Static Electricity Lab

March 6th

Students designed a lab to explore static electricity. Some students changed the surfaces (independent variable) they stuck the balloon to and rubbed/charged each balloon with wool. They measured how long the balloon stuck (dependent variable).

Other students changed the different things they rubbed/charged the balloon with (independent variable) and placed them on the same surface. They also measured how long it stuck (dependent variable).

Static Electricity

On March 5th we were introduced to static electricity.  We watched how when there is a build up of electrons on an object such as a balloon, we can observe objects attract to it and repel from it.

 After rubbing the balloon with fleece, the little pieces of paper easily attracted to the balloon. The negative charge of the balloon and the positive charge of the paper attracted. Opposite charges attract!

In the picture below a student rubbed a balloon against his shirt. It then became negatively charged. The negative charges of the balloon are repelling the negative charges of the water molecules.

The EYE

Tuesday, February 26, we talked about the eye and how it functions to allow us to see.

We turned on and off the lights to observe how our pupil changes size to allow more or less light in.

We also read different articles about parts of the eye and eye abnormalities and then shared what we learned with the class.

At the end of class, we found a video of a basketball player getting his eye knocked out of the socket. It was gross, yet cool, according to middle schoolers. Here's a link.

The COLORS of the Rainbow

On Monday, February 25, we talked about why we see different colors and light.

First we took a glass prism and a flash light and observed how white light is made up of all the colors on the spectrum. You can see the color spectrum when light refracts (or bends) through a glass prism.

In this picture you can see the color spectrum, somewhat. Pictures don't capture the colors very well.

The student is shining the flash light through the prism to see the color spectrum.

On the wall is a nice view of the color spectrum. 

Once the students figured out the best way to shine the light at the prism to see the color spectrum, they drew the colors they saw in their notebook. 

Reflection Challenge

On Friday, February 22, we had a reflection challenge. There were six stations at which we had to reflect a laser beam with mirrors to a target. At each station the target was in a different place and required the mirrors to do something different. We had to use at least 3 mirrors to reflect the light to the target. Groups got more points if they added more mirrors. The laser pointer couldn't be moved from its original position.

The target for this station is under the table. "Under the Table"

The target for this station is on the table. "Nose Dive"

"Zig Zag" 

"Circle"

Refraction

Today we talked about refraction. Refraction is the bending of light as it passes from one substance to another. This happens because light travels at different speeds through different materials, causing light to appear bent.

The students observed refraction with laser pointers and different materials. The students drew diagrams of their observations.

Light Reflection

On Tuesday, we looked into the two different types of reflection, regular reflection and diffuse reflection.

1. Regular Reflection is when light rays all reflect at the same angle.

2. Diffuse Reflection is when light rays all reflect at different angles.

Laser Reflection Activity

We did an activity with laser pointers to see which types of surfaces have a regular reflection and a diffuse reflection: smooth, rough, shiny, and/or dull. 

We found out that smooth and shiny surfaces have a regular reflection, whereas rough and dull surfaces have a diffuse reflection.