. Some famous Alchemists include:
Nicolas Flamel, Carl Jung and Isaac Newton. Do you recognize the name Nicolas Flamel from J.K.
Rowling’s book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone? That’s right! The sorcerer’s stone in that book is
the elixir of life that alchemists from the past tried to create.
Source: http://www.crystalinks.com/alchemy.html
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Education | [email protected] | (920) 730-3726
ACTIVITY:
• Fill a bowl almost entirely with ice and then push two water bottles deeply into the bowls.
Sprinkle a generous amount of rock salt over the ice and insert a thermometer into the ice
between the bottles.
• Over the next half hour, keep track of the temperature and watch as it slowly falls. As the ice
melts, add more ice and salt to keep the water bottles covered.
• The temperature of the bowl should drop to 17°F (-8°C). At any lower temperature, the water
will prematurely freeze. Try to maintain that temperature for 10 minutes.
• At the 10 minute mark, gently remove the bottles from the ice and salt mixture and strike the
bottle against the table. Ice crystals should form at the top of the bottle and continue
downwards very quickly towards the bottom.
• Carefully remove the second bottle and open the cap. The same instant freezing should occur.
• Why did this change happen? How did the water freeze like that? Does water always
freeze like this?
CLOSING DISCUSSION
When liquids freeze, the molecules organize themselves into tightly knit structures that form crystalline
solids (like ice). Because of this change, water molecules have less energy as ice than as a liquid. This
means that when a liquid transforms into a solid, the molecules have to lose heat energy. In this
experiment, when the water was tapped on the table, it actually warmed up the rest of the water,
leading to only 10-20% of the water actually freezing! When an impurity is in the liquid, it actually
speeds up the crystallization even faster. Think about how using other liquids would change the outcome
of this process.
Source: Steve Spangler Science
For years, illusionists have worked hard to grow magic into a staple within the entertainment
industry. Magicians like Harry Houdini, David Copperfield, Penn and Teller, and Criss Angel have
brought their trade to many audiences, producing larger-than-life magic shows on some of the
biggest stages in the world. Though many would consider the magic tricks and illusions devised by
the magicians to be artistic, and even forms of art, magic is not considered to be a formal form of
art by the US government.
In June 2016, well-known illusionist David Copperfield lobbied Congress to pass a resolution that
would recognize magic as an art form. The bill would have cemented magic as “a rare and valuable
art form and national treasure”. The bill was not passed, but for the first time in history, magic
would have joined the art forms such as film, visual arts, theater, music, and dance as an
experience that surpasses the written word.
The main push behind this bill was to give magicians the same intellectual property rights, grant
opportunities and respect that other artists enjoy. There are many professional organizations that
magicians are a part of such as The International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM) and The Society
of American Magicians. The latter organization has been trying to achieve this recognition of
magicians as artists for over fifty years!
Source: NPR
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Education | [email protected] | (920) 730-3726
LESSON TWO: OPTICAL ILLUSIONS
OBJECTIVE: Students will discuss the three categories of optical illusions. After being introduced to the
different forms of illusions, they will try to come up with a drawing of their own optical illusion. After
this activity, they will briefly learn about how their minds process the information that they see.
MATERIALS
Pictures in the packet
OPENING DISCUSSION
When we look at the world around us, what do we see? How do we understand what we are looking at?
What kinds of factors can change or manipulate the ways we look at the world? What are some
everyday instances that change how we look at the world (i.e reflective surfaces, light)? In what ways do
they change how we see things (i.e. reflections, refracting light, distortion of pictures)?
WARM UP
• Optical illusions are images that manipulate how the eyes perceive reality. There are three kinds of
optical illusions: Literal Optical Illusions, Cognitive Illusions, and Physiological illusions.
• Literal Optical Illusions are images that are made up of other images to create another object
entirely. These can often look like different images depending upon the angle you are looking at
them at.
DID YOU KNOW?
Between 1950-1970, a new visual style of art called
Op Art, or Optical Art, became very popular. This style
was widespread in New York, with many exhibitions
at the Museum of Modern Art.
In this movement, artists created works that tried to
investigate perceptual effects and illusions on the
mind. Artists would study how the brain and eyes
collaborate to perceive physical characteristics.
Today, Scientists study this visual art form to
understand how the brain interprets the information
that eyes gather.
Source: Op-art.co.uk
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Education | [email protected] | (920) 730-3726
• Cognitive Illusions are a phenomenon when your mind looks at an image and relates it to
something else that is found in our subconscious (a part of our mind where we process emotions
and thoughts without being fully aware of those feelings are coming from). This process allows
our mind to come up with perceptions that don’t match what we see in real life so that we can
make assumptions based on what we are looking at. Discuss with students how these illusions
allow our eyes and brain to make unconscious assumptions.
• Physiological illusions occur when the eyes and brain are stimulated with excessive light and color.
This sometimes results in an afterimage which can happen when you look at a picture for a while
and you can still see that image when you look away from the original picture. Stare at the image
of the woman below for one minute and then look into the white box. You should be able to still
see the original image. If you look at the colorful picture below, it should look like it is moving.
ACTIVITY
• After thoroughly going over the three types of illusions, ask each student to try to create their own
picture that is also an illusion.
• Using the past example pictures and the different things you talked about in the opening discussion
and warm up, have them ponder how they could create any kind of hand drawn illusion. This can be
anything from playing with colors, shapes, or even word art.
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Education | [email protected] | (920) 730-3726
9
CLOSING DISCUSSION
• Let’s take a look at how your mind can be tricked by these illusions by taking a quick tour of how
your eyes and brain work together to process information!
• Rays of light refract (or bend) off an object and enter into the cornea of your eye – the
transparent, outer layer of the eye.
• The cornea refracts the rays of light through the pupil (the black dot in your eye) and then your iris
(the colored part of your eye) reacts to the light by contracting and expanding to change the
amount of light to let through.
• The light rays then go through the lens which shapes and focuses the light through the retina.
• The retina is full of nerve cells that can detect light. Those cells, called rods and cones, interpret
the light as electrical signals that are sent through the optic nerve.
• The optic nerve sends the information from the rods and cones to the brain and the brain
interprets that information. This whole process, from start to finish, takes one-tenth of a second!
During this process, some information can be misunderstood and that’s how the brain is able to see
optical illusions!
Sources: The Week, Illusions Project
Speaking of magical, Nina Tandon is the CEO and co-founder of a company that grows
human bone from cells! EpiBone is the first company in the world to ever grow human
bones for skeletal reconstruction. This company is revolutionary because it allows EpiBone’s
patients to “grow their own bone”. It’s almost like a magic trick since Nina and her team take
cells and grow something entirely new from them!
Nina received her B.A. in Electrical Engineering from Copper Union, a Master’s from MIT,
and an MBA and PhD from Columbia University. She is a biomedical engineer who was
named a senior TED fellow in 2012—a part of TED Ideas Worth Spreading, L’Oréal Paris
identified her as one of its Women of Worth in the science and innovation category in 2015,
and Fast Company named her as one of the top 100 most creative people in business.
Source: Tina Tandon, Epibone, Wikipedia
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Education | [email protected] | (920) 730-3726
10
LESSON THREE: MÖBIUS STRIP AND HOUDINI’S MAGIC TRICK
OBJECTIVE: Students will learn about what a Möbius strip is, how to create one and why it is important.
MATERIALS
Construction Paper
Scissors
Tape
Pencil
OPENING DISCUSSION
As students will see in Bill Blagg’s show, illusions are created based on scientific and mathematical
principles. In this lesson, we will take a look at a Harry Houdini trick that he wrote about in one of his
books.
WARM UP
The Möbius strip is based off a mathematical concept that was discovered in 1858 by August
Ferdinand Möbius and Johann Benedict Listing. It can be made out of any material, but the idea is that
if something crawled along the length of the strip, it would return to its starting point after moving
along the entire length of the material. M.C. Escher made a painting that is a depiction of what that
would look like in this picture:
ACTIVITY
• Cut a strip of construction paper, turn one end over, and tape the ends together across the edge. It
should look like a loop with a half twist in it.
• Ask the students how many surfaces they think it has. Then take a pencil and draw a line
down the middle of the band and explain that if the band has two sides, you will only end up
with a line on one side and not both.
• Ask the students what they think will happen if they cut the band in half lengthwise down
the middle.
• Starting with a small hole in the middle, cut the
loop in half until you reach your starting point.
Pull the band apart into one loop. It should look
like example B in the picture to the right.
• You can try this by also twisting the paper two
times before taping it and cutting it and you
will get a different kind of outcome. It will look
like example C in the picture.
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Education | [email protected] | (920) 730-3726
CLOSING DISCUSSION
The Möbius strip is important because it alters the two-surfaced object that it is made out of into a
surface with one side and one edge. Put more simply, if you take a piece of construction paper (two
sided plane) and make it into a Möbius strip, it now only have one plane and therefore only has one
side—or as mathematicians would say—it is now non-orientable. The Möbius strip has been used as a
model for practical uses such as a longer lasting conveyor belt and a continuous loop for recording
tapes and typewriter ribbons because each side of the strip gets an equal amount of wear. Ask the
students to think about the practical applications of a Möbius strip in their everyday lives.
Sources: Wikipedia and David Parker
DID YOU KNOW?
Harry Houdini—world renowned magician and illusionist of the 19th century—was born in
Budapest, Hungary in 1874, but when he was alive he claimed that he was born here in
Appleton, WI! Harry Houdini, aka Erik Weisz, moved with his family to Appleton when his father
received the position as a Rabbi at the local synagogue. They lived on College Avenue and their
house was at the location where Houdini Plaza now stands.
The Weisz family was only in Appleton for four years and they moved around Wisconsin, but
Houdini always thought of Appleton as his hometown. The family moved to Milwaukee for a little
while, and sent Houdini back to Appleton when he was 11 so that he could apprentice with the
local locksmith. One night, he used a wire buttonhook to unlock every door on College Avenue!
This training would eventually come in handy with his later stunts and illusions.
Even from a young age, Houdini was always interested in a life on the stage. When he was a
teenager, Houdini ran away to Delevan, WI to join one of the circus companies that was thriving
there at the time.
Sources: History Museum at the Castle, Fox11Online, Arvind Gupta
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Education | [email protected] | (920) 730-3726
LESSON FOUR: EXPLORING THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
OBJECTIVE: Students will understand the six steps of the scientific method through splitting them up
into steps and gathering associations with each step.
MATERIALS
White board/ SMART board
Large space to work with
OPENING DISCUSSION
The scientific method is a process used to make observations and answer questions. You can think of
each step of the scientific method as a puzzle piece with the eventual answer as the finished puzzle.
WARM UP
Have students think about the process that they go through when they are trying to find answers to
something that they don’t know. Do they google it? Do they ask their peers? Do they go to a book or
the library? What about when they aren’t able to find the information that they are looking for? What
is their next step? That process is similar to the steps in the scientific method.
ACTIVITY
• Divide the class into 6 groups and give each group a step of the scientific method. Tell them that
they need to create a picture that represents that step of the scientific method.
1. Question
4. Observation
2. Hypothesis
5. Analysis
3. Experiment
6. Conclusion
•Give 10-15 minutes of time to each group for them to formulate their pictures. Talk with each group
about their plan and facilitate discussion that will get them thinking about their step.
•Have each group draw their picture for the class without telling the entire class what step it is and
have the class guess at the end of each presentation. Keep each picture up on the board.
• At the end, go through the pictures with the class in order to help them draw the connections
between the pictures and the scientific method.
DID YOU KNOW?
Did you ever wonder who invented the scientific method? There isn’t one person that invented the
process itself, but many people contributed to developing it into the important tool that is used
today.
Many people point to Aristotle and his contemporaries as the founders of the method, but it was
Muslim scholars in the 10th-14th centuries who really began turning the process into some of the
steps that are included in the process today like stating a problem, creating a hypothesis and finally
testing it. Sir Isaac Newton refined the process into what is used today by scientists and added
steps that have allowed science to prosper in the ways that it does in modern times.
Sources: Explorable
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Education | [email protected] | (920) 730-3726
CLOSING DISCUSSION
Have students think about experiments or questions that they would like to test using the scientific
method. How could these steps be similar to the process that magicians use to create magic tricks?
In what ways are science and magic related? What do scientists and magicians have in common?
Don’t let this experience end with the drop of the curtain. Keep the conversation going with your
students and reflect on the performance that you just attended. Here are a few questions to get
the conversation started!
• What was most surprising to you from the performance?
•Describe a moment in the show when you felt inspired. Why did that inspire you?
•Which moment do you remember most from the performance? What was happening?
•How was this performance different from others shows you have seen?
•Describe your idea of magic before the show and how you think of it now.
•What was your favorite magic trick from the show? Why?
•If you were going to tell a friend about the performance, how would you describe it in one
sentence?
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Education | [email protected] | (920) 730-3726
BOOKS
Big Magic for Little Hand: 25 Astounding Illusions for Young Magicians by Joshua Jay. Workman
Publishing Company, 2014
Martin Gardner's Science Magic: Tricks & Puzzles by Martin Gardner and Tom Jorgenson. Dover
Publications, 2011.
The Everything Kids' Magical Science Experiments Book: Dazzle Your Friends and Family by
Making Magical Things Happen! by Tom Robinson. F W Media, 2007.
Kids’ Magic Secrets: Simple Magic Tricks & Why They Work by Loris Bree. Marlor Press Publisher,
2003.
WEBSITES
www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators.aspx
•Free digital resource for teaching and learning in, through and about the arts
www.billblagg.com
This educator resource guide is created as part of The Boldt Company Beyond the Stage Education Program.
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Education | [email protected] | (920) 730-3726
15
THANK YOU TO OUR SERIES SPONSORS FOR MAKING THIS PERFORMANCE POSSIBLE!
Community Partners
Our sponsors love to hear from you! Mail or drop off cards, letters or pictures to
the Center and we will share with them.
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center
Education Department
400 W. College Avenue
Appleton, WI 54911