By Ted Beyer
Educational Innovations has carried Wilesco model steam engines off and on for years. But why? They’re just toys, right? Well, no—they are so very much more.
If you apply some critical thinking to a steam engine and its accessories, you will discover that you have a wonderful practical demonstration of a bunch of scientific principles, many of which are pretty basic.
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College level, Elementary level, energy, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: Educational Innovations, energy conversion, physics demonstration, Wilesco | 
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Posted by Donna Giachetti
By Donna Giachetti
A few months ago, a colleague at Educational Innovations shared with me a poetry web page he thought I’d enjoy. It was a joyful little corner of the Internet called Elemental Haiku. (Thanks, Ted!) The author, Mary Soon Lee, composed 119 science haiku – a poem for each element in the Periodic Table.
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Leave a Comment » | About Us, College level, Elementary level, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: Educational Innovations, science | Permalink
Posted by Donna Giachetti
by Donna Giachetti
Designing and building an artificial hand is a great science fair or classroom project. It’s also a vivid, “hands-on” way to get your students thinking about how such robotic limbs are used in society and industry. Whether your students work individually or in teams, this activity is a fantastic experience in creativity, problem solving, STEM, and engineering. Plus, for some students, it may even lead to a future career inspiration!
Leave a Comment » | Biology, College level, construction, Elementary level, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: DIY, Educational Innovations, engineering, hands-on activity, STEM | Permalink
Posted by Donna Giachetti
By Ted Beyer
You may be familiar with the game Battleship! The version most people recall includes two plastic folding boards (red and blue) plus two sets of grey plastic ships and pegs. It was released by Milton Bradley in 1967. I had a set myself—a birthday present in 1969 (yeah, I’m that old). The objective of the game is to sink your opponent’s ships.
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1 Comment | Chemistry, College level, Elementary level, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: Chemistry, Educational Innovations, periodic tables, science | Permalink
Posted by Donna Giachetti
Many years ago while attending a summer ChemEd conference, I had occasion to sit in on an amazing presentation. I have to admit that as a seventh grade teacher, much of the information presented at this conference would have been a bit over my students’ heads, but I still enjoyed the chance to learn new teaching ideas. One presenter, Jeff Hepburn, came out with a prop called the Think Tube. I’m not honestly sure whether that was his name for it or if that’s how I eventually christened it, but suffice to say, I knew immediately that I had to build one for my students.
The first week of school was always my favorite because that was the time I worked especially hard to truly “hook” my kids on science. I tended to bring in the most awesome and thought-provoking activities to share in class. My students typically left my room busting with excitement and looking forward to what the rest of the year would hold.
On day two, I brought in my homemade Think Tube. Over the summer, my husband built it out of PVC pipe, string, and wooden cubes. Initially, the students were unimpressed… that is, until the unexpected happened.
Leave a Comment » | College level, Elementary level, experiments, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: discrepant event, Educational Innovations, parent friendly, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science | Permalink
Posted by Donna Giachetti
