|
 |
 |
|
|
||
 |
||
 Welcome back to another round up of science-related news, resources and ideas. This week, there's going to be fireworks. Plus free Horrible Science books, trips down under for budding science stars, ICT CD-Roms, a chance to dabble with the Doppler Effect and much, much more ... Here’s the full rundown: 01. Create your own desktop FIREWORK FIESTA 02. '5 FOR SYDNEY' - send a star student Down Under 03. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK: make your own thermometer 04. ROBOFESTA - Wednesday 10th November 05. Sleeping dormice: WINNING PHOTO 06. MOUSES AT THE READY: FOR 'EXPLOSIVE EXPERIMENTS' BOOKS 07. Free inspirational ICT CD-ROM - a present to you from Becta 08. WHERE'S THE SENSE IN THAT? Magnetoreception for beginners 09. RECOMMENDED WEBSITES OF THE WEEK 10. WINNERS WINNERS WINNERS from last week 11. JOKES OF THE WEEK Ready? Here we go ... |
||
|
||
|
01. CREATE YOUR ONE (ONLINE) FIREWORK FIESTA
It's fireworks-go-go this month, with Guy Fawkes celebrations all around the country this weekend, and Diwali beginning shortly. But did you know you can execute your own pyrotechnic display right here on your computer screen too? It's just one of the many benefits of being a Planet Science regular ... Firey facts are interspersed with heavenly sparkles at: FIRE FACTS  |
||
|
||
| 02. HAVE YOU GOT A STUNNINGLY GIFTED SCIENCE STUDENT? If so, here's an opportunity to nominate them for a chance to go to science school for a fortnight in Australia ... The Association for Science Education (ASE) are currently inviting nominations from teachers for students aged 16 or above, for the scheme which is known as '5 for Sydney'. The idea is that one student will be selected from each of the 19 UK regions of the UK, and two of these 19 will eventually be chosen to spend two weeks in Sydney. Before that though, the 19 selectees, and around 80 others will be invited to the Royal Institution in London for a highly enjoyable day of lectures from inspirational figures from science. This is an international gilt-edged initiative, and the winners can expect not only to learn a lot about science while they're in Australia, but to make friends from around the world. Nowadays of course international travel is commonplace, but when the scheme was first launched back in 1963, Prince Philip used to come to the airport to wave the winners off to the New World ... Download a pdf with all the information you need to make a nomination on the ASE's website at http://www.ase.org.uk (click through on RECOGNISING SCIENCE STUDENTS WITH POTENTIAL '5 FOR SYDNEY). |
||
|
||
| 03. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK: MAKE YOUR OWN THERMOMETER Want to know how a thermometer works? Find out by making one. You will need: * An empty small plastic squeezy mayonnaise or ketchup bottle * A plastic straw * Modelling clay or blutak * Water * Food colouring * A marker pen What to do: 1. Fill the empty plastic bottle one quarter full of water. 2. Add a few drops of food colouring to the water so you can see it better. 3. Push a straw through the hole in the top of the squeezy bottle. 4. Make sure there is a good seal around the straw by using modelling clay or blutak. 5. Blow through the straw so that the water bubbles. If you hear a hissing sound you will know that your seal is not good enough. Re-pinch the clay or blutak around the straw and make sure it is well attached to the bottle top. 6. Blow bubbles through the water till it rises half way up the bottle. 7. Lift your bottle so that it is at eyelevel and make a mark on the outside of the bottle that shows the level of water in the straw. 8. This mark shows the level of water in the straw at room temperature. 9. Now place your bottle in the fridge. What happens to the water level in the straw? 10. Try placing your bottle in a warm place e.g. near a radiator. What happens to the level in the straw now? What's going on? The thermometer works because as the temperature rises, the air inside the bottle expands and pushes the water up the straw. At cooler temperatures, the air in the bottle contracts and the water drops. Bulb thermometers rely on the simple principle that a liquid changes its volume relative to its temperature. Liquids take up less space when they are cold and more space when they are warm. In practice water would not be a good liquid to use, as it would freeze at temperatures below 0oC. Instead other liquids that expand on heating like alcohol and mercury are used. Alcohol has a lower freezing point than water so it can measure temperatures below 0oC. Mercury has a boiling point of 357oC but due to its toxicity alcohol thermometers are usually used for medical purposes. Digital thermometers contain a thermoresistor (or 'thermistor'). This device changes its resistance with changes in temperature. A computer or other circuit measures the resistance and converts it to a temperature which is displayed digitally. Forehead strip thermometers use liquid crystal thermochromic ink which is formulated to change colour at different temperatures. For more info on thermometers, have a look at How Stuff Works at: http://home.howstuffworks.com/therm.htm As you probably know, there are three temperature scales: Fahrenheit, Celsius and Kelvin. To find out more about the three scientists who gave their names to these scales, have a look at: ENERGY QUEST at: http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/how_it_works/thermometer.html Remember though: Absolute zero rules KO! |
||
|
||
| 04. ROBOFESTA: HAPPENING THIS WEDNESDAY Apologies for the short notice on this one, but if you're interested in robotics and their applications, the you are cordially invited by the Open University to attend their RoboFesta-UK 4th Annual Open Meeting on Wednesday (10th November). The theme this year is 'Creative Robotics' and here's what they say: "Robotics, mechatronics and animatronics are playing increasingly prominent roles in the arts, creative enterprises and entertainment sectors - from theatre sets and film studios to contemporary kinetic sculpture and from advanced marketing displays to theme parks. Creative robotics describes the emerging discipline that combines leading robotics research with applications in the creative and entertainment industries. "This year's annual open RoboFesta-UK educational robotics network meeting will be a joint event with the recently launched Creative Robotics Research Network. The theme of network - Creative Robotics - will provide an opportunity for academic researchers, industrial developers and arts practitioners in the area of creative robotics to come together and generate a roadmap for the development of creative robotics in the coming years. The meeting will also have a strong educational outreach theme." They add that there is indeed such a thing as a free lunch, as they'll be laying it on specially. Chatting, mingling and the exchange of business cards will be heavily encouraged amongst the attendees; academia, industry, cultural services, funding agencies and educational networks all always well represented at this annual event. For more information, free registration, and a map to help you find your way around the many roundabouts of Milton Keynes please contact: robofesta@open.ac.uk |
||
|
||
| 05. SLEEPING DORMICE - MOST AWWWWW-INSPRING PICTURE EVER? Just a quick mention for the viewers' choice winner of the BBCTV Countryfile wildlife photographic competition as it's been a big hit ... It shows three dormice curled up fast asleep, their feet and paws scrunched, eyes closed, tails wrapped round and contented expressions indicating a mousey dreamworld we humans can never know ... You may have already seen the image in the papers, but if not here's where you can find it, along with the best of the other entries: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/environment/ The dormice are second down on the left, under the furry-feathered fledgling ... And speaking of mice ... |
||
| ||
| 06. MOUSES AT THE READY: FOR EXPLOSIVE EXPERIMENTS This week, to coincide with Fireworks night, we have six copies of Nick Arnold's busting-out-all-over Horrible Science book: 'Explosive Experiments'. As the title suggests, the book is packed with hair-raising tales of scientific ventures that went awry (or sky-high - or both), like the poor man who blew himself up on his prototype invention, the rocket-propelled chair ... As you'd expect from Nick Arnold, the book includes a number of home-style activities you can try out for yourself, whenever life seems in need of a wee jolt ... To enter the draw, send an email with the title 'KER-POW!' in the subject heading, and a note of your name and address. The draw will take place next Thursday at 5pm. Good luck! |
||
|
||
| 07. FREE ICT CD-ROM - GET YOURS NOW If you're a teacher, you may be interested to know that Becta has just published a CD-ROM all about ICT and how to make the most of it, and if you fancy a copy, they'll send you one for nothing. The CD is called 'Effective Use of ICT in Subject Teaching - Primary', and it's full of case studies, ideas, resources and examples of how ICT can be used imaginatively and enjoyably in subjects across the curriculum. Here's where to order yours: http://www.becta.org.uk/corporate/publications/ |
||
|
||
|
08. WHERE'S THE SENSE IN THAT: FINDING DIRECTION |
||
|
||
| 09. RECOMMENDED WEBSITE OF THE WEEK This week, adventures in physics without leaving your seat ... The recommended website in question belongs to the Schlumberger Excellence in Educational Development, or 'SEED' for short. It's a large site, and not unlike Planet Science in its aims and commitment to groovy and colourful yet scientifically rigorous content that will appeal to all. It's packed with all sorts of science activities, written features, ideas and resources, so a thorough exploration of the full site is recommended, but we've just found three new items in the Virtual Experiments zone that you may well like to try for yourself: The main page is http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/lab/index_virtual.htm and the ones we particularly like are: THE ARCHERY GAME - a demonstration of the physics of projectiles. You control the archer, and you can have plenty of practice shots with the target at close range ... but when you begin to play for real, it all gets much more serious. Work out your strategy by means of the 'speed' and 'angle' indicators - and fiddle with the windspeed when you want an extra challenge. Watch out for those farmyard animals though ... THE FRICTION EXPLORER - watch what happens when force meets friction ... You control the spikey-haired boy who's pushing a book across a table, and you can set the force of his push, and the amount of friction between book and table. Hit 'push' and see how far it travels. (Tip: it's most fun if you whack the book beyond the end of the table, as when you hit 'reset', the dog walks across the room and retrieves it for you.) THE DOPPLER TRAIN - explore the world of eeeeeeEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOoooooooo. There are two Doppler applications to be found on the page here, but this particular one involves a violinist, who is balanced confidently on the flatbed carriage of a steam train, as she plays a single smooth note while travelling past the inscrutable stationmaster who is listening hard to the changing pitch of the sound she's making. Adjust the note, and the speed of the train to see what happens to the pitch shift (don't worry, she never falls off ...) To have a look at the rest of what's available on the SEED site, click to the homepage at: http://www.seed.slb.com/en/index.htm -------------------- Ariel photos online ... Is this science? Not sure, but it's proved very popular in the Planet Science office of late! Did you know that you can see an ariel photo of your own home, complete with superimposed map over the top of it at MULTIMAP.COM? Just go to http://www.multimap.com, click on 'ariel', and if they have a photo, it'll pop up... When you mouse over it, the street map appears like magic. You'll suddenly know what it might feel like to be the pilot of a surveillance helicopter ... Unfortunately they don't yet cover Scotland or Northern Ireland - but we reckon that's only because those places are so cool it takes a little longer to do them justice in a photograph. |
||
|
||
| 10. EVERYONE'S A WINNER The winners of the October Engineering quiz have now been selected, and their shiny chrome jigsaw 3D globe desktop puzzles have already been dispatched. We've even had a thank you email back already! Here's the full list of lucky winners: Callum Beardmore of Llangollen Brian Osborne of St Austell Lucy Rutherford of Mickleham Nigel Urry of Ealing Liane Sallows of Cambridge James Stevenson of Kingstone Grace Harper of Birmingham Kim Vale of Longfield Pauline Sharp of Folkstone Rachel Hunt of Winchester Mary Smith of Burgess Hill Anne Jones of Telford Luke Batten of Swindon Usman Kahn of Edgbaston Ashley North of Canterbury Harry Wagstaff of Woburn Sands Linton Austen of Thirsk Gideon Jones of Ahston-under-Lyne Susan Walker of Durham James Conheeny of Sheffield Meanwhile, we also held the draw for the three Bat Conservation Trust 'Young Batworker Memberships' and the winners were: Simon Potter of Kelso in Roxburghshire Gill Hickman of Ringwood School Wendy (? No surname supplied yet!) of Cambridge |
||
|
||
| 11. JOKES OF THE WEEK James Stevenson has been in touch with a couple of jokes ... The first is a Tommy Cooper classic that's round again for a second appearance here as it seemed appropriate for this explosively-themed newsletter: Two boys were arrested by the police, one for drinking battery acid, the other for eating fireworks. At the court the judge charged one of them, and fired the other! ... and ... A lady walks into a curtain shop, asks assistant for curtains for her computer, the assistant asks are you sure, and she replies: 'Yes, I've got Windows! And so to the weather - always good for a laugh. Q. What's worse than raining buckets? A. Hailing taxis! Q. Why did the woman go outside with her purse open? A. She expected some change in the weather. Q. What happens when it rains cats and dogs? A. You have to been careful not to step in a poodle. - o - O - o - That's all for this week, but if you have any contributions or ideas for future newsletters please send them in, the more the merrier. Email Anne McNaught on anne.mcnaught@nesta.org.uk. Have a great week! |
||
|
||
 |
