Some students at Addison Elementary School launched into space, became dancing molecules and returned to Earth at over 17,000 mph -- without ever leaving their school auditorium.

The third- and fourth-graders participated in the "Launch into Space" program Tuesday. The program was presented by the Columbus-based Center Of Science and Industry.

This is the second COSI program the school has hosted this year.

The program began with an assembly at which students learned how space travel works and how astronauts live while in space.

During the 45-minute assembly, Keturah Evans, COSI outreach demonstrator, dazzled the pupils as she used experiments to show how space shuttles operate.

The students were amazed as Ms. Evans lit a space shuttle tile with a blowtorch without hurting her hand.

"The tiles," Ms. Evans explained, "are made of sand, like sand at the beach.

"Molecules cause the Earth's atmosphere to get very hot, so the tiles have to cover the entire outer surface of the shuttle to absorb all the heat so the shuttle can reenter the Earth without melting," she said.

The students roared with delight as Ms. Evans used liquid nitrogen to launch an empty water bottle high into the air.

They had similar reactions as she used gas from the nitrogen to fill a balloon.

When Ms. Evans asked for a volunteer "older than fourth grade" for one particular experiment, a majority of students' hands shot up and pointed to one individual.

Jay Bodnar, a third-grade teacher, was the students' pick to don a space suit and show what happens when air unexpectedly gets trapped in an astronaut's suit.

"It's great to see that kids are learning from science," he said after the experiment ended.

After the assembly, students visited 10 hands-on science stations that were set up around the auditorium.

Students built "cork rockets," peeked at crystals under a microscope, wrote on computer chips, made marshmallow astronauts and learned about how gravity affects blood flow in space.

Angie Kirila, 10, said she was surprised by the marshmallow experiment, where the demonstrators placed a marshmallow in an airtight container and sucked out all the air, causing the marshmallow to expand.

"I didn't know a marshmallow could do that," she said smiling.

Becca Guerino, 17, of Brookfield High School, was one of several student volunteer demonstrators from the school's Future Teachers group. Ms. Guerino said she thought it was fun to see the kids enjoying themselves.

"It's teaching kids things in a fun way, so they enjoy it," she said. "It's cool to see them enjoy learning, and it gives them something fun to do."

Junior Luke Eliser was another student volunteer. Eliser said it was his first time assisting with the program and he enjoyed working with the students.

"It's a learning experience for me because I'm learning about space," he said. "These are nice people to work with. The younger kids get to play and learn at the same time."

Some students, like 9-year-old Jacob French, found out how blood goes to astronauts' heads in space because of a change in air pressure.

He had his calf measured before placing his legs against a wall for several minutes. When it was measured again after the time expired, he found out his calf had grown by 1 inch.

"It was cool," he said after the experiment. "It felt like I was going off into space."

Shannon Snow, 9, said she really liked using Alka-Seltzer and water to make a cork rocket.

Ms. Snow summed up what most of the students said about the event.

"I liked it. It's fun. If it would have been a real rocket, it'd be really fun to see," she said.