Superhero or scientist? Maybe both?

Nanogirl wows the audience by creating fire.

Superhero or scientist?

That's probably not your average childhood dream, but Nanogirl, who paid a visit to Dannevirke South School last week, told the children she didn't have thoughts of being a scientist when she grew up.

"I wanted to grow up to be a superhero!"

She wanted powers like super speed, flight and invisibility.

"The problem was, I didn't have magic powers."

So when she grew up to be a scientist - a marine biologist - she decided to use what she knew and created super powers through science.

The children were enthralled watching as she created fire in her hand with just a couple of ingredients.

Then she asked for volunteers to blow up some balloons in an experiment which involved pushing a stick through the balloon.

It was all about trying out a hypothesis, she said.

The first time she tried an experiment, it didn't work.

"I didn't give up. I carried on and I tried it out again and it didn't work."

She tried more times, but it still went wrong.

"That happens all the time in science."

So when her three volunteers tried the balloon trick, they ended up with popped balloons.

Grace Stephenson, Shane Rangitakatu and Karter Stephenson don't think Nanogirl's experiment is going to work.

But there was a trick in this little experiment, which she demonstrated, successfully pushing the stick through the balloon without popping it.

These and other experiments were performed onstage, engaging the children by getting them to answer questions and take part.

Nanogirl shows combine compelling narrative storylines with accessible hands-on experiences to create learning environments that match how children learn best.