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Bubbling liquid escaped from a test tube, a jelly bean lost its flavor and liquids changed from clear to cherry red to clear again. Then there were the sounds.

Children and parents heard noises, felt sound waves, learned about taste and smell and saw some explosive experiments during the Science to Amaze program presented by the Maryland Science Center on Aug. 9 at Chevy Chase Library.

"I liked it because I never saw the stuff before," said Sofia Pereira, 5, of Garrett Park, who attended the show with her mother, Natasha Pereira. "I learned that when metal touches hot things it gets bigger."

It was 50 minutes of show and tell as Science Center outreach specialists Amy Greco and Lindsey Winand entertained the audience with science facts backed up with evidence.

They hoped the kids would learn that science can be fun and exciting, Greco said.

"It was really cool. It was kind of funny at the end. They told us it would be a noise but it wasn't," said Brendan Klein, 8, of Washington, D.C.

That was the fizzle.

A small cannon that was to go off to mark the end of the show did not.

"It was too humid, that's why it didn't work," Winand explained.

Science experiments that fail are all part of the job, she said.

"If anything goes wrong, we spin it that that is why you have to do experiments more than once. Sometimes in science things don't go as planned," she said.

Most of the lessons went as planned and the 83 children and adults at the show were entertained by the science they saw. Children were selected as helpers for many of the experiments and came to the front of the room, put on safety glasses, and became part of the show.

Brendan volunteered for a demonstration on the importance of smell to taste although he did not know that when he raised his hand. He only knew that he had to be willing to eat a jelly bean while blindfolded and guess its flavor.

It seemed simple enough until Winard waved a vial of mint extract under his nose as he chewed.

"I was thinking it smells like mint but it didn't taste like it. I don't like mint. I think it was a mix of many different flavors," he said. "I'm glad I had a chance to have a jelly bean."

Daniel Rosentover, 7, of Chevy Chase, said his favorite part of the show was when Greco and Winand poured liquid from one container to the other and it changed from clear to red to clear again.

"They had stuff at the bottom of the cup," he said. And he was right.

After the show Winand explained what really went on.

"We used a chemical indicator, phenolphthalein, and added ammonia, which made it basic so it turned pink. Then we added vinegar, which is an acid so it neutralizes it and makes it clear again," she said.

Daniel had his own explanation.

"It was sort of like magic, that part. The rest was science," he said. "In science they explain what happens; in magic, they don't."

The Aug. 9 Science to Amaze show was one of 108 shows sponsored by Friends of the Library Montgomery County and local Friends of the Library chapters this summer. Presentations will continue through Tuesday. A complete listing of library programs and events can be found at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library.