Educational resources!

A new page called Educational Resources is now live on the blog! It can be accessed through the link in this post or through the tabs at the top of this blog. The page is meant to act as a resource for elementary through middle school teachers, featuring 6 science activities connected to Indiana state standards with grade-appropriate science connections aimed toward 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade.

These activities include:

An activity exploring fluorescence. The photo on the left is from the forensic-based activity where students dissolve highlighter from paper samples to identify an unknown sheet of notes. The photo on the right demonstrates using a homemade fluorometer from a tea box to observe fluorescence.

We also had a quick activity to get students moving by exchanging objects (so, for example, 6 beads are equivalent to one paperclip). It's a fun way to introduce students to unit conversion and lead into the mole.

And puzzle pieces provide an interesting way to start thinking about ionic compounds and balancing them.

Building a Curie engine. The photo on the left was a later prototype, after we stopped using duct tape. The photo on the right is a version of the final design. These are easy to assemble and let students practice changing some variables. 

3 pictures as I tested part of a section in the polymers activities. This was demonstrating how different polymers stretch in different ways.

I also filmed a few videos to demonstrate to teachers how some of these activities worked. This is a still from a time lapse showing how the iron filings in corn syrup can show the motion of magnetic fields.

And finally, I had some fun. For the fluorescence section, I needed to find somewhere dark to observe fluorescence. The darkest area in the lab happened to be behind the whiteboards if they were slid down to the floor. After accidentally scaring someone, I started adding a note. 

This project was the summer research of Emily Knight, a sophomore Chemistry Education major, working with Dr. Stan and funded by Taylor's Faculty Mentored Undergraduate Scholarship program (FMUS).