Tag: STEM

Most students understand that things get warmer as temperature goes up, but it is in the science lab that we have an opportunity to really help them understand what temperature means. One of the core ideas in Physical Science is that temperature is actually a measure of the kinetic energy of the particles of the matter. But when you’ve only thought about temperature as being hot or cold, this is an especially difficult concept because the “particles of matter” are hard to visualize.

One way to bring this concept into focus is to model the sub-microscopic world with something that the students can physically manipulate. We’ll shake things up in the lab by  modeling molecules with some craft beads.

To measure the temperature, I used a Wireless Temperature Sensor and SPARKvue software. After placing sensor into an empty jar with the beads, I just needed to add some energy. Next step… just shake that jar thing. With a wireless sensor this is easy—just put the lid on and shake it up

I imagine that an entire class of student shaking these beads could be quite a cacophony. These engaged students would definitely see (and hear) the motion of the particles inside their sample of matter. You may need to reign them in a bit and remind them that they should “shake it, don’t break it.”

We know the dancing around turned up the heat in your class, but did all of this movement affect the temperature in the jar? Let’s take a closer look at the data.

One way to bring this concept into focus is to model the sub-microscopic world with something that the students can physically manipulate. We’ll shake things up in the lab by  modeling molecules with some craft beads.

They say fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake, but the data doesn’t lie. While the temperature increase was small, we can clearly see that the sensor did measure a steady increase in the temperature.

Now that they have the basic idea of temperature, you can have the students tune their own own investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.

While the students are devising plans (and of course competing to see who can change the temperature the most), you can rest assured that they are understanding disciplinary core ideas and incorporating engineering practices and cross cutting concepts.

Facilitated by veteran PASCO trainer Glenn Starkey, the grade 4 to 6 teachers – representing over 20 schools per session – had an engaging time investigating temperature changes in water and reflective properties of light, as well as learning how to collect measurements with their own weather station. Helping to support Glenn at each session were Craig Ecclestone from AYVA Educational Solutions, and Eric Therrien and Christine Christensen from the Nova Scotia Department of Education.

Over the course of the week, eight separate 3-hour hands-on training sessions were conducted, with representatives from nearly half of the elementary schools across the province. The training was based on the Airlink, the general science sensor and the weather anemometer. The post training feedback was overwhelmingly positive with many teachers commenting that it was the best professional development they ever had to promote scientific inquiry.

“For science teachers who are looking to change their classroom practices and give their students more hands on experience, you need to consider using the latest wireless temperature sensors from PASCO. Using the PASCO Wireless Sensor technology will change the way you teach ….”

Read the entire review blog by Brian Friedlander from Assistive Tek LLC here: http://assistivetek.blogspot.com/2016/06/pasco-scientific-wireless-sensors.html