Building a Hovercraft Science Project

February 25, 2013

Norm Barstow, Educational InnovationsLook, Mom, No Wheels!  Building a Hovercraft Science Project

by:  Norm Barstow

The first practical design of the hovercraft was completed in the late 1950’s by British engineer, Sir Christopher Cockerell.  Since then, the continued development of this invention has been ongoing, and currently, the hovercraft is being used commercially, by the military, and for personal use.  Teachers have been constructing versions of the hovercraft using balloons, film canisters and flat materials in classrooms for years.

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1 Comment | Elementary level, experiments, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor

Surface Tension Demonstrations

January 14, 2013

Tami O'Connor, Educational InnovationsWe Water Molecules Stick Together! | Surface Tension Demonstrations

by: Tami O’Connor

I am a believer that observing discrepant events burns concepts into students’ memories far longer than simply reading the facts of the lesson from a text book.  A few years ago I was designing a unit on surface tension.  Because so many awesome hands-on activities deal with this topic, my greatest problem was picking and choosing!  In this blog, I will describe one of my students’ favorite surface tension demonstrations.  It teaches about surface tension and capillary action.

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5 Comments | Elementary level, experiments, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor

Bernoulli’s Principle: a Lesson or Two Made Out of Thin Air

November 25, 2012

Tami O'Connor, Educational Innovationsby:  Tami O’Connor

A few weeks ago my daughter, a new fifth grade teacher, asked me to come into her school to present a hands-on science lesson on Bernoulli’s Principle.  Nothing delights me more than working with kids in a classroom.  After 16 years of teaching, it’s hard to be away from it.  At first I was unsure what I was going to bring in.  I have so many really neat activities at my disposal that it is difficult to select just one.  I finally narrowed it down to activities dealing with air pressure, which is part of their curriculum (always a plus!).

BernoulliAs I rummaged through the office, I unearthed my supply of funnels, flex straws, and ping pong balls and decided that Daniel Bernoulli would be my guest of honor that day.  When I started my lesson, I blew up a balloon and talked about air and its properties.  Inviting comments, I discovered that they had some very interesting background knowledge, and most of it was correct… Read the rest of this entry »

4 Comments | Elementary level, experiments, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor

CSI on a Shoestring

September 25, 2012

by:  Michelle Bertke

Would you love to teach forensics and crime scene investigation but cannot afford the kits offered?  Don’t worry!  Many products at Educational Innovations can be used together to make your own CSI kit and crime scene examination at an affordable price.

CSI Fingerprints

Forensic Science Product Review - Educational Innovations BlogOne of the most common tasks of a crime scene investigator is to check the scene for fingerprints.  Analyzing a student’s fingerprints can be as simple as one, two, three!

One, collect an ink pad, a balloon, and a willing student.

Two, have the student firmly press one finger to the ink pad and then firmly press that finger onto a deflated balloon (down and up, don’t smear).

CSI on a Shoestring - Educational Innovations Blog

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Leave a Comment » | Elementary level, experiments, Middle School level | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor

Energize Your Class With The Energy Ball

August 1, 2012

Janice Van Cleave

by: Janice VanCleave

As a teacher, I enjoyed having people visit my class. It brought out the “ham” in me and I did and said things that even surprised me.  Rubbing a balloon on my hair and making my hair stand on ends was not unusual, but climbing on top of my desk sticking the charged balloon to the ceiling was a bit over the top.

What I disliked was the unscheduled visitor with an evaluation sheet in hand. But, I was always prepared. In fact, I had a box filled with materials for fun engaging activities. It was my “Emergency Experiment  Box.” When the evaluator unexpectedly arrived, out came the box and the show began.

My teaching abilities were being evaluated during an unexpected visit,  so I was prepared to show all my best qualities. I suggest you have an Emergency Experiment Box, and I do recommend including the Energy Ball.

Whatever you put in your box, make sure you know as much about the experiment as possible. The Energy Ball is great for teaching the scientific method. Too often kids memorize the steps of the scientific method, but do not use them on a daily bases. The scientific method is a set of problem solving tools—but every problem does not require using every instrument in the tool box.

I regress, let me get back to using the Energy Ball to fire up your students with or without unexpected guests.

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7 Comments | Elementary level, energy, experiments, Middle School level | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor

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