The camera obscura is a old, old project which illuminates the nature of light. Students can discover some major scientific principles: light travels in straight lines, transparent surfaces allow light to travel through while translucent surfaces let some light through, the principles behind photography, scale, proportion and a whole host of other things. Essentially,Continue reading “This Week in the Classroom: The Camera Obscura”
Tag Archives: Science
This Week In the Classroom: How to Build Electromagnets!
Hans Christan Orsted’s discovery that electricity generates a magnetic field led to the development of electromagnets. Electromagnets are bundles of wires wrapped around a ferrous core. When electricity flows through the core, the iron magnetizes. When the electric flow ceases, so does the strength of the magnet. Electromagnets are integral parts of trash-lifters, alarms, cars,Continue reading “This Week In the Classroom: How to Build Electromagnets!”
Making A Makerspace: Top 10 Tools in a Maker’s Classroom (2012)
This year was a big year in the STEaMworks (STEM focus, art driven, work/project centered: the STEaMworks), my self-styled Maker classroom. We (and the Math/Sci Team) built a lot of projects: rockets, rocket cars, derby cars, catapults, simple robots, box-making, bench-making, bridge-building, sail-testing, music making, spirographs, pendulums, 3D prototyping, CAD models, Arduino projects, Alice computerContinue reading “Making A Makerspace: Top 10 Tools in a Maker’s Classroom (2012)”
This Week in the Classroom: Why Mothers Hate Me On Mother’s Day
As a parent, I know that art projects can be a mixed blessing. Some are breathtaking. Most should go in the circular file. Worse still are things my kids build – they fall apart and break. They take up space. God save me if my sons bring home noise-making pieces of art they have built.Continue reading “This Week in the Classroom: Why Mothers Hate Me On Mother’s Day”
If I Had a Boat (Sailing Curriculum Unit)
In my middle school/junior high class, we’ve been exploring the relationship between sails, force, momentum, foam boats and area. I’ve used the unit to assess the graphing labs we conducted last quarter and introduce non-linear graphs. I began the unit by asking students to research old sailing boats and draw conclusions from the material theyContinue reading “If I Had a Boat (Sailing Curriculum Unit)”
Technology in Education: The Digital STEM Fair
You’ve been to a science fair, right? Tri-fold boards, volcanoes and blue ribbons. This month, my colleagues and I shepherded the “STEM Fair” into existence. The STEM Fair is a showcase for any Science, Technology, Engineering or Math project our students produced over the course of a month. My school produced forty to fifty blogContinue reading “Technology in Education: The Digital STEM Fair”
WSC Designs 