by Nancy Foote
A curiosity table. That’s what I call it. Whenever my students have a free minute (which rarely happens), I encourage them to investigate the materials on the curiosity table in our classroom.
Today I added something new—an Atmospheric Mat.
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College level, Elementary level, experiments, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: air pressure, Educational Innovations, experiments, fun experiments, hands-on activity, homeschool, parent friendly, PBL, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science, Physics, physics demonstration apparatus, science, STEM, variables | 
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Posted by Donna Giachetti
by 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.
3 Comments | College level, electricity, Elementary level, energy, experiments, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: Educational Innovations, electricity, experiments, fun experiments, hands-on activity, homeschool, parent friendly, PBL, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science, Physics, physics demonstration apparatus, science, STEM | Permalink
Posted by Donna Giachetti
by 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.
12 Comments | College level, electricity, energy, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: Educational Innovations, electricity, energy, PBL, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science, Physics, physics demonstration apparatus, science, STEM | Permalink
Posted by Donna Giachetti
ack to school = buying new supplies.It’s one of the realities of being a teacher: you can never have enough pencils, stickers or motivational goodies to hand out on special occasions.
Our safety equipment, timers, coffee mugs and colorful lab coats are year-round favorites, but they’re especially popular at the beginning of a school year. Read on for rave reviews from science teachers, parents, and self-proclaimed science geeks.
If you have a favorite Educational Innovations product, let us know! We’d love to share your review with your fellow teachers and science lovers.
Leave a Comment » | College level, Elementary level, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: back to school, Educational Innovations, equipment, lab, PBL, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science, physics demonstration apparatus, science, supplies | Permalink
Posted by Donna Giachetti
by: Martin Sagendorf
A great deal of energy falls on the Earth’s surface – roughly 1 kW per square meter. This is about 0.6 Watt per square inch. This doesn’t sound like much energy, but suppose we collect and concentrate 63 square inches of this sunlight? These 63 square inches would collect about 38 Watts of energy. This doesn’t sound like much, but…
Concentrate these 38 Watts into an area of only 1/8 of a square inch? This is exactly what we can do with an inexpensive plastic Fresnel lens. We’ll focus the sunlight into an area 3/8” in diameter – this is the equivalent of 300 Watts per square inch! With this energy level, we can easily ignite a piece of wood, boil some water, and even melt a penny.
Is described in the book, Physics Demonstration Apparatus and in the blog The Sun’s Energy.
Now we’re going to describe how to build a much simpler version that works just as well – one that uses a very inexpensive Fresnel lens and is very easy to construct. Read the rest of this entry »
7 Comments | College level, energy, experiments, High School level, Physics | Tagged: atomic penny vaporizer, awesome experiment, Fresnel lens, melting pennies, physics demonstration apparatus, solar energy | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
