The Magnetic Accelerator

March 17, 2014

Janice Van Cleaveby Janice VanCleave

I love the magnetic accelerator. In fact, I met friends at a restaurant yesterday and took the accelerator with me. We had a lot of fun predicting what would happen and testing our predictions. No formal steps….just making cool guesses and then discovering whether we were correct.

Yes! The steel ball shot off the end of the track and hit the floor a couple of times, but that just added to the excitement.  It’s a small town and few are surprised that the eccentric science author is experimenting at the restaurant–again!

Magnetic Accelerator

A parent came in with her daughter, a second grader. With the mother’s permission I invited the child to sit with us. The girl had sinus problems and didn’t feel well.  She was a bit sluggish and her eyes looked dull, as one would expect. When I asked the child if she wanted to do some science experiments, her dull eyes brightened. She had not been present during the previous testing of the accelerator, but she was immediately interested.

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

Real Life Air Pressure | Examples of Air Pressure in Everyday Life

February 1, 2014

Ted Beyer, Educational InnovationsSticking Your Nose Where It Doesn’t Belong!

by Ted Beyer

At Educational Innovations, our management staff meets often to coordinate all of the goings-on here. All sorts of topics come up, both business related and science related.

More than two years ago, our Director of Operations, Ken Byrne, shared a story with us relating to his brand new travel-style coffee mug, which he had gotten as a gift. I am sure you have run into these things many times – an insulated vessel with a liquid/air-tight cap. The cap, of course, has a hole along one edge for you to drink your beverage.

The story was one of many great examples of air pressure in everyday life.  It went like this –

He was trying to drink his coffee, but, every time he tried, nothing would come out. He kept thinking that he must be using his new mug incorrectly – perhaps he had missed an instruction or technique unique to this cup that was designed to help prevent spills or something. No, no, that could not be it — he could pour it out, easily enough, but whenever he brought it to his lips to drink – nothing…

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

Spouting Off in the Classroom

January 10, 2014

Ted Beyer, Educational InnovationsThe Chinese Spouting Bowl

by Ted Beyer

When we are at one of the many educational shows we attend each year, teachers often ask what our favorite products are. I always point at two items – our eddy current materials (here’s that post!) and The Chinese Spouting Bowl. When I mention the bowl, invariably I hear – “yeah, I have seen that in the catalog – does it really work?” The simple answer is yes, yes it does. It not only works, it is amazing to see work, not that hard to make work, and most importantly, it can also be a powerful teaching tool. In fact, the Chinese Spouting Bowl is an ancient and fascinating object that can bring many different science scientific principals into the classroom in an unexpected way.Spouting Bowl

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Leave a Comment » | energy, High School level, Middle School level, Physics, sound | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor

DIY Kaleidoscope

December 10, 2013

Norm Barstow, Educational Innovationsby: Norm Barstow

When I was an Elementary Science Coordinator, I used to visit the five schools in my district and each year introduced the Pringles® Kaleidoscope as part of the Sound and Light unit. At that time I used microscope slides, and it became quite a challenge to have the students line up and tape nine slides to make the triangular prism.  Fortunately, Educational Innovations began to carry Kaleidoscope Mirrors (SM-3), thus making the task much easier.

Here is all you will need to build a Pringles® can DIY kaleidoscope in your classroom.

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

Focus on Lenz’s Law

December 8, 2013

Ted Beyer, Educational Innovationsby Ted Beyer

Ahhh, Eddy Current Tubes – you would never think that a hunk of copper pipe and a magnet could make anyone grin from ear to ear. I just love these things.

So simple in appearance, and yet so magical to see and use. Whenever I happen to have a set at home, I soon lose control of them to my wife who is just as fascinated by them as I am.

Although they can be used in fairly high end physics demonstrations, they are stunning enough that everyone who has a chance to see them is simply amazed.

Just realized – you may not have not seen one, have you? Here’s a video for you:

Kinda cool, huh? So, since I have (hopefully) gotten you to say “wow,” I’ll just bet you are wondering “why” — here’s some science:

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Leave a Comment » | High School level, magnetism, Physics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor

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