Leapfrogs and Lily Pads


Educational Innovations Blog

By Jared Hottenstein

As anyone in the culinary world will tell you, presentation is everything.  World famous restaurants with multiple Michelin stars put as much effort into presentation as they do in preparing the food. 

Science teachers could learn something from chefs.  I’m not talking about adding flashy multimedia and explosions.  The goal isn’t to entertain… but to take a few extra steps that will help our students stay involved.  How do we do that? 

A great place to start is integration.  Science teachers think about science.  What if we begin to think of ways to bring in social studies, reading, writing, and math to help with the presentation of our science lessons?  What if a meaningful project could allow students to apply their new learning in myriad areas?  Let me give you an example.

Read the rest of this entry »

Science Experiments With Japanese Yen Coins


Ron Perkins, Educational Innovationsby: Ron Perkins

Who knew that a single coin could be used for so many classroom science activities!  You can demonstrate concepts such as surface tension, buoyancy, and even eddy currents with Japanese yen coins!

Surface Tension: Even though aluminum has a density of 2.7 gm/cm3, and the density of water is 1 g/cm3, aluminum yen coins can float on the surface of the water!

Surface tension is a physical property of water.  It is caused by cohesion, which is the attraction of like molecules.  Water molecules are made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.  The “stickiness” of water is caused by hydrogen bonding.  This hydrogen bonding pulls the water molecules towards one another and forms a sort of “skin” on the surface of the water.

Japanese Yen Coins Experiment 1:

Science Experiments With Japanese Yen Coins - Educational Innovations BlogUsing a bent paper clip or a plastic fork, gently lower the flat side of the coin onto the surface of a pan or cup of water and remove the clip or fork. The coin should rest on the surface of the water. Read the rest of this entry »