by: Tami O’Connor – Taken From Litetronics
The radiometer is a light bulb-shaped device containing an object that looks like a weather vane (wings arranged in a circle like spokes of a wheel). Developed to measure the intensity of radiant energy, or heat, the radiometer will:
20 Comments | 
Elementary level, energy, experiments, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: energy conversion, homeschool, infrared energy, kinetic energy, light energy, parent friendly, PBL, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science, potential energy, radiometer, science, science fair project | 
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Posted by Tami O'Connor
by: Tami O’Connor
Density is not typically an easy concept for most middle school students and even more difficult for younger students, but it doesn’t need to be. We all know that D=m/V, but the easiest way I found to explain it to my students was to have them visualize a common dilemma in my home immediately preceding a vacation. For years, as a poor starving teacher, I only had one suitcase, and it was actually a hand-me-down from my mother. It was a medium sized Samsonite, hard cased piece of luggage. When approaching the topic of density in my classroom, down from the attic it came.
My explanation began with an imaginary week-long summer vacation to a low-key resort. The class and I would brainstorm the items I needed to pack for my trip. Generally, the list included items such as a few bathing suits, shorts, t-shirts, a pair of flip flops, some PJs, underwear and a few toiletries. It was obvious by looking at the size of my suitcase that in addition to my meager belongings, I could have probably also fit one of my students in my bag… ok, perhaps one of the smaller kids.
I explained that when I closed the suitcase, it was hard to see, simply by looking at it, how heavy it was. The lesson didn’t stop there. We now planned my one-week ski vacation to Vermont during the February break. Once again, my students and I made up my pack list. The list included a couple of heavy sweaters, long johns, gloves, a hat, boots… as you can imagine, the list went on and on. The question was, where to put it all. Of course, since I had only one suitcase, the answer was easy. Read the rest of this entry »
7 Comments | density, Elementary level, experiments, Middle School level | Tagged: density, discrepant event, homeschool, Middle School students, parent friendly, PBL, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science, science, sink or float | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
by: Dia Michels
Science affects everything—yet so many of us wish we understood it better. Using an accessible question-and-answer format, 101 Things Everyone Should Know About Science expands every reader’s knowledge. Key concepts in biology, chemistry, physics, earth, and general science are explored and demystified by an award-winning science writer and a seasoned educational trainer. Endorsed by science organizations and educators, this book is perfect for kids, grown-ups, and anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of how science impacts everyday life. 101 Things Everyone Should Know About Science, written by Dia Michels and Nathan Levy is offered by Educational Innovations for $9.95.
1. Name some characteristics of all mammals
2. Name three of the bodily fluids
3. What are the three states of water?
4. What mineral is found in a saline solution?
5. What do we use calories to measure?
6. What happens over time when iron is exposed to oxygen?
7. At the same pressure, which is more dense—hot air or cold air?
8. How does a semiconductor work?
9. Each year, Earth revolves once around what?
10. What are the four major directions? In which direction does the needle of a compass point?
11. The continental divide separates:
12. Why is it colder an hour after sunrise than it is at sunrise itself?
13. What is a hypothesis?
14. What is the goal of a double-blind, placebo controlled study?
15. How can you use a lemon to light a light bulb?
8 Comments | Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Elementary level, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: homeschool, parent friendly, science trivia | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
by: Martin Sagendorf
An Easy Question: Which is warmer – which is cooler?
In the strictest sense, it’s a matter of energy. And we use temperature as a measure of energy level. As we all know, the greater the energy level, the higher the temperature… But, although this is absolutely true; sometimes it’s not exactly what we perceive in everyday life. When asked, we all can testify that when we touch a piece of metal we’ll say it feels cold. But is it really cold? Is it or isn’t it ‘cold’?
The Answer Is…
… very simple. If the piece of metal is at room (ambient) temperature it cannot be ‘cold’ – it must be at the same temperature as the temperature of the room.
Let’s discuss ‘perceived temperature’: this is what we ‘think’ the temperature is. It isn’t always the actual temperature (of the object we touch). Thus we enter a wonderful combination of both physics and biology. Physics describes the absolutes. Biology describes the biological reactions (interpretations) of our physical world.
It’s a matter of thermal conductivity and our nerves. Some materials are good conductors of heat (energy) and some are not. Our nerves sense only temperature – so if thermal energy is rapidly removed from the tissues surrounding our nerve endings (like at our finger tips), our nerves sense that the temperature ‘they feel’ is cooler – e.g. the material is removing thermal energy from the body tissue surrounding the nerve ends at a rate faster than our body can re-supply energy to the tissues – thus our nerves sense this as ‘cooler’.
A truly illustrative and memorable way to present the question: Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Biology, Elementary level, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: conductors, discrepant event, heat energy, insulators, perceived temperature | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
by: Norman Barstow
Educational Innovations’ Growing Spheres can be used to add a note of ‘horror’ to your classroom or home Halloween experience. Once fully expanded, Growing Spheres have an index of refraction almost identical to that of water. This means that when the Growing Spheres are placed in water, they are nearly invisible.
3 Comments | Chemistry, Elementary level, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: ghost eyeballs, halloween fun, homeschool, index of refraction, parent friendly, polyacrylamide, polymer crystals | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
