You Said It! Thermal Energy Product Reviews


You Said It! Product Reviews - Educational Innovations NewsletterTo put it simply, we think thermal energy is cool!  Many of our best-selling discrepant event demos are related to thermal energy, as you’ll see from the reviews below.  With our Ice Melting Blocks, you can ask your students to predict which block will melt an ice cube more rapidly…  Use a Chemical Heat Pack to challenge your class to figure out how heat—usually associated with melting—can be produced by a reaction that turns a liquid into a solid…  Or dazzle them with Nitinol Memory Wire that changes shape upon heating!

If you have a favorite Educational Innovations product, send us a comment below.  We’d love to share your review with your fellow teachers and science lovers.

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An Introduction to the Plasma Globe


Donna Giachetti, Educational Innovationsby Donna Giachetti

I have the great fortune of working for a company that inspires—indeed, requires—me to learn something new every day.  I’m constantly scouring online science journals for tidbits on the latest in nanotechnology, the wonders of electrochemistry, or even something as relatively simple as the ultraviolet spectrum.

 
I’m not claiming I always understand everything I learn… but I try my best.  (Hey, I was an English major in college, so I’m not as scientifically inclined as most of my colleagues.)  Luckily, I can count on my trusty coworkers to help me out.

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The Plasma Globe, Inside and Out


Ted Beyer, Educational Innovationsby Ted Beyer

Nikola Tesla.  Amazing guy.  He came up with a huge number of inventions, but outside the scientific community he is largely overshadowed by his better known contemporary, Thomas Edison.  Tesla developed a stream of innovations that we use every day—things like AC power, fluorescent lighting, on and on.

What you might not know is that Tesla, when working on electric light in February of 1894, came up with the concept for what we now call the Plasma Globe.

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Electricity from Mud?! Introducing the MudWatt Kit


Electricity from Mud?! Educational Innovations BlogBy Nancy Foote

When a little kid comes up to you and asks you do science, it’s hard to say no.  But when you’re a science teacher, and that little kid is your granddaughter, you know you have to come up with something fast.

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Green Science Humor


Science Humor - Educational Innovations NewsletterWhy not insert a bit of green science humor into your next quiz or homework page?  Extra points for students who guess the right answers to our riddles!

You might also get a jolt from our Electricity humor page, from a previous issue of our newsletter.

If you have a favorite cartoon or joke, we invite you to share it as a comment below.

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