by: Tami O’Connor
On a field trip with my 5th grade students to a local science museum, we saw one of the science instructors conduct a lesson on sound. It was such a simple idea, with easy-to-find materials, that I brought it home to do with my Girl Scout troop the following week. Since then, I have modified and expanded the lesson so it would fit any elementary or middle school grade lesson plan on sound.
Leave a Comment » | 
Elementary level, energy, experiments, Middle School level, sound | Tagged: amplitude, awesome science experiment, easy-to-find materials, PBL, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science, science, sound, sound experiments, vibration | 
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Posted by Tami O'Connor
by: Mike Rigsby
The normal way to operate a drinking bird is to have him dip his head in water. The water on his felt head evaporates, leaving the head cooler than the bird’s body. The liquid flowing into the upper bulb (head) changes the center of gravity, causing the bird to tip forward. Liquid flows back to the bottom bulb and the bird returns to his upright position. As long as an adequate temperature difference (head cooler than body) remains, the cycle will repeat.
Instead of cooling the head, why not warm the body? If you place an electrical resistor below the bird’s body and pass current through the resistor, the resistor will get warm. The warmth will cause the bird to bob. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | College level, energy, experiments, High School level, Physics | Tagged: electrical circuits, flock clock | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
by: Tami O’Connor
The fire syringe sold by Educational Innovations is a wonderfully simple, yet impressive and dramatic demonstration that increasing pressure on a gas increases its temperature. 
The fire piston, predecessor to the fire syringe was once used as a means of kindling fire in prehistoric Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. The apparatus used a hollow cylinder, sealed at one end and open on the other. A piston fit snugly in the cylinder and by sharply compressing the air, the tinder would ignite. This is an example of compression ignition.
This is also the principle behind a diesel engine. Unlike gasoline engines, diesel engines do not have spark plugs. Rather, the upward movement of the piston compresses the fuel vapor and increases the temperature to the point of combustion. That forces the piston down thus turning the drive shaft.
Place the piston into the mouth of the cylinder and thread the collar back onto the syringe. Place the syringe on a sturdy table. Get a firm grip on the handle and force the piston straight down, FAST AND HARD. The compression of the air causes the temperature of the gas to rise rapidly, igniting the material at the base of the cylinder. If the compression is done too slowly the heat will dissipate before ignition will occur. This can take a little practice, so don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t flash the first time you try it. It may be helpful to prepare a few pieces of toilet paper or cotton fiber in advance. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | College level, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: awesome demonstration, compression ignition, diesel engines, fire piston, gas laws, phenomenon based learning | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
by: Lee Walker
When we are doing a Partnership for Learning.com Science Adventure on phases of matter we like having this conservation of mass experience in the bag of tricks. It can be done in minutes and is extremely reliable. All you need is the simplest (and least expensive) OHAUS classroom balance from Educational Innovations, the Ice Melting Block set from Educational Innovations, a pair of wire cutters and some paper clips, (just in case you need to whip up some mass bits of less than a gram) and a nicely formed ice cube. We like to use the aluminum blocks and O-rings from two of the Ice Melting Block sets just to simplify the balancing and have found that having more than one set of the blocks is good for the original activity anyway.
Here we go……. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Chemistry, College level, Elementary level, experiments, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: Conservation of mass, phases of matter, phenomenon based learning, simple classroom experiment | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
By: Martin Sagendorf
We see hundreds of colors, but the colors we think we see are often not what we’re actually seeing – i.e. many of these colors are combinations of other colors. ‘Light’s Story’ is fascinating and full of surprises. It begins with knowing that radiating and re-radiating substances emit light. The light colors emitted are functions of a number of factors: the substance, or the incident light, or the temperature of an incandescent source.
All the textbooks explain ‘additive’ and ‘subtractive’ colors. Explanations are fine, but actual experience makes both an immediate impression and a very lasting learning experience. For example, here’s how only RED, GREEN, and BLUE light colors combine to produce two new unexpected colors.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves… let’s start with something we’re really familiar with: pigment colors. We all know that mixing different paint (pigment) colors will produce new colors. For example, when we mix red and green pigments we ‘see’ brown. And, as everyone knows, mixing a wide range of pigment colors will produce the ‘color’ we see as black. But, odd things happen when we mix two light colors. We don’t get the same color that we obtained when we mixed pigments.
When we mix red and green light colors we don’t ‘see’ brown: we see yellow! How can this be? Then… even though it does appear even more counter-intuitive, the mixing of all light colors produces the color we ‘see’ as white (but has NO color? – white… or does it?). Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Biology, College level, experiments, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: light, light mixing, phenomenon based learning, STEM, white light | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
