Most of the time the air around us goes unnoticed. This dramatic demonstration has been successful at sparking students' curiosity and interest in pursuing explorations of the seemingly undramatic theme of air. In this experiment, air is trapped inside a plastic baggie. Students can see the baggie has air in it, and observe that air is quite powerful.

By forcing more and more air into a small space, the air in the baggies is compressed. This compressed air has great strength and can support a brick or a person. Compressed air is used in garage lifts to raise cars, it is used in tires to support bikes, and it is used in drills to break up concrete.

• Kneel in a small circle of 4 - 6 people.
• Observe the air around you. Make a prediction. How strong do you think air is? Think about moving air and what it can do. Do you think you can lift a brick using only straws, plastic bags and air?
• Each person needs one straw and one plastic bag. Insert the straw in the baggie, and gather the baggie at the top to make an airtight seal. The baggie should be flat, any trapped air can be gently squeezed out via the straw.
• Lay their baggies on the ground, still grasping the baggie around the straw.
• Lay the marlite square on top of the baggies and then place a brick atop the marlite square.
• Blow air into the straws to fill the baggies with air.
• Observe the results.
  
  If you succeed in lifting a brick and there is an adult helping, try this:
• Have a small person stand on the marlite square, with an adult carefully spotting the person. Try to lift the person using air.