Scientific Method (As applied to a video game)
Observation: Mario got really big after eating that
mushroom.
Theory: Maybe the mushroom CAUSED Mario to get really
big!
Prediction: If I make Mario eat another mushroom, he
will get big.
Hypothesis testing: I'll make Mario eat some mushrooms and
see what happens.
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"Humans explore the universe with five senses and call the adventure
science." -Edwin P. Hubble
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Investigating the real world
This page is subject to the same laws of entropy as the rest
of the U N I V E R S E.
Energy
Heat
Electricity
Magnetism
What is magnetic? (Move a very strong magnet past a bar of
aluminum or copper and you may notice a slight magnetic effect.)
Magnetic beach sand
Compass
Motors
Solenoids
Magnetic computer memory: Lay out some donut magnets, face
some of them North up (ones) and some of them North down(zeros). Use
a bar magnet (read head) to detect which donuts are "ones" and which
ones are "zeros." Now shrink everything by a factor of 100000 or so
and you have the workings of a hard drive. (Do something similar with
static electricity and you have RAM memory!)
Tape heads
Light
Geometric Optics: Light appears to travel in straight lines like a stream of particles
Use wax paper and a paper cup to make a pinhole camera.
Lenses & Mirrors:
Convex
Concave
Fresnel
Compound
Telescope
Microscope
Wave Optics: Light behaves like waves.
Polarizer
Pinhole/Comb Diffraction (use laser)
Diffraction grating
Bubbles, Oil Spots and Dichroic filters - Colors are
selectively reflected or transmitted because the light waves
reflecting off the two surfaces of a very thin boundry interfere with
each other. This effect is used to reduce reflection in camera and
binocular lenses.
Laser "speckle" effect is caused by optical standing waves.
Hologram is created by capturing the interference pattern
of light waves.
Root Beer Mug optics: Handle "bends" light like a fiber optic cable.
Why is the sky blue?:
Add a few drops of milk to a container of water. Shine a flashlight
from the side. What is the color of the beam? What is the color of the
transmitted light? Is the beam polarized? Is the sky polarized?
Converting light energy into electrical energy: Solar Cells.
Sound
Waves:
Listen for beats in 2 tones which are very close in frequency.
Chemistry
Lightstick: Stored chemical energy becomes light energy.
Aluminum/Penny cell: Stored chemical energy becomes electrical energy.
Heat pack: Supercooled liquid (sodium acetate). The clicker, shocks
the solution, causing crystals to form. As the acetate freezes, it gives up it's latent heat.
Steel wool: Slow oxidation (rust) Fast oxidation (burn).
Life
5 senses
Plants
Animals
Other
Fungus, Bacteria, Virus...
Earth
Weather
Kite Aerial
Photography
Shuttle
Photo of Racine, WI (very slow!)
photos of the earth.
Technology (Putting it all together)
VCR
Electromagnetic motors, solonoids, brakes, heads.
Simple machines, pulleys, screws, levers...
Converting electricity to light (flashing 12:00).
Computer:
Magnetic disk drive read heads.
DRAM memory - Imagine storing a static charge on tiny balloons.
1 is charged, 0 is discharged. The "balloons" are so small they lose
their charge in a fraction of a second so they have to be continuously
read and recharged.
Car:
Engine converts chemical energy (fuel) to mechanical energy.
Alternator converts mechanical energy to electrical energy.
Battery stores electrical energy as chemical energy.
Hydraulic brake cylinders provide mechanical advantage to foot
pressure.
Bogus Science Scavenger Hunt (Newspapers, T.V., Radio,
Internet...)
USA Today:"X-rays were discovered at the turn of the century by Nobel
laureate Marie Curie...MRI works on cell nuclei which like the earth have
positive and negative magnetic poles..." July 8, 1997
CNN/Time
poll: 53% believe in E.T., 80% believe in govt. coverup of E.T.?!?
AP: "By H. JOSEF HEBERT Associated Press Writer: ...Nitrogen oxide is
a key ingredient of ozone, which is a primary component of Smog..."
Reuters: "Eclipses may be viewed through unexposed film" (NOT!)
AP: Photo of egg, caption says that eggs can only be balanced on the
equinox (and some nonsense about gravitational balance...) 1998
Science Myths
Sound of thunder travels (conveniently) 1 mile each second (3600 m.p.h).
Solar eclipse rays are more intense than regular sunshine.
Drains always flow counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.
More science myths
Bad astronomy:
http://smart.net/~badastro/bad.html
Bad K-6
Science: http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/miscon/miscon.html
More Science web sites
Do-it-yourself
Science for kids: http://www.halcyon.com/sciclub/kidlink1.html
Whyfiles - Science behind the
news: http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu/
NASA GOES Live Weather
Satellite photos: www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/GOES/
Discovery Channel online:
http://www.discovery.com/
More Science
Links.../
Back Home
Copyright (c) 1998 by Brian Nitz