What do artificial snow and baby diapers have in common? Some folks may scratch their heads, but if you’re a science teacher you probably already know the answer(s): they both contain sodium polyacrylate, and they both fall into the fascinating category of SAPs—superabsorbent polymers. These polymers simply LOVE water!
This edition of our newsletter is all about hydrophilic, or water loving, materials. We’re proud to share these comments from science loving teachers!
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Chemistry, College level, Elementary level, High School level, Middle School level | Tagged: Chemistry, DIY, Educational Innovations, fun experiments, hands-on activity, hydrophilic, parent friendly, PBL, phenomenon based learning, phenomenon-based science, polymer, polymer crystals, science, snow polymer, sodium polyacrylate, variables | 
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Posted by Donna Giachetti
by Ted Beyer
One of my favorite authors, Arthur C. Clark, once said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” This has been quoted, misquoted and reused for years. Of course, it’s perfectly true, and magicians have been using science as part of their acts for centuries. Things that we take for granted today were once bleeding edge technology. I remember in high school reading that sometime ‘soon’ (this was more than 30 years ago) there would be TVs that would be so thin that they would hang on the wall like pictures – impossible! A generation before, the concept of television itself was astonishing, and a generation before that, moving pictures of any kind were magical.
As I started to think about this, I suddenly realized that there are many products that we sell here at Educational Innovations that are used – currently – by magicians as ‘tricks’ in their act. Let’s take a look…. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Chemistry, College level, Elementary level, experiments, High School level, Middle School level, Physics | Tagged: discrepant event, eddy currents, ice melting blocks, Lenz's Law, magic, magic snow, Newton's Nightmare, nitinol wire, PBL, phenomenon based learning, slush powder, snow polymer, sodium polyacrylate | Permalink
Posted by Tami O'Connor
