by: Jim Fiddes
I recently used this extension of the balloon-CD hovercraft plans in Norm Barstow’s blog for a middle school physical science lab, but it could be easily adapted for a high school IPS class. It works as inquiry for higher-achieving students, but just as well with more detailed direction, for regular classes.
Leave a Comment » | 
Elementary level, experiments, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: cars, collisions, energy, experiments, hovercraft, Middle School physical science, PBL, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science, physical science lab, science, smartboard, variables | 
Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
by: Ken Crawford
As I mentioned in my last blog, I had the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of introducing a new teaching tool called the PowerWheel. As a career social studies teacher and administrator, it has been a great experience to learn about a whole new area of academics…the teaching of energy and everything that goes along with it.
As we started to market the PowerWheel, one of the first things that we did was to bring together a group of teachers that represented all teaching levels…from the elementary to the post-secondary. Many of these teachers were not science teachers…or had limited science backgrounds. After giving them the chance to use the PowerWheel, we asked them, “How can we make the PowerWheel the most effective teaching tool it can be?”
Their answers were an eye-opener for us. It came down to variations on a single theme: Before we can use the PowerWheel effectively, we need to understand energy ourselves…then we can teach our students. It turns out that one of the greatest fears or limitations that some of the teachers had was the lack of their own knowledge. If given a chance to choose between a social studies lesson and a science lesson…they would choose the former…just because of comfort level.
From that moment on, we knew that we had an additional priority…help teach the teachers, and then effective learning about energy could take place. The PowerWheel is a great tool to help do this…easy to understand, and easy to use.
Here are three thoughts about teaching energy education in your classroom:
Leave a Comment » | Elementary level, energy, experiments, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: energy, hydropower, kinetic energy, Law of Conservation of Energy, potential energy, PowerWheel | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
by: Martin Sagendorf
One Pendulum…
Is interesting, but…
Two Pendulums…
Are much more interesting.
4 Comments | College level, energy, experiments, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: coupled pendulums, energy, harmonic motion, momentum, pendulums, Physics, resonance | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
by: Tami O’Connor
A few months ago I had occasion to conduct two hands-on workshops for elementary and middle school teachers at the NSTA National Convention in San Francisco on behalf of Educational Innovations. One presentation focused on film canister rockets. This is a tried-and-true way to teach Newtown’s First and Third Laws of Motion and also brings to light concepts such as the four forces of flight; thrust, drag, weight, and lift. It also reinforces instruction on 3-D shapes and 2-D plane figures such as circles, cones, cylinders, rectangles, and triangles.
I presented the lesson to the teachers in much the same way I would to my students. The first thing we did was to brainstorm the features all rockets have. After a bit of discussion it was agreed that they all have a nose cone, a cylindrical body, fins, and an engine. I then handed out a paper template imprinted with the pattern of a nose cone and fins, a regular 8½ x 11 sheet of white paper, a piece of goldenrod paper, and a white translucent film canister. Also required are scissors, tape, ¼ piece of an Alka Seltzer tablet, and paper towels.
The only canister that works with this rocket is the type that has the lid that fits snugly inside the canister. The canisters that have a lid that wraps around the outside rim, however, will not allow enough pressure to build up inside the chamber.
The first step in building a film canister rocket is to construct the body of the rocket. The easiest way is to curl the white 8 ½ x 11 paper into a cylindrical shape using the film canister (without the top) as a guide. The paper can be rolled around the film canister and then taped along the edges. The easiest way to recover the film canister is to blow into one end of the rolled cylinder, forcing the canister out the other end. Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | Chemistry, Elementary level, energy, experiments, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: Alka Seltzer rockets, energy, film canister activities, momentum, parent friendly, PBL, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science, rockets, science, STEM | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
by: Martin Sagendorf
An Odd Name: They’re named for the German physicist Ernest Chladni who popularized them in the mid-1700s. His name is pronounced: kläd’nêz.
Chladni Plates are: Thin plates (sprinkled with fine particles) vibrated perpendicular to their plane.
How? – Then and Now: Long ago Chladni used a cello bow to excite the edge of a thin metal or wooden plate. Today, we can use an oscillator, amplifier, and an electro-mechanical oscillator. We have a great advantage, we can easily vary the frequency of excitation thereby providing a whole vista of experimentation.
7 Comments | College level, experiments, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: construct your own physics demonstrations, energy, Ernest Chladni, frequency, oscillator, resonance, sound, standing waves, vibration | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
