CIJE‐Tech MS Grade... · Coordinator of Middle School Curriculum Katherine Owuor, Ph.D....

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CIJE‐Tech MS

If you can't explain it simply, you don't

understand well enough.

‐ Albert Einstein

CENTER FOR INITIATIVES IN JEWISH EDUCATION

Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education

President Jason Cury

Vice President Joel Beritz

Vice President Judy Lebovits, M.S., C.A.S.

Director of Community Relations Barbara Gereboff, Ph.D.

Director of Curriculum Development Adam Jerozolim, M.E.

Director of Staff Operations Jay Smallwood, Ph.D.

Coordinator of Middle School Programming Yafa Lamm

Coordinator of Innovative Programming & Fabrication Orly Nadler, M.A.

Coordinator of Middle School Curriculum Katherine Owuor, Ph.D.

Coordinator of Educational Advancement and Grants Erin Wasserman, M.S.

CIJE STEM Specialists: Christopher Auger‐Domínguez Teresa Doan

Dewain Clark, M.A. Robert Jones

Kate Van Dellen, M.S. Joseph Saltzman, Ph.Dc

© 2019 All Copyrights belong to Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education. No part of this book may be copied, duplicated, recorded, translated or stored in any database of any kind or by any other means. Any use of the material contained in this book is prohibited unless it is with the express permission of the publishers and authors.

Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education

45 Broadway, Suite 3050 New York, NY 10006

[email protected]

212‐757‐1500 Phone 212‐757‐1565 Fax

This program was produced with the generous support of the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education (CIJE) as part of its ongoing quest to achieve excellence in education

The Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education

(CIJE)

The Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education (CIJE) aims to strengthen and enrich the quality of

education in Jewish schools throughout the United States. CIJE is investing in our nation's future

by providing beneficiary schools with cutting‐edge technology, engaging curricula, and vital

support so that students can acquire the skills they need to excel in our global society. Currently,

CIJE has more than 200 beneficiary schools across the United States and programs which span

grades K‐12. CIJE's innovative programs are paving the way for the achievement and success of

tomorrow's leaders and thinkers.

CIJE‐TECH MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM: AN OVERVIEW

There is growing concern that the United States is not preparing a sufficient number of students,

teachers, and practitioners in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

(STEM). A large majority of students fail to reach proficiency in math and science, and many are

taught by teachers lacking adequate subject matter knowledge. When compared to other

nations, the math and science achievement of U.S. students and the rate of STEM degree

attainment appear inconsistent with a nation considered the world leader in scientific innovation.

In a recent international assessment of fifteen‐year‐old students, the U.S. ranked twenty‐eighth

in math literacy and twenty‐fourth in science literacy. In response to this dismal information,

nine years ago, the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education began the implementation of various

STEM programs in elementary Jewish schools. The success of these programs brought about the

initiation of the CIJE‐Tech Engineering high school programs, which were launched in seven CIJE

High Schools in September, 2011. To add to the success of this initiative and to introduce middle

school students to the areas of STEM, CIJE initiated the CIJE‐Tech Middle School program in

September, 2015.

To increase STEM learning, the CIJE‐Tech Middle School program includes activities that improve

student and teacher content knowledge and teacher pedagogical skills. Innovative strategies are

used, including small group collaborative work and the use of hands‐on activities and

experiments to promote inquiry and curiosity.

Students in the CIJE‐Tech MS program will:

Define questions and problems, design investigations to gather data, collect and organize

data, draw conclusions, and then apply understandings to new and novel situations

Creatively use science, mathematics, and technology concepts and principles by applying

them to the engineering design process

Apply rational and logical thought processes of science, technology, engineering and

mathematics design

Understand and explain the fundamentals of STEM and to develop the skills needed, and

to appropriately apply the knowledge gained

The CIJE‐Tech Middle School program is based on problem‐solving and project‐based learning

approaches to solving grade level curricula. Students gain an understanding of how key STEM

concepts are applied. The CIJE‐Tech MS curriculum involves inquiry‐based lessons and activities,

where students carry out hands‐on investigations that encourage critical thinking and problem

solving. The CIJE‐Tech MS curriculum is comprised of hands‐on, minds‐on activities through

which students realize the application and relevance of their Science, Technology, Engineering,

Mathematics education. The ultimate goal is to produce successful self‐directed learners who

are equipped to excel and face the challenges of the future.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS ..................................................................................................................... 4

MODULE 1. ENGINEERING DESIGN ................................................................................................. 6

MODULE 2. MARSHMALLOW CHALLENGE ................................................................................... 17

MODULE 3. NEWSPAPER THINS .................................................................................................... 24

MODULE 4. QUAKE SHAKE ............................................................................................................ 31

MODULE 5. GREENHOUSE DESIGN ............................................................................................... 40

MODULE 6. POPSICLE BRIDGE DESIGN ......................................................................................... 50

MODULE 7. CONNECTIVITY AND STEADINESS TESTER ................................................................. 58

MODULE 8. SQUISHY CIRCUITS ..................................................................................................... 64

MODULE 9. SIMPLE CIRCUITS ....................................................................................................... 69

MODULE 10. ELECTROMAGNETISM ............................................................................................. 75

MODULE 11. DENSITY ................................................................................................................... 83

MODULE 12. WATERCRAFT ........................................................................................................... 98

MODULE 13. CARTESIAN DIVER .................................................................................................. 106

MODULE 14. BALLAST ................................................................................................................. 113

MODULE 15. WATER AND SALINITY ........................................................................................... 121

MODULE 16. WATER PURIFICATION ........................................................................................... 133

MODULE 17. SURFACE TENSION ................................................................................................. 141

MODULE 18. HYDROPHOBICITY AND HYDROPHILICITY .............................................................. 153

MODULE 19. BREAKING POINT ................................................................................................... 165

MODULE 20. MEDICATION BAG CHALLENGE ............................................................................. 174

MODULE 21. INSULATION ........................................................................................................... 177

MODULE 22. SOLAR POWER ....................................................................................................... 186

MODULE 23. THE CHANUKAH FLAME AND CHEMISTRY OF COMBUSTION ............................... 196

MODULE 24. THE SIX SIMPLE MACHINES AND THE INCLINED PLANE ........................................ 208

MODULE 25. PULLEYS ................................................................................................................. 217

MODULE 26. TORQUE ................................................................................................................. 225

MODULE 27. PROJECTILE MOTION ............................................................................................. 232

MODULE 28. RUBBER BAND RACERS .......................................................................................... 239

MODULE 29. SPEED, VELOCITY AND GRAPHING ........................................................................ 248

MODULE 30. EGG DROP .............................................................................................................. 254

MODULE 31. GET A LIFT .............................................................................................................. 261

MODULE 32. RESPIRATION AND LUNGS ..................................................................................... 270

MODULE 33. RESPIRATION, FERMENTATION AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS ....................................... 285

MODULE 34. THE SENSE IN SENSES ............................................................................................ 305

MODULE 35. HABITAT DESIGN AND POPULATION DENSITY ...................................................... 330

MODULE 36. GRAVITY, RELATIVELY ............................................................................................ 346

Safety Precautions

Student Workbook 4 CIJE‐Tech MS

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

Every experiment in this book must be performed under supervision of a trained CTMS teacher.

Appropriate safety precautions will be reviewed with the students before each activity.

To protect your eyes, wear safety goggles during all activities involving chemicals, flames, heat and when there is possible exposure to broken glassware.

Lab apron should be worn to protect your skin and clothing.

Wear rubber gloves when handling chemicals, microbes or animals. Also wear rubber gloves to prevent contamination of your samples, when necessary.

To protect your hands, wear heat‐resistant gloves when handling any samples that have been exposed to heat or extreme cold (resulting from liquid nitrogen or dry ice). Never touch hot objects with bare hands!

To protect your long hair, pull it back in a bun or ponytail.

Due to presence of unpleasant odors or fumes, you may want to use a face mask.

When working with breakable materials, handle them with care. Never handle broken glass with your bare hands. Dispose of broken glass in a designated container.

When any material or tool as been exposed to heat, use hand protection or tongs to pick it up. Do not handle with bare hands!

Materials such as scissors, scalpels, knives, needles, pins, tacks have sharp ends, which can penetrate your skin. Always point the sharp edges away from your body and never in the direction of another person. Always put sharp instruments down when finished using them.

Use caution when using electricity! Avoid tangling electrical cords and leaving them on the floor where others are walking. Avoid using electrical equipment around water. Always disconnect electrical equipment when not using it. Never leave electrical equipment in use when not in the room.

When working with corrosive chemicals, as directed by your teacher, avoid contact with eyes, skin or clothing. Do not inhale the vapors. Use gloves. Dispose of chemicals only as directed. Wash hands after use.

When working with tools that produce flames (matches, burners, candles), make sure to tie back hair and loose clothing. Follow instructions for lighting and extinguishing the flames with extreme care. Do not light the flames until absolutely necessary and directed by your teacher.

Safety Precautions


When working with flammable materials, make sure there are no flames, sparks, static electricity or other exposed electricity or heat present.

When working with materials that produce noxious or unpleasant vapors, work in a well‐ventilated area. Use a fume hood, if possible. Do not inhale vapors. Use face mask, if possible. If necessary to test the odor, follow your teacher’s directions and use wafting motion to direct vapor toward your nose.

When physical activity is part of the experiment, avoid injury to yourself and others. Make sure to let the teacher know if you are unable to perform the required physical activity.

When working with live animals, treat them with care and respect. Avoid injury to animals and yourself. When working with preserved specimen make sure to use caution as well and follow teacher’s directions for dissection and clean up. Always wash your hands after handling live or preserved animals.

Plants should be handled with caution. Keep in mind some plants might be poisonous or harmful. If you suspect to have an allergy to a plant, inform your teacher before the start of the experiment. Always wash your hands after handling plants.

All laboratory materials must be disposed of safely. Always follow instructions from the teacher during clean up. Keep in mind that toxic, corrosive, sharp, animal and plant disposal might need separate and specific instructions.

Wash your hands thoroughly after any laboratory activity with soap and warm water, even if gloves were used during the experiment.

This symbol indicates specific safety instructions that may not include any of the above symbols. In this case, follow the instructions precisely. It will also be used when you might need to develop your own procedure and safety instructions. In this case, make sure to approve your procedure with the teacher before proceeding.

Module 1. Engineering Design


MODULE 1. ENGINEERING DESIGN

STUDENT NAME __________________________________ DATE ________________

INTRODUCTION

Ever heard your parents discuss needing to get a new version of a cell phone because the

new model does something better or faster? Or have you ever asked for a new model of

shoes or computer for the same reason? Have you witnessed an entrance to a store being

rebuilt so that there is now a ramp to make entrance accessible for people using wheelchairs?

You probably have! Who do you think is involved in constantly improving everyday products

and designing new products to accommodate a wider range of customers? Engineers in

various fields use science and mathematics to improve our way of life. From developing a

safer car to improving medicines for diabetes, engineers work to come up with new tools or

improve performance of existing products.

ENGINEERING FIELDS.

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/

The word engineer comes from a Latin word that means cleverness. Engineers often come up

with clever solutions to complex problems. Some of the famous engineering feats you have

heard about are bridges, golf balls (yes, an engineer discovered that a ball would move faster

and farther if it had those little grooves!), sky scrapers, wind turbines, the great pyramids of

Giza, and many more.



Engineers almost never work alone. Coming up with the best possible solution to a problem

always involves listening to people, brainstorming new ideas, receiving critique about your

designs, asking people for help, who might be better equipped to answer a particular

question, and managing a project that has a set of financial criteria and a required timeline.

To keep every project organized, well recorded and moving forward, engineers use the

Engineering Design Process, which involves the following seven steps:

1. Define the problem

What is the problem you are asked to solve?

Are there limits on time, materials, dimensions, brainpower, etc.?

How can you solve the problem? 2. Research

What has been done to address this problem in the past?

What tools do you have at your disposal?

What materials can you use to solve the problem? What are the physical and chemical properties of those materials? Will they be efficient at solving the problem?

Test materials for strength and compatibility

What is the potential cost for the solution? What are the funds available? 3. Idea Generation ‐ Brainstorm and Design

Think of as many ideas as possible to solve the problem

When working in groups, consult with others and explore alternative ideas and combination of ideas

Make a drawing or a model of your solution 4. Build

Create your model, tool or structure

Modify your original design, if necessary 5. Test and Analyze

Test your model, tool or structure

Analyze the performance of your design

Collect data about the performance of your design 6. Improve

Think of several ways in which your design can be improved to perform better and more efficiently

Change the parts of your design that do not perform well or below expectations

Return to the Brainstorm and Design step of the process, if necessary 7. Final Solution and Output

Provide an accurate description of the design for the solution. The description includes materials used to build the solution, drawings with exact dimensions (blueprints), performance expectations, limitations, and specifications for safely operating the device

Build and manufacture the final design, sometimes on a large scale



ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESS

In this activity you will use the Engineering Design Process to develop an improved and enhanced

backpack.

VOCABULARY

Science

Scientist

Engineer

Engineering

Engineering Design Process

MATERIALS

Material Quantity per group or individual student

Drawing paper As needed

Poster paper 1 sheet

Writing or drawing materials As needed and provided by the teacher



SOLUTION DESIGN

PROBLEM DEFINITION:

FINDING THE TARGET AUDIENCE/CUSTOMER (END USER):

1. How old are the users of the backpack, for whom you are designing? ____________

2. In what setting is the backpack being used (school, hiking, etc.)? __________________

3. What is the gender of the end user? ____________

4. What is the average height of the end user? ____________

5. What is the maximum weight the backpack must be able to accommodate? __________

6. What weather might the backpack encounter? (water, sun, etc.)

___________________________________________________________________________

RESEARCH:

CURRENT DESIGN LIMITATIONS:

7. For what weight is the average backpack designed? ____________

8. How much do users place in it? ____________

9. Is an average backpack designed to accommodate food or drinks? __________

10. Does an average backpack provide protection for fragile electronics? ___________

11. Does an average backpack incorporate electronics within it? ___________________

12. Is an average backpack safe? Why or why not? ____________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

13. List at least three shortcomings of the average backpack:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



IDEA GENERATION:

14. INDIVIDUALLY, come up with two improvements you would like to have in a backpack.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

15. INDIVIDUALLY, in the space below, sketch the design for either an entirely new backpack or

an addition that would improve an existing design.

16. Describe the two improvements you came up with to the rest of the group.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

17. Each team‐member should contribute one constructive comment to each idea. Write down

the comments shared by each member regarding your ideas.

a. _____________________________________________________________________

b. _____________________________________________________________________

c. _____________________________________________________________________

d. _____________________________________________________________________



18. Write down the ideas generated by each team member, and rate them from 1‐ 10.

a. _________________________________________________ Rating: _____________

b. _________________________________________________ Rating: _____________

c. _________________________________________________ Rating: _____________

d. _________________________________________________ Rating: _____________

19. Add up all the scores for each idea from each team member. Which two ideas overall had

the highest scores?

__________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

EVALUATE THE WINNING DESIGN:

20. What does your backpack provide that others on the market are not providing?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

21. What are at least two reasons that consumers will NOT buy your product?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

22. If your backpack could incorporate one additional feature what would it be? Why was it not

chosen?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



23. Does your product provide accessibility for the handicapped? How could you incorporate

it? ________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

24. What additional information about the original backpack would have been useful to have

when designing your solution?

___________________________________________________________________________

25. Do you think your group’s design solves a particular problem, or does it work around the

problem to create a possible alternative without addressing the raised issue? Explain.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

26. Sketch the design picked by the group, incorporating discussed improvements in the space

below:



27. Why do you think the ideas you came up with in your group’s design have not been

incorporated in mainstream backpack?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

28. Create a presentation to describe your group’s design to your classmates. Make sure to

include important information such as for whom is this product intended, why would they

want to buy this product, how would you advertise this product to increase the sales, etc.

ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

29. What are the essential steps of the Engineering Design Process? List all in a form of a diagram.

Pick one step in the process and describe it in detail. Explain what circumstances would cause

an engineer to circle back to any one of the previous steps of the process in particular.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



30. How is the Engineering Design Process similar to the Scientific Method? How is it different?

You can use diagrams to help your argument.

31. Why is recording your research, data and observations important to the Engineering Design

Process?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



32. When designing your improvements to the backpack, what do you think was the most

important factor you considered?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

33. What are the pros and cons of working in a group of people?

PROS CONS



NOTES

Module 2. Marshmallow Challenge


MODULE 2. MARSHMALLOW CHALLENGE


INTRODUCTION

What makes a building strong? Consider the pyramids in Egypt and the Eiffel Tower. Those

buildings are very strong and have lasted hundreds of years. They have a very distinctive shape

that aides in their strength. Structures must be able to remain standing despite large amounts of

force put on them by gravity and other factors such as natural disasters (earthquakes, etc.) and

weathering (wind, rain, etc.). Structures are supported in different ways with the use of different

geometric shapes in their construction.

The goal of this activity is to design and construct a tower using only spaghetti and masking tape.

The tower must be able to support a marshmallow at its highest point.

When designing and building your tower, you will need to consider the shapes you will make out

of spaghetti and how you will connect the pieces of spaghetti together.

First, consider the various geometrical shapes you notice used in the buildings in your

surroundings. Try making those shapes out of spaghetti. Are those shapes strong enough?

Next, consider the different types of joints that are used in construction when steel beams are

used. A joint in construction, much like in a human body is a place where two structural

components meet and are connected. In your body, bones are connected and held together with

tendons and ligaments. In structures like buildings, bridges and other, steel beams are connected

by melting the metal and connecting two or

more pieces while it is still hot. This is also

called welding. In this activity you will use

spaghetti instead of steel beams. However,

the connections will be similar to the ones

used in construction of real buildings,

bridges and other structures. Instead of

welding, you will use tape to create joints.

Use the figure to the left to try out different

joints before designing your structures.

TYPES OF WELDING JOINTS

http://mechmaintenance.com/welding‐definition‐types‐welding‐joint/



VOCABULARY

Force

Gravity

Joint (in human body)

Joint (in construction)

Welding

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Spaghetti (uncooked) 20 pieces

Masking tape 30cm

Marshmallow 1

Measuring tape 1

DESIGN

1. List three features of the Eiffel Tower (Figure below) that contribute to its stability.

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

2. INDEPENDENTLY, sketch a design for a tower made of tape and spaghetti in the space below

or on a separate sheet of paper.



3. How much material do you think you might need?

Spaghetti: ______________ pieces. Tape: ____________cm

4. Circle the shapes you

think you will use most in

your structure. Test

making those shapes with

spaghetti before you

begin construction. Don’t

worry! The test spaghetti

is not included in the 20

pieces you can use for

your actual design.

5. Once in your group, compare the individual designs of your teammates. Discuss which shapes

and connections will work best to construct a tall and sturdy structure that will be able to

support a marshmallow at its top.

6. Draw the design your group decides to build below. Label the shapes and joints.



7. Construct your tower. If you feel you need to change your design as you are building it, do so.

Engineers often have to adjust their design.

TESTING AND ANALYSIS

8. Measure all the towers in the classroom and score them based on the following formula:

Your group’s score =

9. Based on the formula above, is it more valuable to build a taller tower or use less material?

Explain. ____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

10. How did the tower you built compare to your original design? Did you need to adjust your

design as you built? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11. In the space below, sketch a diagram of the tower you built.

𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡

# 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖 𝑡𝑎𝑝𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ




12. Referring to the module on design process, how did this process fit into your design process?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

13. Which steps of the design process did you use?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

14. Which steps of the design process were not applicable to this specific project?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

15. Which steps of the design process did you find yourself redoing without realizing it to better

perfect your marshmallow towers?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



16. What process would you add to the design process to make it more relevant to solving this

particular design challenge? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

17. What type of testing / analysis could you have performed on the tower before it was

completely built to get a better idea of what it would be capable of?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

18. Design a mini experiment to test either a portion of the tower, a type of joint, or the strength

of the members (spaghetti). Sketch a setup of the experiment in the space below.



NOTES

Module 3. Newspaper Thins


MODULE 3. NEWSPAPER THINS

STUDENT NAME __________________________________ DATE ___________________

INTRODUCTION

Humankind has always reached for the stars. But they were not always able to actually go in

space. So…. They built tall buildings. Very tall buildings. Even now that we are able to travel to

space, we continue to defy gravity and build up and up and up!!!

The current tallest building Burj Khalifa is located in Dubai. It towers 828 meters. Currently a

construction of a new giant is underway. Jeddah’s Kingdom Tower is projected to reach 1000

meters – 1 kilometer!!!

TALLEST BUILDINGS OF THE WORLD: 2020 PROJECTION.

https://www.dezeen.com/

In Israel, the tallest building currently is the Moshe Aviv tower

(235 meters). However, by 2023 it will be out‐towered by the

projected Tower Between the Cities, which will each 400meters.

THE TOWER BETWEEN THE CITIES (PROJECTED TO BE

BUILT BY 2023); MOSHE AVIV TOWER IS IN THE

BACKGROUND.

www.ynetnews.com



In this module you will apply the engineering design process to building a tower using simple

materials: newspaper and masking tape. The challenge is to build the tallest freestanding tower

using the least possible amount of these materials. Freestanding means that the tower cannot

be attached to the surface on which it stands, it cannot be supported by strings from the ceiling

or the walls, and it cannot be held up a person in any form.

VOCABULARY

Force

Gravity

Joint (in human body)

Joint (in construction)

MATERIALS

Material (size) Quantity per group

Newspaper Equivalent of 2 newspapers (to start)

Masking tape, roll 1 roll

Measuring tape or meter stick 1

DESIGN

1. In the space below, draw the design of the tower you would like to build as a suggestion to

your collaborative group.



2. In the space below, draw examples of joints your team (or you independently) will consider

using in the construction of the tower.

3. In the space below, draw the tower your team will attempt to build.



PROCEDURE

4. As you are designing and building in your team, record what works and what doesn’t. You

may wish to use these notes if allowed the time to redesign and rebuild.


5. What shapes did you use in the designing and building of your tower?

___________________________________________________________________________

6. What shapes proved to be stronger and more stable than others?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



7. Where were the strong structural points of your tower? Feel free to illustrate.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

8. Where were the weak structural points of your tower? Feel free to illustrate.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

9. After completing your tower (either to build once or improve on it), what further

improvements do you (not necessarily your team) think could and would make your tower

taller and stronger? Illustrate, if necessary.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

10. What were the strong collaborative qualities of your team?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



11. What were the areas where your group could have done better as a team?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

12. Did everyone on your team have a chance to contribute their ideas to some part of the

project? ____________________________________________________________________

13. Was everyone on your team engaged in designing your tower? ________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

14. Was everyone on your team engaged in building your tower? __________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

15. What improvements could your team make to facilitate more members being more involved

in all aspects? _______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 4. Quake Shake


MODULE 4. QUAKE SHAKE


INTRODUCTION

Natural disasters are a part of living on our planet Earth. For the longest time, humans lived in

fear of nature and the destruction it can cause. Then human ingenuity displaced fear. Human

understood that even though we are not able to prevent natural disasters from happening, we

are able to prevent our land from flooding, buildings from crumbling, contain fires, keep safe

during tornadoes and storms. We are able to be prepared and be ready.

In this module, you will build a structure that will be tested on a shaker table that simulates

shaking of a building during an earthquake.

What do engineers do when they design a building to make it earthquake resistant?

Base Isolation – separate the building from

its foundation. When the earthquake hits,

the building sways side to side with the

ground on which it stands. When the

building’s base is isolated, the shaking

ground moves, while the building is affected

to a lesser extent.

Tuned mass damper – giant ball suspended

near the top of the building. When the

building sways during an earthquake or a

typhoon, the damper sways in the opposite

direction.

Researchers are also working on a brand‐new

way to protect buildings from earthquake by

developing a shield made of concrete and

plastic. The shield deflects the wave around

the building. This technology arose from the

knowledge that seismic waves prefer

traveling through materials that is more

dense. The shield is made out of rings of

concrete that gets less dense as you get closer

to the building. When the waves strike, they

tend to stay within the harder materials and

get deflected around the building.

BASE ISOLATION

TUNED MASS DAMPER



VOCABULARY

Seismology

Tectonic plates

Fault

Earthquake

Seismic waves

Tsunami

Base isolation

Tuned damper

Tuned mass damper

Earthquake resistant

building

Earthquake proof building

Retrofitting

MATERIALS


Stirrers 30

Clay 100g

Letter size base (Manilla envelope, cardstock or cardboard) 1

Masking tape 10‐20cm

DESIGN

1. In the space below, draw the design of the structure you would like to bring as a suggestion

to your collaborative group.




using in the construction of the structure.

3. In the space below, draw the structure your team will attempt to build.



PROCEDURE



TESTING AND ANALYSIS

5. Record your observations of the structure you built when you are testing it on the shaker

table.




Read the article assigned by your teacher and answer the following questions:

6. The article begins by referring to a “massive earthquake near Japan”. What two other

earthquakes does the article mention? What is the date of those earthquake? How many

people were killed in each? What was the main difference in the outcomes of these two

earthquakes?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

7. Engineers design buildings to withstand what directional type of motion? Why do you think

this is important?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

8. Why do seismic engineers say that “earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings do”?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



9. What is base isolation? How would it help a building withstand earthquake damage?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

10. What is a tuned mass damper? How would it help a building withstand earthquake damage?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11. What is a shake table and how is it used?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

12. Watch the video from WIRED. Make one comment about your reaction to the video.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



13. What is the difference between an earthquake resistant building and an earthquake proof

building?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

14. Why is it difficult to build an earthquake proof building?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

15. What do engineers do to make old structures more earthquake resistant?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

16. Did your team use any earthquake resistance adaptations in constructing your building? If

yes, which ones?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



17. If your team used adaptations, why did you choose that particular one?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

18. If you didn’t use any adaptations, which would you like to have used? Which would have been

beneficial in constructing your building?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

19. Besides the adaptations, what were the strong points of your structure?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

20. Besides the adaptations, what were the weak points of your structure (where did it show

signs of collapsing)?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

21. If you had a chance to rebuild your structure, what does the second version of it have that it

didn’t have before?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

22. What were the strong points of your team? What could you improve on regarding teamwork?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 5. Greenhouse Design


MODULE 5. GREENHOUSE DESIGN


INTRODUCTION

What do you imagine when you hear the word greenhouse?

Do you know what the purpose of a greenhouse is? How big does it need to be?

A greenhouse is a structure with transparent or translucent walls and ceiling that are meant to

keep the temperature and humidity of the air inside the structure more stable than the air

outside of the structure. Greenhouses also help protect the plants growing inside from pests and

disease that lurks outside. As a result, the plants in a greenhouse grow faster and bigger, and be

more productive (produce more flowers, fruit, vegetables, etc.) than the plants outside.

A greenhouse can be very small or very large, lone standing, attached to a house or in groups,

completely or partially covered, it can be built to grow fruit, vegetables, herbs, or flowers.

DIFFERENT GREENHOUSES

https://newengland.com/ http://jveilleux.blogspot.com/

It is very important for the covering of the greenhouse to allow in the sun’s light. As the sun’s

radiation penetrates the transparent or translucent covering of the greenhouse, it warms the air

inside the greenhouse. Since the greenhouse is enclosed with walls and ceiling, this warm air

does not move out and is therefore trapped inside the structure. The pants inside it then benefit

from warmer air. This is of course dependent on the weather outside of the greenhouse as well.

If it is very cold, the heat will seep out of the greenhouse. Therefore, in a greenhouse where

someone is trying to keep plants growing through the winter, you would need to include an

efficient insulation layer and provide a safe heating solution to keep plants warm through the

cold months. Both insulation and heating can be costly.



In addition to insulation and heating, the

greenhouses have to have ventilation.

Even though the purpose of the

greenhouse to keep air inside, it is still

necessary to make the air move and be

exchanged with outside air at regular

intervals.

LIGHT AND HEAT IN A GREENHOUSE

https://garden.lovetoknow.com/

VOCABULARY

Plant

Greenhouse

Photosynthesis

Soil

Humidity

Insulation

Heating

Ventilation

MATERIALS

PART I: GREENHOUSE MODEL

FILL IN THE MATERIALS TABLE ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE AS YOU ARE DESIGNING

YOUR GREENHOUSE STRUCTURE.

PART II: GROWING IN THE GREENHOUSE


Plastic bottles 1

Large potting container (or outside planting area) 1

Soil As needed

Seeds to plant As needed

Water As needed




Base:

Material ___________________________

Size _______________________________

Structure

skeleton:

Material ___________________________

Size _______________________________

Cover:

Material ___________________________

Size _______________________________

Adhesives:

Material ___________________________

Size _______________________________

PART I: DESIGN AND BUILD

1. In the space below, draw the design of the greenhouse model you would like to bring as a

suggestion to your collaborative group. Don’t forget to consider how you will attach the

plastic wrapping onto the structure.



2. In the space below, draw examples of how you would try to attach the plastic cover in the

construction of the greenhouse model.

3. In the space below, draw the greenhouse model your team will attempt to build.





PART II: INVESTIGATION DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

5. Working independently, design an experiment to test whether a plant will grow better inside

or outside of a greenhouse. You will be testing bringing a plant up from a seed, provided by

your teacher.

6. Write down the following:

a. What you need to do to set up (steps, bullet points, etc.)

b. Materials you will need

c. Location where you would set up your greenhouse

d. How long you think you might need to observe your plant

e. Any variable you need to control

f. Anything else you think would be important to consider for this inquiry



7. Sketch your set up, if it will help you explain how you would like to proceed to your

teammates.

8. Design a table where you could collect data from your observations in the next section

together with your team.

9. Once you join a team, develop a plan of action based on discussion and agreement of the

team members. Once again write down the agreed components of the experiment that you

considered independently earlier.



DATA COLLECTION (OR TESTING) AND ANALYSIS

10. In your team, design a table to collect data from observing how your plants grow under the

different conditions.


11. What allows the plants to grow better inside a greenhouse, as opposed to outside of one?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

12. What are the essential parts of a greenhouse?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



13. What do you need in a winter greenhouse for plants to continue growing through the cold

weather?

__________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

14. What were the strong collaborative qualities of your team?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

15. What were the areas where your group could have done better as a team?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

16. Did everyone on your team have a chance to contribute their ideas to some part of the

project?

___________________________________________________________________________

17. Was everyone on your team engaged in designing your greenhouse?

___________________________________________________________________________

18. Was everyone on your team engaged in building your greenhouse?

___________________________________________________________________________

19. Did the plant you placed in a simple greenhouse grow faster and bigger than the one you

planted without a greenhouse?

___________________________________________________________________________



20. Did the other students or groups in your class have the same results? Why or why not?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

21. How did the plants placed in greenhouses compare to the plants that grew without

greenhouses?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

22. Do you think that plants in large greenhouses would have the same results you observed in

the simple greenhouses? Explain your thinking.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 6. Popsicle Bridge Design


MODULE 6. POPSICLE BRIDGE DESIGN


INTRODUCTION

How often do you walk or drive over a bridge? What is the purpose of bridges? For centuries,

bridges have been used to connect land and people out of the persistent desire to travel and

communicate and expand the horizons of what is humanly possible.

Today, you will design and build a bridge using common materials that will be expected to hold

a load you probably cannot pick up by yourself, no matter how hard you tried.

Here are some common shapes used in bridge design. Most bridges you encounter are a variation

or combination of these basic shapes.

WARREN TRUSS

PRATT TRUSS

HOWE TRUSS

K TRUSS

BRIDGE TRUSS TYPES: WARREN, PRATT, HOWE, AND K TRUSS.

www.garrettsbridges.com



VOCABULARY

Truss

Span

Lateral bracing

Load

Capacity

Mass

MATERIALS

To be filled out as you are designing your bridge:


Building material: ___________________

Dimensions (per unit): ______________

mass (per unit): ___________

Checked out: ___________

+ ___________

+ ___________

+ ___________

Returned – ___________

Total used: _____________

Adhesive: ________________________

type: ____________________________

Checked out: ___________

+ ___________

+ ___________

+ ___________

Returned – ___________

Total used: _____________

1. Before starting on your design, test the building materials you will be using to build.

2. Record which material you will be using in the Materials table, the size (length, width, height),

and the mass of each individual building unit, such as a popsicle stick, wooden or bamboo

stirrer or a toothpick.

3. When you check out materials from your teacher record the amount you are using in the

materials table. When you hand in leftovers, subtract that amount from the amount you

recorded to get the final number.



DESIGN

Before you begin designing your bridge, make sure you record the dimensions to which you have

to adhere.

Answer the following questions and label the prism below to record the limits and the

requirements for your bridge:

4. What is the gap that your bridge needs to span? ____________________

5. What is the minimum length your bridge should be? ____________________

6. What is the minimum width your bridge should be? ____________________

7. What is the maximum width your bridge could be? ____________________

8. What is the maximum height your bridge could be? ____________________

9. Does your bridge need to have a span above the table? ____________________

10. How tall (from the surface) does this span need to be? ____________________

11. Where on the bridge will the load be placed? ____________________

12. What building units will you use to build your bridge? ____________________

13. How many building units can you use? ____________________

14. What adhesive will you use? ____________________

15. How much of the adhesive are you allowed to use? ____________________

TABLE 2 TABLE 1



16. In the space below, draw the design of the bridge you would like to bring as a suggestion to

your collaborative group. Remember to design all 4 sides of the bridge: left, right top and

bottom.


using in the construction of the bridge.



18. In the space below, design the bridge your team will attempt to build. Remember to design

all 4 sides of the bridge: left, right top and bottom.

PROCEDURE





DATA, TESTING AND ANALYSIS

20. Before testing your bridge, weigh it and record its final mass: _______________ kg

21. Test your bridge. Record your observations during the testing/breaking of your bridge:

22. What is the final mass (e.g. capacity) your bridge was able to support? ______________kg

23. Calculate the score of your bridge:

𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦

𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠




24. What type of truss did you use in the design of your bridge?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

25. What load did your bridge support before it failed?

___________________________________________________________________________

26. What modifications would you implement if you had an opportunity to redesign and rebuild

your bridge? Feel free to draft your improvements for the bridge in the notes section.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

27. Describe how you think your bridge would perform if you tested it on a shaker table

(earthquake simulator)?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

28. What earthquake resistance retrofits would you have liked to add to your bridge? Feel free

to draft the retrofits in the notes section.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 7. Connectivity and Steadiness Tester


MODULE 7. CONNECTIVITY AND STEADINESS TESTER


INTRODUCTION

The goal of this module is to build a device that will use electrical connectivity to measure the

hand steadiness of people in your class. You will design and build a game that reacts to the “circuit

closing.” The purpose of the game is to move a wand with a ring at its end along the entire length

of a bent wire without touching it. If the wires do not touch, the circuit is considered “open” and

nothing happens. If the wires touch, the circuit is considered “closed” and a buzzer or light will

go off.

Once you have finished building your game, race against other students to see who can

successfully win the game in the least amount of time.

Let’s review the principles of electricity. All matter is made up of atoms. Atoms are made up of

positively charged protons, negatively charged electrons and neutrally charged neutrons.

Electrons are attracted to protons and can move from one atom to another. When oppositely

charged particles are separated, there is a force pulling them back together which is the source

of potential energy. Voltage is a measure of that energy and is the basis of electricity. Electricity

results from the motion of electrons in a material.

Conductors are made of atoms whose outermost electrons have greater mobility and allow the

electrons to move at a high rate or current through the material towards the protons.

Insulators are made of atoms whose outermost electrons have low mobility and do not allow

electrons to move through the material easily. The harder it is for electrons to move, the more

insulating the material.

A complete circuit (closed circuit) meaning the circuit connects a positive terminal to a

negative terminal and the conductive pathway is uninterrupted by a gap. Current will

flow in a closed/complete circuit. An incomplete circuit is the opposite. Electrons

cannot jump through air to the other side so when there is a gap in the circuit, air

presents infinite resistance to the current and current will not flow. When there is a

gap in the conductive pathway, the circuit is considered open.

Every battery has two terminals, a positive terminal and a negative terminal.

In a battery, a chemical reaction between materials inside the battery separates the

electrons, pushing them to the negative side of the battery and leaving the protons at the positive

terminal of the battery. Batteries are a store of chemical energy that is quickly converted into



electrical energy when the battery is connected to a closed circuit and current flows. Most

batteries contain reactive metal atoms. These atoms give up some of their electrons.

VOCABULARY

Atom

Closed circuit

Open circuit

Conductor

Insulator

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Battery pack with lead wires 1

AA batteries 4

Alligator clips 5 ‐ 6

Buzzer 1

Light bulb 1

Light bulb holder 1

Rigid conductive, non‐insulated wire 40 cm

DESIGN:

1. Draw your design in the space provided. Remember to include clear labels.



Clear your design with your teacher before building.

2. Build your connectivity tester. Modify your design as needed, but take a note of the changes

from the original design and why you needed to make those changes. Record your changes

below.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


3. What is current?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



4. What is voltage?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

5. What are the units for voltage? ___________________ For current? ___________________

6. Define a conductor?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

7. Define an insulator?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

8. When the metal loop touches the bare wire, how long does it take for the buzzer to sound?

Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

9. If, instead of using the aluminum foil hoop, we made one out of paper, what would happen

and why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



10. The light/buzzer as is, has no form of brightness/volume control. What can we do to make it

weaker? Remember that resistance is what slows the movement of electrons in the circuit.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11. Is there something we can do to the physical buzzer to quiet it? Test your idea.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

12. What factors in the circuit will affect the amount of current that flow through it?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 8. Squishy Circuits


MODULE 8. SQUISHY CIRCUITS


INTRODUCTION

The goal of this module is to use conductors and insulators to build a circuit to turn on LEDs.

Materials called conductors, allow electrons to flow more easily than other materials called

insulators. To successfully complete this exercise, you will have to use your knowledge of open

and closed circuits and the different terminals on LEDs and batteries.

Please first review the basics of electricity in Modules 4 and 5.

Let’s continue and review the role of conductors and insulators. Conductors are made of atoms

whose outermost electrons have weak attachment bonds to their parent atom. When you place

conductive materials next to each other they share their outer electrons with each other which

allow electrons to jump from atom to atom. Electrons in metals are highly mobile and can easily

move through the metal in response to electric forces.

The force used to push the electrons through the conductor is called voltage, a measure of the

attraction of the electrons to the positive proton source. If an item has less conductivity, then it

will require more voltage to push electrons through it. Almost any item can be a conductor,

depending on how much voltage you have to push electrons through it. Electricity is a product

of electrons leaving their atoms to flow through a conductor.

Insulators are made of atoms whose outermost electrons have strong bonds to their parent atom

and do not allow charge to move through or along easily. The harder it is for electrons to move,

the more insulating the material.

The figure below is a diagram of a wire and shows conductive materials used with insulating

materials. Why do you think it is designed this way? Think about why in winter your coat insulates

your body from the cold weather.

Wire with copper conductor on the inside and rubber insulator on the outside



When electrons flow back to the

positive proton source, the flow is called

current. Current is the rate of electrons

passing a single point in one second.

Current is the same value anywhere in

the circuit. Electrons leave the battery

from the negative terminal to the

positive terminal, but current is defined

as flowing from the positive terminal to

the negative terminal.

In a closed circuit, shown on the left,

(http://tle.westone.wa.gov.au/),

electrons flow from the negative

charge source to the positive charge

source. However, current is defined to

flow in the opposite direction, from positive to negative charge source.

A closed circuit means the circuit connects a positive terminal to a negative terminal and the

conductive pathway is uninterrupted by a gap and current flows. An open circuit is when there is

a gap and no current flows.

In this module you will create a circuit made from conductive and insulating dough (a squishy

circuit) and learn the importance of conductors and insulators.

VOCABULARY

Insulator

Conductor

Current

Electricity

Voltage

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Battery pack with leads + batteries 1

LEDs (light‐emitting diodes) 10

Buzzer 1

Insulating dough As needed

Conducting dough As needed



If conductive dough is unavailable, you can create your own using the following:

Material Quantity

Flour 3 Cup (710 mL)

Water 1 Cup (237 mL)

Salt 1/4 Cup (59 mL)

Cream of Tartar. May be substituted with (133 mL) of lemon juice 3 Tbsp. (44 mL)

Vegetable oil 4 Tbsp. (60 mL)

Food coloring A few drops

Deionized water ½ Cup (118 mL)

Sugar ½ Cup (118 mL)

DESIGN:

1. In the space below, draw a diagram of your circuit.

a. Label which wire is connected to the positive terminal of a battery and which wire

is connected to the negative terminal

b. If using both insulating and conducting dough, make sure to label both




2. When the circuit is open, is the circuit considered complete or incomplete?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

3. When the circuit is open, are the electrons moving? Why or why not?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

4. What is the difference between the flow of electrons and the flow of current?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Circle all that apply:

5. Which materials would be good conductors?

Paper Copper nails Rope Paper clips Salt water

Plastic Rubber hose Ceramic tiles Aluminum foil Salt water ice

6. An atom has:

Only + charges Only – charges Both + and – charges

7. What is the difference between an atom and an ion? (circle one)

An atom does not have a neutral charge

An ion has a neutral charge

An ion is an atom that is electrically charged



8. If you wanted to make ‐100 charges neutral, you would need an additional:

50 + charges and

50 – charges ‐100 charges +100 charges

9. Same charges __________________, and opposite charges _______________.

Fill in the blanks using the words: positive and negative.

10. Electrons leave the battery from the _________ terminal and flow to the _________ terminal.

11. Current flows from the battery _________ terminal to the _________ terminal.

NOTES

Module 9. Simple Circuits


MODULE 9. SIMPLE CIRCUITS


INTRODUCTION

In previous modules, the basic concepts of electricity were introduced, and voltage, current,

circuits, conductors, and insulators covered. In this module a simple circuit will be created using

a breadboard. The breadboard is a tool used to develop and test an electronic circuit before it is

manufactured or used with expensive sensors. Originally engineers actually used a breadboard,

a piece of wood used for slicing bread to test their circuits. Holes were drilled to insert electrical

components, then copper wire was used to connect each component. The method has changed

but the name stayed the same.

It is important to understand the structure of the breadboard before it is used. Look at the two

images of the breadboard below. The left image shows the top surface and uses numbers and

letters to reference locations or points of connection where wires are placed.

The right image is the back of the breadboard with the foam cover peeled off. The metal strips

are the electric conductors inside the board.

Notice that row 1 has a metal tab from 1a to 1e. This allows us to use any two points in that row

to make a connection as they are connected by the embedded conductor strip. If you were to

create a simple circuit as described before, plugging in a wire to 1a and having a light connected



to 1e would allow a current to flow through your circuit and a light to turn on. It is the same for

all of the other numbers 2a‐2e. 3a‐3e, 4a‐4e ….

Notice the red positive strip of holes and the blue negative strip of holes. These strips are called

buses or rails. They allow connection from a power source and a return of the power source

otherwise known as ground. The positive strip of holes would be connected to a positive battery

terminal and the negative strip of holes would be connected to the negative terminal of a battery.

An LED, shown in the image to the right, will be used in the circuit in

this module. Remember that an LED will produce light when current

flows through it in the correct direction. Notice, the LED has a long wire

and a short wire. For an LED to operate, current must flow into the

longer leg and out the shorter leg. Therefore, the long wire from a LED

should be

plugged into a positive source of

power and the short wire to a

negative source. The LED requires a

safe amount of current to work. Not

enough current and the light will

not turn on. Too much current and

the light will burn out.

If a strong source of power is used,



the current needs to be restricted as otherwise it would burn

out the LED. This is done by placing a resistor in the circuit to

“resist” current or flow of electrons.

The figure to the right shows resistors that have different

colored bands. The bands indicate the level of resistance to

current. The resistance is measured in Ohms.

The relationship between current, resistance and voltage are

expressed in the following equation:

𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 ∗ 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆

Voltage is measured in volts, current in amps, and resistance in

ohms. The above equation is called Ohm’s law.

Many electrical devices have a switch. Think about a light

switch or a button pressed to sound a buzzer for a doorbell. A closed circuit allows the current to

flow. When the circuit is broken the current can no longer flow. A push button will be used in this

module to close a circuit. The button is a tool that allows the circuit to become opened or closed.

An open circuit means that the circuit is disconnected, and no current will flow. When the button

is pushed the circuit is closed or connected and current will flow as long as there are no other

open points.

VOCABULARY

Electrical energy

Conductor

Insulator

Resistor

Voltage

Current

Diode

LED (Light Emitting Diode)

Terminal

Breadboard

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Breadboard 1

Conductor (wires) 4

LED’s 1

Pushbutton 1

2AA Battery pack 1

AA Batteries 2

Resistors 1

https://www.hpacmag.com/



DESIGN

1. Design and create two circuits that turn an LED on and off. One circuit should light up an LED.

The second should use a push button to turn an LED on and off. Use the provided battery

pack and two AA batteries to power the circuit.

2. Use the pictures of the breadboard to design your circuits.

CHALLENGE

3. Try to add a second

LED to the circuit.

4. Draw the new circuit

in the breadboard to

the right.




5. Draw a diagram of your circuit showing the current leaving the battery and returning.

6. Examine the wire that you used and describe it using the words conductor and insulator.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

7. How does the pushbutton work?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



8. What is the role of the resistor?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

9. How do you think the type of power source affects the value of the resistor?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

NOTES

Module 10. Electromagnetism


MODULE 10. ELECTROMAGNETISM


INTRODUCTION

Did you know that magnets have been used and described for over 2500 years in Greece, China

and India? Magnets attract other magnets or what we call ferromagnetic materials iron, nickel

and cobalt. The force comes from the subatomic particles called electrons. These negatively

charged particles normally rotate around the nucleus in the atom in a random pattern. However,

when they move in the same direction and are aligned, they create a force that attracts other

magnets or ferromagnetic materials.

Have you ever noticed that when you have two

magnets together one side of a magnet will

attract another magnet and one will repel? This

is because when the electrons are aligned, the

magnetic forces they create have poles in a

magnet as shown in images below.

Michael Faraday studied magnetism in the 19th

century. He described its effects with what came

to be called magnetic field lines. He explained

that there was a force that attempted to align

the magnetic field lines. The figure to the right shows the lines of force leave the north pole or

end of the magnet and enter the south pole or end of the magnet; they are attracted to the

opposite pole‐ “opposites attract.” If there

is only one magnet, the force lines loop

around to the south end. If there is another

magnet with a south pole near the north

pole, the lines will enter that south pole

instead, which explains why one north pole

or end of a magnet will attract the south

pole or end of another magnet. The closer

the magnets are the more field lines can

enter the south pole, the stronger the

attraction between the poles that pulls the

magnets together. The reverse is true for

same poles. The closer the magnets

together, the stronger the repulsion

between two like poles.

http://www.schoolphysics.co.uk



Did you know that lodestone, a natural permanent magnet is created from a regular iron ore that

has been hit by lightning? The force of the lightning causes the electrons to be permanently

aligned and therefore magnetized. Lodestone is an example of a material that has permanent

magnetic properties and is therefore a permanent magnet.

There are two types of magnets:

A. Permanent; i.e., lodestone

B. Temporary:

o Some iron materials can be magnetized by even a weak magnetic field, but it is

temporary

o Electromagnets, an electric current through wire of specific metals causes a

temporary magnetic field

Did you know that the first observations of electricity were made about 2600 years ago?

However, at that point, observed static electricity of rubbed amber was mistaken for magnetic

properties of lodestone. The difference and the true connection between the magnetism and

electricity was studied only 2200 years later in the 1600’s! Electricity was found to cause

temporary magnetic properties in certain metals and could be used to rotate materials. From this

the electric motor, the device you will design, and construct was first discovered almost 200 years

ago!

Electromagnets have been used for about 200 years! The first major use for electromagnets was

telegraph sounders, which would make the Morse code sounds that were translated by the

telegraph operators. Today, electromagnets are used in motors and generators, speakers and

buzzers, levitation devices used in high speed Maglev trains and MRI machines used to detect

abnormalities in human bodies enabling doctors to detect such diseases as cancer earlier and to

save lives.

The Earth is considered a large magnet. Its magnetic field is caused by the movement of molten

iron inside Earth’s core. A compass uses the Earth’s magnetic fields to point to the North Pole.

VOCABULARY

Magnet

Metal

Ferromagnetic

Magnetic field

Magnetite

Lodestone

Permanent magnet

Geographic North Pole

Geographic South Pole

Coil

Electromagnetic rotor



MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Mandrel (1.25”) 1

Magnetic disk 1

Copper wire (20 AWG), enameled 112cm

9V battery 1

Alligator clip 2

Sandpaper (5cmx5cm square) 1

PART I: DESIGNING THE BASE MOTOR

1. In the space provided below, design a Simple as Possible (SAP) motor with the materials

provided to you. You may choose to draw a diagram of the motor, labeling the materials you

will use to construct it. You may also choose to write up the instruction for building it. When

writing instructions, remember that someone must be able to follow them without your help.

Your instructions must be detailed and precise. Don’t forget to name the materials and say

how much of each you need to use.



2. Before you start building your motor, check your design with your teacher.

PART II: TESTING VARIABLES THAT INCREASE OR DECREASE THE SPEED OF

ROTATION

HYPOTHESES:

3. Which materials can you modify to make the motor’s coil spin faster or slower? Come up with

modifications in as many materials as you can that will change the motor’s function.

4. How will changing each material modify the speed of the coil? There is no wrong answer here

until the tests of your variables are completed. Make an educated guess, based on what you

learned about electricity, magnetism and an electromagnetic motor.

Material to modify

What needs to change? How?

How will the change affect the speed of the coil’s rotation?

5. Choose one variable to test your hypothesis. _____________________________

6. How will you change the variable you chose? Choose at least two modifications.

a. Modification 1: _____________________________________________________

b. Modification 2: _____________________________________________________



7. Discuss in your group how will each modification to the variable change the speed with which

the coil spins? Then write down your group’s hypothesis.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

TESTING YOUR HYPOTHESIS, DATA COLLECTION:

Check with your teacher to make sure materials are available to test your hypotheses.

8. In the space provided, design a table to collect data from your experiment. Remember to

include the variable’s name and units, in which you will be measuring your results. If

necessary, create enough rows for multiple trials.

Make sure to check with your teammates first and then with your teacher to make sure your

table is ready for data collection before running your experiment.




9. Are all metals attracted to magnets? Why or why not?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

10. What are the three metals that have ferromagnetic properties?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11. What are the two things necessary to create an electromagnet?

________________________________ ________________________________

12. A magnet has two poles, north and south, please explain why placing the magnets together

might either cause them to attract each other or repel each other?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

13. Why is lodestone magnetic, but iron ore is not?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

14. What does a compass detect and how does it do this?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



15. Of the following list (screw, water, plastic bottle, scissors, paper clip, glass), which items are

magnetic? __________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

16. What will happen if the magnet in your motor was flipped over?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

17. What will happen if the battery in your motor was flipped over?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

18. Based on your group’s observations and presentation from the other groups, which variable

affects the speed of the motor the most? What is the effect?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

19. Besides of the variables tested, what other factors are likely to affect the speed of the motor?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 11. Density


MODULE 11. DENSITY


INTRODUCTION

In a time long ago (250BCE) in a land far away (City of Syracuse, in Greece) there lived a King. This

King of Syracuse ordered a crown to be made from a specific amount of gold. A tradesman who

completed the order brought back a crown that weighed just as much as the amount of gold that

the King gave him. As luck would have it, the King heard rumors that the tradesman cheated him

by mixing the gold with silver and keeping the mass of the crown the same. The King did not want

to punish the tradesman just based on rumors, so he asked Archimedes, who was a

mathematician, to figure out whether the material out of which the crown was made was a

mixture, or pure gold. His task was complicated by the fact that the crown had to remain intact,

he could not melt it down. Archimedes knew that silver and gold have different densities. In fact,

gold is almost two time more dense than silver. He also knew that the density of any material

depended on how much volume the object occupied. Therefore, he knew that the volume of the

crown would ultimately determine whether or not it was made out of a mixed metal or pure gold.

What Archimedes didn’t know was how to measure the volume of an object that did not have a

regular shape. He knew all the mathematical formulas for calculating the volume of a cube, a

sphere, a cylinder, and all the other shapes. But how would one go about calculating a volume of

a crown? To help himself think, Archimedes decided to take a bath. Because he was so

preoccupied with the problem he didn’t notice that the bath was full to the top before he started

to get into it. As he started getting into the tub, the water started spilling out. The more his body

was getting submerged, the more water was spilling out on the floor. Finally, when only his head

remained above the water, the water stopped spilling. “Eureka!!!!” – he shouted – “I’ve found

it!” What Archimedes discovered was that the amount of water that was spilling out of the tub,

was equal to the volume of his body. Since he knew that silver was less dense than gold, and that

the tradesman made sure the mass of the crown was the same as the amount of gold King of

Syracuse had given him, Archimedes knew that the volume of the crown with mixed metal (and

decreased density) should be bigger than the

same mass of pure gold. He tested the crown

and discovered that the tradesman indeed

mixed silver into the crown. Now it was up to

the King of Syracuse to figure out an

appropriate judgment for the tradesman.

Now, what is density and how did

Archimedes use his knowledge of density to

help the King of Syracuse make a just ruling?

Module 11. Density


Density is the amount of mass, or “stuff” contained in a specific volume, or space that the object

takes up. For example, if you have two boxes of equal size, and one is filled with bricks, and the

other with feathers, the box of bricks will have a larger mass than the box with feathers. Similarly,

a ton of bricks is still more dense than a ton of feathers, but the ton of bricks will fit in a much

smaller container since it has more mass per the same volume than the feathers. But do you think

it would be easier to pick up a ton of feathers than a ton of bricks?

WHAT’S HEAVIER A TON OF BRICKS OR A TON OF FEATHERS?

www.courses.lumenlearning.com

When referring to liquids, a liquid that is less dense will float on top of another liquid that is more

dense. You have probably had a chance to observe that when water is mixed with oil and vinegar

to make a salad dressing. Oil floats to the top and vinegar sinks to the bottom. The only way to

get all three into your salad is to shake up the bottle before pouring it on.

Understanding density is not only important for making salads and avoiding picking up a ton of

feathers. It is also important in making boats. In order for boats, made of steel, to float on water,

which has a lower density, we can increase the volume of the steel boat and make the steel into

a hollow shape of a boat. The boat’s density is then combined with the density of air (which is a

lot lower than water) and thus decrease its overall density, allowing it to float on water. You will

explore more about boats in the Watercraft Module.

Today, let’s explore how liquids and solids of different densities interact.

VOCABULARY

Density

Buoyancy

Mass

Volume

Gas

Liquid

Solid

Weight

Force

Module 11. Density


MATERIALS

Material for part I Quantity

Graduated cylinder (100ml) 1

Water 15ml

Electronic scale 1

Craft stick 1

Solid objects with irregular shapes 1 of each

PART I – DETERMINING VOLUME AND DENSITY OF IRREGULARLY SHAPED OBJECTS

In this section you will calculate the density of objects that have irregular shapes. Make sure the object you choose can be loosely placed into the graduated cylinder you are using and taken out easily as well.

To calculate an objects density, you will need to measure its mass and volume. Since the objects you will use have irregular shapes, their volumes cannot be calculated by simply measuring the objects’ dimensions (height, length, width, radius, etc.). This activity will show you how to measure an object’s volume by using the displacement of water demonstrating what Archimedes found out long ago!

MEASURING VOLUME OF AN IRREGULAR OBJECT THROUGH WATER DISPLACEMENT

1. Identify the object in the 1st column of the table

below

2. Measure the object’s mass in grams, using the digital scale. Record it in the 2nd column. This

is how much matter there is in this object.

3. Note the volume of the water in the graduated cylinder before placing the object inside.

Record it in the 3rd column

4. Place the object carefully inside the water. Be careful not to splash the water. Record the new

volume of water in the 4th column

Module 11. Density


5. Subtract the number in column 3 from the number in column 4. Record it in the 5th column.

This is the volume of the object in milliliters (ml) and centimeters cubed (cm3) – this is how

much space this object takes up

6. Divide the number in column 2 (mass) by the number in column 5 (volume). This is the

object’s density – how tightly the molecules of this object are packed

Object Object’s mass (g)

Water volume (mL) Object’s

volume (mL) Object’s density

(g/mL) Without object

With object

7. Why do you think it is important not to spill the water when you are placing it in the water?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

8. Which object had the largest mass? ___________________________________

9. Which object had the smallest mass? ___________________________________

10. Which object had the highest density? ___________________________________

11. Which object had the lowest density? ___________________________________

Module 11. Density


PART II – LIQUIDS AND SOLIDS DENSITY COLUMN

Material for part II Quantity


Vegetable oil 15ml

Water 15ml

Dish soap 15ml

Milk (whole) 15ml

Corn syrup 15ml

Solid objects – ping pong ball, grape tomato, bottle cap, bead, die, corn

kernel, bolt (or anything else metal)

1 of each

12. Place the graduated cylinder on an even surface.

13. Carefully pour one liquid at a time into the cylinder in the following order:

a. Corn syrup

b. Milk

c. Dish soap

d. Water

e. Vegetable oil

14. Observe what the column of

liquids looks like and record

in the space to the right.

Choose the best way to

record your results. You may

want to create a table, a

diagram or an illustration of

what you observe.

Module 11. Density


15. What can you say about the densities of the liquids you poured into the column in relation to

each other? _________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

16. Carefully add solid objects (approved by the teacher) into the column of liquids. Observe

what happens to the solids and record in the area below.

17. What can you say about the densities of the solids with relation to the liquids around them?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Module 11. Density


18. Determine the average density of your column by measuring its volume and mass. Use the

following formula:

Density = Mass / Volume

Average Density: ______________

PART III – SUGAR DENSITY COLUMN AND AVERAGE DENSITY

Material for part III Quantity


Water 15ml

Cups with sugar water (4 different concentrations/colors) 1 of each concentration

Electronic scales 1

Pipettes 2

In this activity you will once again create a density column. Except, instead of different liquids

you will use water with sugar dissolved in it. Your teacher would have prepared the 4 different

concentrations of sugar in 4 different containers. The concentrations will remain a mystery to

you, for now.

19. First, however, you will measure the density of each liquid. You already know the formula for

density. Write it down below:

20. Look over the materials you have in front of you and write down the steps to collect the

necessary data and calculate the density of each liquid.

Module 11. Density


21. Create a table and record the densities of the liquids in the space below. Your teacher will

then reveal to you the concentrations of each one.

22. How does concentration relate to density? Complete the following sentence:

The higher the concentration of dissolved sugar in water, the _______________ the density.

Now it is time to create your density column.

Module 11. Density


23. Start with the sugar water with highest density. Using a pipette, carefully layer the 4 colored

liquids into a graduated cylinder. Record your observations below.

24. What happens in the areas where the water is colored orange? Why does this happen?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Now, let’s see what happens when you shake up your column.

25. Cover the top of the cylinder with a palm of your hand and shake it. Record your observations

below.

Module 11. Density


26. How long do you think you have to wait for the liquids to separate again? Explain your answer.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

27. Using the directions for calculating density you used already, measure the density of the

resulting liquid.

28. How does it compare to the densities of each individual liquid you used to create this density

column? Explain why you think the average density of this resulting liquid is what it is.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Module 11. Density



OVERALL ASSESSMENT

29. What is heavier, a kilogram of bricks or a kilogram of feathers? What takes up more space?

Explain?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

30. Mercury is a liquid. From the density table shown,

which solid metal(s) will float on a container of mercury

and why?

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

31. Car frames are currently made of iron. To improve gas mileage, there is a push to make cars

lighter in weight. Aluminum can be used. If the same volume of aluminum were used to

manufacture a car frame, would the frame weigh less than half as much? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Metal g/cm3

water 1.00

aluminum 2.70

zinc 7.13

iron 7.87

copper 8.96

silver 10.49

lead 11.36

mercury 13.55

gold 19.32

Module 11. Density


32. When designing a raft, an engineer has a choice of using Styrofoam (lowest density), cork

(medium density), or bamboo shoots (most dense). Which material would be best? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

DETERMINING VOLUME AND DENSITY OF IRREGULARLY SHAPED OBJECTS

33. In your own words, describe the two different ways to measure the object’s density by

submerging it in water. Use illustration to assist in your description. How are they the same?

How are they different? What is the benefit of each?

Module 11. Density


34. How could you measure the volume of an object that does not fit inside a cylinder?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

35. How would you measure the volume of an object that does not sink in water? Describe in

words and draw a diagram to describe.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

36. Why would some objects not sink in water?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

LIQUIDS AND SOLIDS DENSITY COLUMN

37. Which was the least dense liquid in the column you built? Which was the most dense?

___________________________________________________________________________

38. Which was the least dense solid object in the column you built? Which was the most dense?

___________________________________________________________________________

Module 11. Density


39. Did you include the mass of the graduated cylinder in your calculations of average density?

Why or why not?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

SUGAR DENSITY COLUMN AND AVERAGE DENSITY

40. Why did you have to use caution when layering the liquids? What would happen if you just

poured one over the other quickly?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

41. What would happen to the average density of the resulting liquid (after you shook it up) if

you used more of the lowest density liquid to build your column? What if you used more of

the highest density liquid? Explain using what you know about averages.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

42. How are the two density columns you made similar? How are they different?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

43. What is different between the average density of the column made up of multiple liquids

(from Part II) and the sugar column (from Part III)?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Module 11. Density


NOTES

Module 12. Watercraft


MODULE 12. WATERCRAFT


INTRODUCTION

What makes a boat float? Well, if it is made of wood, the answer is easy. Most wood floats since

its density is lower than that of water. What about the really big boats, the ones made of iron,

like the Titanic or the big cruise ships that take people around the world? Metal does not float.

So… what makes the boats float?

Look at the picture of boats below. What do they have in common? How are they different? What

is the purpose of each boat? How much weight is each boat meant to carry? These and many

other questions engineers ask when designing any boat, whether it is a bath toy or a Navy

submarine.

In this module you will design a watercraft out of regular household materials. The goal is to

design it such that it will hold the maximum number of pennies for the longest period of time

without sinking.



VOCABULARY

Density

Buoyancy

Mass

Weight

Force

Gravity

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Cellophane wrap 1 roll

Party balloons 4 balloons

Paper 4 sheets

Tape 1 roll

Pennies 30‐50

Large container of water 1

Plastic cups 2

Plastic straws 12‐20

Metric ruler 1

DESIGN

1. In the space below, sketch a design of your penny boat.

Seth Wait

Seth Wait

Seth Wait

Seth Wait

Seth Wait

Seth Wait

Plastic Bag

Seth Wait

1

Seth Wait

2

Seth Wait

40 cm

Seth Wait

10



2. Compile of list of materials you will need and quantities of each:

Material Quantity

3. Build and test your boat! How many pennies was it able to hold before sinking? ___________

4. If a penny weighs 2.5 grams, approximately how much mass, in grams, was your boat able to

hold? ______________________ grams

5. How did you place the pennies in your boat? Did you have a strategy?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



6. What were two of the most common methods of boat failure for the class?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

7. Taking the failures of the boats your classmates and you designed, think of ways to improve

on what you have made. In the box below, sketch a redesign of your penny boat so it can hold

more coins and for a longer time.



8. Compile of list of materials you will need and quantities of each:

Material Quantity

9. Rebuild and test your boat again!

10. Approximately how many grams of mass did your boat hold? ______________ grams

11. What was the single biggest design change from your first boat to your second? Why did you

choose to change the design in that way?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

12. What design feature did the majority of boats in class have in common? Why do you think

that is?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



13. Does the lightest boat necessarily carry the largest mass? Why or why not?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

14. Does the biggest boat necessarily carry the largest mass? Why or why not?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

https://www.teachengineering.org/

15. Which hull from the figure above will likely carry the most mass? Why do you think so?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

http://www.mby.com/

16. Which hull from the figure above would likely be the fastest? Why do you think so?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



17. Based on the engineering design process that was studied in Module 1, describe how you

fulfilled the following three steps of the design process in your project.

Testing/Analysis – Test your model, tool or structure and analyze its performance

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Final output – Provide an accurate description of the design; Build the final design

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Design Improvement – Think of ways to improve performance

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

18. Very often, the final design of an object will not be a total redesign of the original concept,

but rather based on tweaking and modifying of the original design. What were some

modifications you incorporated that did not require a complete redesign of your boat?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 13. Cartesian Diver


MODULE 13. CARTESIAN DIVER


INTRODUCTION

A Cartesian diver is a classic experiment, named for scientist Rene

Descartes, which demonstrates the principle of buoyancy (also

known as Archimedes’ Principle). It can also link to the Ideal Gas

Law and includes discussing concepts of density, pressure, mass,

and volume as well.

View photos of the Dead Sea. What do you observe? Have you

visited the Dead Sea? Tell your group about your experience. The

Dead Sea is extremely salty, much more than regular sea water. As a result, its water is more

dense than sea water and actually more dense than your body causing a body to float in the Dead

Sea.

VOCABULARY

Mass

Density

Displacement

Volume

Buoyancy

Pressure

Force

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Bottle (2L) 1

Water 2L

Plastic cup (9oz) 1

Pipette (plastic) 1

Hex nut (1/4 in) OR Jumbo paperclips 1 OR as needed

Scissors 1



PROCEDURE

This experiment shows what happens when the pressure on a gas increases and decreases. When

you squeeze the bottle, the air bubble inside of the diver is forced into a smaller space making it

more dense. The more dense the air becomes the further the diver sinks. When you release the

bottle, the air expands, and the diver rises to the top.

1. Cut off the stem of the pipette about 1–1.5 cm below the end of the bulb and discard the cut

portion of the stem.

2. Thread a hex nut onto the stem of the pipette. It should be a tight fit. ALTERNATIVELY, you

can use jumbo paperclips to weigh your diver down.

3. Fill the plastic bottle almost to the top with water.

4. Fill the plastic cup almost to the top with water.

5. Transfer the diver to the cup. The diver should just barely float. If necessary, take up some

water into the pipette.

6. Carefully transfer the diver to the bottle. The diver should still just barely float.

7. Add water to the bottle until it is filled completely and then screw the lid on tightly.

8. Squeezing the bottle should cause the diver to move downward, and the release of pressure

should cause it to float back up again. If the diver will not submerge, remove the diver and

add more water to the pipette.



TESTING AND DATA COLLECTION

9. In the space below, draw a picture of your Cartesian diver before and after you squeeze the

bottle.

10. Describe what happens to the diver as you squeeze the bottle and the pressure inside is

increased.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________




11. Why does a change in pressure affect what happens to your diver?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

12. Does it matter how hard you squeeze the bottle? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

13. How do you think it would be different if you used hot or cold water? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

14. Is the density of the “Cartesian Diver” higher or lower than the density of water? How do you

know?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

15. To be neutrally buoyant, an object must not rise to the surface or sink to the bottom. How

can you keep your diver neutrally buoyant?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



16. Define the following variables

a. Volume ____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

b. Mass ____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

c. Density ____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

d. Buoyancy ____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

e. Pressure ____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

17. Use the variables you defined in the previous question to explain what is happening inside

the bottle. Write a short paragraph describing why the outside pressure on the bottle affects

the diver inside.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



CHALLENGES

CHALLENGE 1:

Design your own Cartesian diver from household items. It must fit inside of a bottle so that it can

be tested. However, you are welcome to bring in larger size bottles to use.

CHALLENGE 2:

1. Partner with another team and make five divers filled with various amounts of water.

2. Label each diver using a permanent marker.

3. Record your observations below.

4. Feel free to create your own challenge, after checking with your teacher.

Diver Amount of water Observations

1

2

3

4

5



NOTES

Module 14. Ballast


MODULE 14. BALLAST

STUDENT NAME ____________________________ DATE ___________________

INTRODUCTION

What happens to a block of metal when you place it in water? What about a beach ball? Those

questions are easy to answer. What about why? Why does a block of metal sink and a beach ball

float? Is it because of their mass? What if you make sure that the block of metal has the same

mass as the beach ball? Will it float or sink? It will sink. Because the ability of an object or a

substance to float depends on its density, not its mass. No matter how big or heavy the beach

ball, it will never sink. No matter how tiny a speck of metal, it will always sink in water. What is

density? It is how closely packed the molecules or atoms of the substance are. The figures below

show that if molecules or atoms are packed very closely together, the substance has a high

density, such as iron, copper and most other metals. If the molecules are far apart, as in all gases

(the ones in the beach ball), the substance has a low density.

https://theconstructor.org/

What if you, as any engineer, are not satisfied with an object just sinking or just floating? What if

you would like to be able to control when an object sinks and when it floats? Well, then you build

a model of an object that is composed of multiple substances, and which allows you to add and

take away substances, which will allow you to change the average density of an object.

What is average density? Average density takes into consideration all the materials out of which

an object is made. A simple way of calculating density is to divide the object’s mass by its volume.

You already know how to calculate an object’s volume that has a regular shape. However, when

an object has an irregular shape, that might be a little more difficult.

In this module, you will learn and practice measuring an irregular shaped object’s volume. Once

you know how to do that you are well on your way to be able to calculate average density of any

object.

Module 14. Ballast


Israel, surrounded by four bodies of water (Kineret, The

Dead Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and the Red Sea),

maintains a Navy Force in the Mediterranean and the

Read Seas to protect its shores. The latest addition to

Israel’s Navy submarine force is the Rahav submarine in

2018, shown in the figure to the right.

The goal of this activity is to build a bottle “submarine,”

capable of submerging and surfacing while staying

horizontally level.

VOCABULARY

Density

Average density

Buoyancy

Ballast

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Flexible tubing 50‐100cm

Flexi straw 1

Plastic bottle (16oz or smaller) 1

Coins (nickels or larger) OR washers (metal, various sizes) As needed

Electrical tape 1 roll

Clay About the size of a bottle cap

Module 14. Ballast


DESIGN AND TESTING

1. INDEPENDENTLY, sketch a diagram of how you plan to build your submarine in the space

below:

2. Share your design ideas with your group. Collaboratively, come up with a design on which the

group agrees. Clear your design with your teacher before proceeding to the building part.

3. What are 2 design ideas you are using from amongst the individual’s preliminary designs?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Module 14. Ballast


4. Construct your craft. In order for your submarine to float the ballast holes must always

remain facing downward. Use the ballasting material (i.e. coins) to help steady the craft.

Draw and label your model in the following space:

5. Test your submarine. What are some problems with how your submarine functions?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Module 14. Ballast


6. Practice using the straw to get your submarine to float precisely in the center of the tank.

What are some difficulties you are having?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

7. Is the craft more steady when there is more ballast and more air, or when there is less ballast

and thus less air? Why do you think that is?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

8. What would be the danger in a submarine turning over?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

9. What is the maximum amount of mass, or coins, that your submarine can lift? _________

What determines this?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

10. What are some advantages and disadvantages to an active ballast system, where air is

pumped in and out to raised and lower a submarine?

Advantages: ________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Disadvantages:______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Module 14. Ballast


REDESIGN AND RETESTING

11. After listening to the problems other groups were having with their designs and considering

the problems with your group’s design. What are some things you need to change in your

submarine’s design to make it work more efficiently?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

12. If time permits, redesign and rebuild your submarine. Test it again.

13. Did the adjustments you made to the design improve your submarine? How so?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


14. What is the difference between the density of an object made entirely out of metal and that

of a submarine, that is hollow and filled with air (and other things) on the inside?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Module 14. Ballast


15. Why is a submarine able to rise up to the surface of the water, even though it is made of

material much more dense than water?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

16. What serves as ballast on an actual submarine? What did you use as ballast on the model

submarine you designed and built?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

17. Why did your bottle submarine need to have holes on its bottom?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

18. Why do you have to place your thumb over the end of the plastic tubing to keep the bottle

afloat? _____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

19. If you wanted to calculate the density of your submarine, what would you need to do? How

would the submarine’s density differ when it is on the bottom of the water chamber and

when it is on the surface of the water?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Module 14. Ballast


NOTES

Module 15. Water and Salinity


MODULE 15. WATER AND SALINITY


INTRODUCTION

EARTH’S WATER SUPPLY:

Water makes up 71% of the Earth’s surface, and most of this water is seawater. Only 3.5% of the

Earths water is freshwater, and most of it is tied up as ice and is therefore inaccessible. Sea water

has a 3.5% composition of various salts that is the equivalent of 3.5g salt dissolved in 100ml of

water, and it tastes very salty. Freshwater has a salt concentration of less than 0.05%, that is

0.05g salt dissolved in 100ml of water. However, there are ranges in between, and the salt

concentration in any body of water is dependent on many factors. One of these factors is the rate

of evaporation of water. The evaporation rate is dependent on temperature and wind patterns.

Warmer areas have higher evaporation rates, which makes ocean and sea water in those areas

saltier than in the cooler areas. For example, the Red Sea is saltier than the Indian Ocean. Other

reasons for difference in salt concentration are temperatures, wind levels, altitudes (how

elevated the body of water is), amount of rainfall, runoff, and stagnant water.

The Dead Sea has the highest salinity of a

body of water in the world with a 34% salt

concentration. This high density of salt in

the Dead Sea allows the human body to

float in its water. However, this high level of

salt also prevents life forming in the

appropriately named Dead Sea (see figure

to the right). The high level of salt in the

Dead Sea is caused by a combination of all

the factors mentioned above.

The more salt there is in a body of water the higher its density. It is because of this very high‐

water density that people can float in the Dead Sea and it is also the reason that no life forms in

and around the Dead Sea.

Salt is not the only mineral in natural bodies of water. There are many other minerals as well.

Minerals are naturally occurring chemical compounds such as potassium, calcium and

magnesium to name a few. Theses minerals can come in a crystalline form or be dissolved in

fresh or salt water. Different areas have different mineral types, so the freshwater might taste

different according to the minerals dissolved in it. The term “hard water” is freshwater with a



high mineral content that usually come from

calcium and magnesium carbonates. These

minerals can create the white crystalline crust

that is often found on shower and faucet heads

(see figure to the rights). Soft water, by contrast,

has a low concentration of minerals.

http://www.waterfowlbootcamp.org/2015/06/

SOLUTES, SOLVENTS AND SOLUTIONS.

You must have heard the word solution many times. But what is it exactly?

A solution is a liquid mixture of a solid component (the solute) that is dissolved in the liquid

component (the solvent). Solution is a very special type of mixture referred to as homogenous.

Homogenous means the same throughout. For solution, it means that no matter what part of a

solution you take, you will get the same composition. This is different from heterogeneous

mixture (like salad or a collection of marbles) that is different in different locations of the mixture.

https://msnucleus.org/

Salt and water solution is an example that you will explore in this module. Another common

example of a solution is air. Even though it is not liquid but gas, we consider it a solution because

gases are fluids.

SALINITY

When salt is dissolved in water, there is only a very small change in the volume of water.

However, the mass is increased. Since you are now packing more “stuff” (water and salt

molecules) into nearly the same volume this leads to an increased density of the entire solution.

The measure of the density of dissolved salt in water or concentration of dissolved salts in water

is called salinity.



Salinity can be expressed through percent concentration (%), parts per thousand (ppt) or parts

per million (ppm). For example, on average, sea water has a 3.5% salt concentration of salt, which

is 35ppt. You will learn about these units in this module as well.

When a solution takes on as much solute as it can handle and cannot take on any more, it is called

a saturated solution. However, you can “persuade” a solution to take in some more solute by

changing the temperature (increasing) or pressure (decreasing) of the environment. In this case,

a solution will take on some more solute and become supersaturated.

The Dead Sea is a supersaturated salt solution. Its salt concentration is unusually high, 34%! This

high concentration is possible because of the high temperatures of the surrounding desert.

DENSITY

Density is the mass in a unit of volume. It is the measurement of the amount of matter in a given

space. Put another way, density is the amount of mass, or “stuff” contained in a specific volume,

or space that the object takes up. The more mass you have in a given volume, the higher the

density (see figure below).

http://www.shonscience.com/

The formula for density is: 𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦

We measure density in grams per centimeter cubed (g/ cm3) or grams per milliliter (g/ml), since

1cm3 = 1ml.

Density of pure water is 1 gram/cm3 or 1 gram/ml since the mass of 1ml of water has the mass

of 1 gram.

BUOYANCY

Buoyancy is a measure of the upward force, called the Buoyant force. This force acts on an object

when it is placed in a liquid or a gas, causing it to float. It can be experienced by trying to

submerge a beach ball in water. The difficulty in completing this task comes from the buoyant

force by the water on the beach ball. The ball actually experiences a balance between the

buoyant force pushing upwards and the force of gravity on the ball pushing downwards. The two

forces are opposite. When the ball is full of air, the upward force on the ball from the water is

greater than the force of gravity, therefore the ball floats. What would happen if you filled the



ball with sand? It would sink because in that case, the force of gravity would be greater than the

upward force of water on the ball full of sand.

In this module, you will build an instrument with which you will measure the salt concentration

or salinity of known and unknown salt water solutions. Understanding the concept of parts per

million (ppm) will be important.

VOCABULARY

Solution

Solute

Solvent

Homogeneous

Heterogeneous

Concentration

Salinity

Mineral

Buoyancy

Buoyant force

Density

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Graduated cylinders, 100ml 5

Plastic straws 2‐6

Play doh 1/5 container

Alternative to Play doh – pencil cap erasers 5

Salinometer 1

Plastic pipettes 5

Electronic scale 1

Digital salinometer 1

PROCEDURE

PART I: BUILDING A SALINOMETER

1. Cut three plastic straws in half horizontally. Take a small piece of Play Doh,

measure its weight using a scale, record the weight. Roll it into a ball and attach

it to one of the cut straw pieces.



2. Press the underside of the ball on to a table to make it flat at the bottom.

3. Fill a 100ml graduated cylinder with 75 ml of water and place the buoy in the water.

4. If the buoy sinks to the bottom, make another buoy with less Play Doh. Keep trying (repeat

from first step) until the buoy floats in water at about mid‐way down.

5. Once you have the necessary weight of Play Doh, use that amount to make five buoys.

PART II: USING THE SALINOMETER TO COMPARE SOLUTIONS WITH KNOWN SALT

CONCENTRATIONS

6. Using masking tape, label the graduated cylinders with: 0% salt, 5% salt, 10%salt, 15% salt

and unknown.

7. Fill each of the four graduated cylinders with 75ml of the known salt solutions as indicated

on the label.

8. Place one buoy in each graduated cylinder carefully. Make sure no water gets inside the

straw.

9. Using a plastic pipette (make sure to use one pipette per solution), add the same

concentration solution to each graduated cylinder until the water level reaches 100ml. As you

are adding the water, make sure no liquid gets inside the straws.

10. Record the level of the bottom of each buoy and record it in the data table.

PART III: USING THE SALINOMETER TO DETERMINE THE SALT CONCENTRATION OF AN

UNKNOWN SALT SOLUTION

11. Fill the 5th graduated cylinder with 75ml of the unknown salt solution.

12. Place the last buoy the graduated cylinder carefully. Make sure no water gets inside the straw.

13. Using a clean plastic pipette, add the same solution to the graduated cylinder until the water

level reaches 100ml. As you are adding the water, make sure no liquid gets inside the straws.

14. Record the level of the bottom of the buoy and record it in the data table.

15. Using the data from the solutions with known salt concentrations, estimate what the

unknown concentration might be. Record it in the data table.

16. Using a digital salinometer, measure the salinity of the unknown solution and compare it to

your estimated percentage. Record it in the data table. Convert the number reported by the

salinometer to percent by dividing it by 10,000.



OBSERVATIONS AND TESTING

17. Once you have discussed the procedure for the experiment with the class, design a table to

collect the data from the experiment for the four known and one unknown salt

concentrations. Use the space below to create your data table and to record your

observations.




SATURATION AND SUPERSATURATION DEMO

18. What is the difference in the number of spoons of salt that were able to be dissolved in the

two water cups? _____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

19. What is the state of the solution in the first cup? ___________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

20. What is the state of the solution in the second cup? ________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

21. What is the difference in water in the two cups? To what does that difference contribute?

Why do you think this difference causes change in behavior of the solute on a molecular level?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

EGGS IN DIFFERENT SALT CONCENTRATIONS DEMO

22. Based on what you know about water and eggs, predict whether the egg is going to float or

sink in each of the cups:

a. with water only: _____________________________

b. Cup with 1 teaspoon of salt dissolved in water: ____________________________

c. Cup with 1 tablespoon of salt dissolved in water: ___________________________



23. Record what you observe in the space below:

24. What is the relative difference in density of each solution? Which solution is least dense, and

which is most dense? Explain why you think so.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

25. Explain why there is a difference in the egg’s behavior in each of the solution by using the

concepts of density and buoyancy?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

26. Which variable experiences the change in density in this demonstration, the solution or the

object that is placed in it? _____________________________



27. How does what you observe in this demo illustrate what a human body would experience in

a fresh water lake as opposed to an ocean?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

COKE VS. DIET COKE DEMO

28. Record the mass (in grams) and volume of each can below:

a. Coke: ________________ grams; ________________ ml

b. Diet Coke: ________________grams; ________________ ml

29. Is the mass the same? ___________ Is the volume the same? ___________

30. What is used to sweeten each drink? How do you know?

a. Coke _____________________________________________________________

b. Diet Coke _________________________________________________________

31. As the teacher places both cans in water, record what you observe in the space below:



32. What is the difference in the floating of the two cans? Why is this difference observed?

________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

33. Which variable experiences the change in density in this demonstration, the solution or the

object that is placed in it? _____________________________

34. Calculate the density of each can based on their mass and volume that you recorded

previously using the formula D=m/V.

a. Coke: ________________ g/ ml

b. Diet Coke: ________________ g/ ml

ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE SALINOMETER

PORTION OF THE MODULE:

35. Why is it important to keep the weight of the Play Doh the same in each of the buoys?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

36. Why is it important not to get any water in the straws when testing the different solutions’

salt concentration?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

37. Why is it important not to mix pipettes between the solutions?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



38. When the concentration of salt rises, what happens to the level of the base of the salinometer

and what caused the change?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

39. In the space below, create a graph of the salt concentration versus the level of your

salinometer. At what level would you expect your salinometer to be in a solution that is 20%

salt concentration? Indicate your answer on the graph below:



NOTES

Module 16. Water Purification


MODULE 16. WATER PURIFICATION


INTRODUCTION

GLOBAL WATER SUPPLY

Water makes up 71% of the Earth’s surface, and most of this water is seawater. Only 3.5% of the

Earth’s water is freshwater, and most of this is tied up as ice and is therefore inaccessible (see

figure below). Sea water has a 3.5% composition of salts that is the equivalent of 3.5g salt

dissolved in 100ml of water, and it tastes very salty. Freshwater has a salt concentration of less

than 0.05% of salts, that is 0.05g salt dissolved in 100ml of water.

With only a fraction of the freshwater free and

available, the stress on our water supply is now

at a high level. Worldwide, 783 million people

(about one in nine) do not have access to clean,

safe water (https://thewaterproject.org/water‐

scarcity/water_stats ). Water is listed as a

number one global risk based upon impact to

society. In the developed world water is often

taken for granted, available for household,

industry and agriculture use such as irrigation.

It is however not evenly distributed across the

Earth and in many underdeveloped areas

people may have to walk long distances to have

access to water, and it is therefore considered a

valuable commodity. The available freshwater supply is not unlimited, and with a growing world

population, the demands are increasing to the point that even in the developed world with

drought conditions, water shortages are becoming frequent. People may be able to live without

fuel, but water is essential to life. Conservation measures are often common in areas of drought.

Ideally one of the solutions is a purification of sea water to drinking quality. Our continents are

surrounded by so much sea water, use of this water is considered one of many solutions for the

growing world population.

PURIFICATION OF SEA WATER‐ DESALINATION

Sea water often contains many elements including salts from many compounds including sodium

chloride. Desalination only addresses the processes that remove salt from water, it does not

address purification of water from other contaminants like bacteria. There are four key processes



that desalinate water, thermal, electrical, pressure desalination (reverse osmosis), and forward

osmosis. We will consider the first three methods.

A. THERMAL DESALINATION OR DISTILLATION:

In this process, sea water is heated, and

the water vapor (steam) is cooled and

collected, leaving the salts behind

(shown in the figure to the right). Think

of what happens when salt water is

spilled on the ground and left it to dry

naturally. Salt crystals appear on the

ground as the water evaporates and

changes phase from a liquid to a vapor.

With distillation, the materials are

separated as the water heats and

changes from a liquid phase to a vapor

phase. However, the contaminated particles stay in the primary distillation container as they

would require to be super‐heated at high temperatures to change their phase. The downside of

thermal desalination is that a lot of energy is required to produce mass quantities of drinking

water.

Thermal desalination is the method you are going to test in this module.

B. ELECTRICAL DESALINATION.

In this method, an electrical current is used to separate the water from the salt compounds. This

method requires too much energy to make it suitable for the high concentrations of sea water.

C. REVERSE OSMOSIS

In this method, pressure is used to push salt water through a semi‐permeable membrane (a

membrane with tiny holes to allow passage of certain tiny molecules) to clear water of

contaminants and salt. In 2011, this method was used by 66% of water desalination plants with

the world’s largest reverse osmosis plant built in Sorek, Israel in 2013.

ISRAEL AS A GLOBAL LEADER IN WATER PURIFICATION AND DESALINATION

In Israel, the climate is a mix of arid and Mediterranean climates. Israel is located between 29°

and 33° north of the equator. The north and coastal regions have hot and dry summers, and cool,

rainy winters, whereas southern and eastern areas are arid and dry. It is possible to think that

an area that has a large arid component would have a significant water shortage, yet Israel has

an abundant supply of water in comparison to its neighbors, where water shortages are common.

The reason for this is that Israel has been investing in research into water conservation and



desalination technologies for more than half of a century. It is now a world leader in these areas.

The following lists just some of the technologies that Israel uses that are now being used in other

areas to address severe water shortages.

1. AGRICULTURE:

The majority of fresh water is normally used

by agriculture at approximately 68% of the

total water supply. Much of the water used

is wasted as run‐off, which also causes

problems due to pollution of freshwater

sources. Israel was the founder of drip

irrigation, a method by which water is

dripped on a plant on an as‐needed basis

resulting in significantly reduced run‐off and

waste. This technology was discovered by a

young water engineer named Simcha Blass,

in the 1930’s. He noticed that a tree that

stood out from a bank of trees on the edge of the farm he was visiting. This tree was taller and

greener. He found that this tree was being watered by a tiny hole in a hose. From this observation,

he developed drip irrigation technology, which is now being adopted around the world by many

nations, including the USA.

2. DESALINATION USING REVERSE OSMOSIS

The coast of Israel is dotted with desalination plants that contribute significant amounts of water

to the economy. This technology has now been adopted by the USA, and the first desalination

plant opened in Carlsbad in California in 2015. Further desalination plants are in development.

3. CONSERVATION OF WATER

Many old cities have aging water systems. It is almost impossible to replace centuries of water

pipes and also to pinpoint leaks without digging up miles of pipes. In Jerusalem, a company called

Hagihon came up with a method where pressure sensors in various parts of the city detect pipe

leaks. The leaks can then be repaired without needing to dig up long stretches of pipes. This

effectively brought the water loss from pipes to 6‐11% in Jerusalem, in comparison to most

European cities where it is 20‐40%.

VOCABULARY

Desalination

Distillation

Concentration

Percent concentration

Part per million (ppm)

Part per thousand (ppt)



MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Aluminum pan, LG, deep 1

Aluminum pan, M, shallow 1

Cling wrap, thick (enough to cover the pan completely and be taped to the sides) 1 roll

Tape, duct or masking (enough to tape the cling wrap to the large pan) 1 roll

Salinometer 1

Water heater (electric immersion heater) 1

Salt, not iodized table salt or NaCl 30g

Water, tap 1L

Heat resistant gloves 1 pair

Digital scale 1

DESIGN

1. Use the space below to design your distillation apparatus. Write the procedure for use,

including safety precautions. Approve with your teacher before proceeding to the procedure

described below.



DATA COLLECTION AND TESTING

2. In the space below, design a table to collect data about the salinity of water solutions with

which you will be working.

Follow the steps below to complete the testing of your design.

3. Obtain 2000ml of tap water. Measure its salinity and record in your data table.

4. Add 8g of salt to the water, mix to dissolve. Measure its salinity and record in your data table.

5. Add 7g of salt (for a total of 15g) to the water, mix to dissolve. Measure its salinity and record

in your data table.

6. Add 15g salt (for a total of 30g) to the water, mix to dissolve. Measure its salinity and record

in your data table.

7. Pour the salt water into the distillation apparatus. Make sure to set up the heater and the

thermometer away from each other.

8. Clear your apparatus with your teacher.

9. Run the distillation at the time and location approved by your teacher.



10. In the space below, create a graph to represent the salinity of water solutions resulting from

adding salt to tap water and then using distillation to purify water.


11. What is the purpose on the small weight placed on top of the cling wrap?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

12. Is the salinity of your distilled water the same or different from the tap water with which you

started the experiment? Why do you think this is?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



13. What property of water allows for distillation to occur? Hint: compare this water property to

the same property of particles dissolved in it. ______________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

14. What is the downside of using thermal distillation process? (Hint: where did the energy come

from to distill the water?) Why is it a problem? What natural resource can you use to solve

that problem? _______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

15. Based on what you know about natural components of water, the salinity of tap water, and

purified water you collected, what might be a downside of drinking purified water?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 17. Surface Tension


MODULE 17. SURFACE TENSION


INTRODUCTION

Have you ever seen leaves on the surface of the

water? What happens if you push them below the

surface? Will they float up or sink down? Leaves will

sink if you push them under the surface of the water.

This will happen simply because leaves are more

dense than water. Why then do they seem to float on

the water? The leaves are actually not floating, they

sit on the thin film created by the molecules of water.

We call this phenomenon surface tension. Surface tension is also what allows some insects, like

water striders, to “walk” on water without drowning.

https://www.nwf.org/

Water molecules’ unique polar

structure creates strong hydrogen

bonds between them. On the surface,

where water meets the air, those

bonds are strong enough to pull water

molecules closer together, so they

create a very thin film that allows very

light objects (like leaves, insects or

even paperclips) to remain on the

surface without sinking.



So how does this work exactly? We already said that

water is a polar molecule. This means that each

molecule has a slightly positive and a slightly

negative side because of the way that the oxygen and

hydrogen share electrons (the negative particles in

the atom), like shown in the figure to the right.

http://www.biology.arizona.edu/

We know, that positive charges attract negative

charges. Since water molecules have positive and

negative ends, they attract, forming what we call in

chemistry hydrogen bonds. These bonds are not very

strong, but they are strong enough to hold water

molecules together and give it its unique qualities, including surface tension. This attraction of

same molecules is also called cohesion. So how does surface tension work and why does it only

take place on the surface? In the figure below, you can see that the hydrogen bonds we just

mentioned occur throughout the volume of water. Each polar water molecule is attracted to the

polar water molecules around it. What about the water molecules that are on the very surface

of water? Are they attracted to air molecules in the same way? Since the molecules of air are not

polar, they are not. Therefore, the molecules on the surface are only being pulled by the

molecules inside the volume of water, but not by the molecules of air outside of water. Since that

happens, these molecules are being pulled by stronger forces down, then up, which causes them

to get closer together than the molecules on the inside. This decreased space between the

molecules makes the bonds between them stronger and created the thin layer that is able to

hold light objects like leaves and insects up and above that layer of closely held molecules of

water.

http://fusedglass.org/

In this lab, you will explore just how much you can “stretch” the bubble of water before it breaks

by slowly dripping water on a coin. You will also compare the surface tension of water to that of

alcohol and vinegar, both liquids being diluted by water to different degrees. Finally, you will

discover what breaks surface tension.



VOCABULARY

Surface tension

Cohesion

Polar molecule

Hydrogen bonds

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Water 5ml

Rubbing alcohol 5ml

Vinegar (white) 5ml

Plastic cups (12‐16oz) 1

Paper clips (jumbo) 1 box

Plastic pipettes 3

Coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter, dollar) 1 of each coin

Liquid soap 1 drop

Electronic scale 1

Paper towels As needed

PROCEDURE

PART I: DROPS ON A PENNY

1. Place a small piece of paper towel on a digital scale.

Place the penny on top. Tare the scale

Note the figure to the right: the digital scale should

be at 0 when the paper towel and coin are placed

on it, so that it records only the mass of the water

placed on the coin.

2. Using a pipette carefully drop water onto the penny.

Count the drops. How many drops of water can you

get to stay on a penny? __________

3. Repeat if necessary.



4. What do you notice happening to the water as you add drops?

__________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

5. Why do you think this is happening?

__________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

6. Draw a picture of the water on the penny right before it fell off in the space below:

7. Repeat the procedure with the penny using alcohol and vinegar:

a. How many drops of alcohol can you get to stay on a penny? ____________

b. How many drops of vinegar can you get to stay on a penny? ____________



8. Compared to water, did something different happen when you were adding alcohol? What

about vinegar? What do you think is the reason for this difference?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

9. Draw a picture of the alcohol and vinegar on the penny before it fell off in the space below.

Make sure to label your illustrations:

10. Based on its diameter, which US coin do you think would hold the most drops? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



11. In a space below, design a table to collect data for various coins and three liquids you tested

on a penny. Clear your design with your teacher before proceeding.

12. Repeat the procedure with various coins and liquids. Enter the data in the table you designed.

PART II: FILLED TO THE RIM

13. Place a plastic cup on a paper plate or paper towel and fill it with water to the very top.

14. Observe as you slowly and cautiously add paper clips to the cup until it overflows.

15. How many paper clips were you able to add? ______________________________________

16. What happens to the water's surface as you add paperclips?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



17. Draw a picture of the surface of the water as it looked before the cup overflowed in the space

below:

PART III: CAN YOU FLOAT A PAPER CLIP?

18. Place a plastic cup or a bowl on a paper plate or towel and fill it with water to the very top.

19. Place a paper clip on the surface of the water. Can you make it float? Why or why not?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



20. Take a different paper clip, unfold one side of the paper clip as shown

on the right and lightly dip it in soap. While the paperclip is still on the

surface of the water, lightly touch the soapy paperclip to the surface of

the water. Record your observations below:

21. What happened to the paperclip? Why did that happen? Would this happen if the paperclip

was made out material with density below 1g/cm3?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

22. In the space below, design a table to collect data from your experiment. Take into

consideration the different coins and different liquids you are testing.

23. In the space below, create a bar graph of your results. The graph should compare the mass

able to stay on each of the coins you tested OR the amount of different liquids on each coin

you tested.




24. Describe the following terms in your own words:

Surface Tension: _____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Cohesion: __________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

25. Why does water have surface tension?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

26. Compare the alcohol, vinegar and water in terms of surface tension.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

27. What is the difference in the amount of each liquid that fits on each coin? How can this

difference be explained in terms of cohesion of each liquid?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



28. Use the figure below to describe what is happening on the surface of the penny and the filled

cup.

ILLUSTRATION OF

WATER MOLECULES

FORMING THE DOME

OF WATER ON THE

SURFACE OF A PENNY.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

29. What is the difference between measuring the number of drops and the mass of liquid that

fit on each coin?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

30. What is the difference between an object floating due to difference in density, and staying

on the surface of a liquid due to surface tension?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 18. Hydrophobicity and Hydrophilicity


MODULE 18. HYDROPHOBICITY AND HYDROPHILICITY


INTRODUCTION

In this activity we will study hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity, or the abilities of materials to

attract and absorb water.

FROM ATOMS TO EVERYDAY MATERIALS: THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF NATURE

The universe is composed of matter, that is everything within and around you. Matter is defined

as anything that takes up space and has mass. Matter can exist in four states, solid, liquid, gas

and plasma.

Atoms are the building blocks of matter. Atoms are made up of the subatomic particles,

electrons, protons, and neutrons. Protons have a positive charge, electrons have a negative

charge, and neutrons are neutral have no charge at all. The electrons live in a cloud that

surrounds the nucleus of the atom. The protons and neutrons live in the nucleus. The term

element is used to describe a substance when it is made up of one type of atom. An atom is the

smallest amount of an element.

The Periodic Table shows all the elements that we are aware of that exist in our world. These

elements when combined with other atoms, through chemical bonding, produce the wide

diversity of materials that make our world and universe. The atomic number, which is the number

above each element symbol in the Periodic Table, indicates how many protons and therefore,

electrons there are in an element.



PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

The elements of the Periodic Table and all the substances that surround us have different

physical and chemical properties. Physical properties are properties of substances that do not

involve a chemical change or change in substances identity, for example color or strength.

Chemical properties describe the ability of a substance to participate in chemical reactions and

cause a change in the chemical structure and therefore the substances identity. Physical changes

can be easily reversed, for example liquid water’s physical property where it can change to ice

can be easily reversed through melting, and the water molecule does not change. Chemical

changes can only be reversed with large amounts of energy, an example is rust. When iron reacts

with oxygen and creates rust which has a different chemical composition to iron, we see this on

the surface of many metals exposed to the air for long periods of time.

Elements may be combined in chemical bonding through number of ways creating diversity in

our world. Water is wonderful example of this. Water is made up of two atoms of hydrogen and

one atom of oxygen brought together by covalent bonding. Table salt is made up of one atom of

sodium and one atom of chlorine brought together by ionic bonding. This bonding process

creates whole new substances that have chemical and physical properties that are far different

to their parent elements.

CHEMICAL BONDING

Let’s look at why chemical bonding occurs? They key players in this activity are electrons. There

are different patterns that the electrons like to occupy in an atom. Some atoms like to lose

electrons to other atoms and some gain them. This is the basis of chemical bonding.

Some elements in nature are generally found in pairs. An example is oxygen in the air that we

breathe. Carbon atoms

occur in large complexes

with many carbons that

when combined in a certain

way, make a diamond. Note

that these atoms share their

electrons, and this is called covalent bonding.



Other elements, when combined with different elements, can produce a wide range of materials

that we use every day. Let’s take sodium chloride (NaCl; table salt), it is made up of one atom of

sodium (Na) and one atom of chlorine (Cl), bonded together by ionic bonding which describes

atoms donating and receiving electrons.

Sodium: Na Chlorine gas: Cl (CL2) Sodium chloride: (NaCl)

SODIUM AND CHLORINE: COMPONENTS OF TABLE SALT

When elements bond together covalently, they bind by sharing

each other’s electrons and they produce a molecule. Water is a

molecule where one oxygen atom shares electrons with two

hydrogen atoms. The sharing is not fair, and the oxygen takes more

than its fair share of electrons and so is slightly negative leaving

the hydrogen atoms slightly positive. It is because of this unequal

sharing that the water molecule plays such an important role in

life.

MONOMERS AND POLYMERS

Many materials that we use every

day and that make up a large part of

our body, are made up of polymers.

A monomer is a molecule that is the

smallest repeating unit of a polymer.

Think of a string of beads, each bead

on its own is called a monomer,

whereas when combined into a

necklace, is called a polymer.

This module is a study of polymers that we use every day in our lives and how their composition

affects their physical properties. The polymers tested in this module include, cotton, silk,

polyester, wool, and rayon.



Cellulose is a carbohydrate polymer that is found in plants and makes the stems tough. The

cotton plant also uses cellulose to form cotton balls that are picked and then processed into

thread that is used to make many items that include clothing. The monomer for cotton is called

glucose and when it is joined with other glucose molecules, they produce the polymer cellulose.

Most silk is made up from the cocoon of the Chinese silk moth (mulberry silkworm‐ Bombyx mori).

SILK MOTH COCOON AND COTTON PLANT

The monomers for silk are amino acids and the polymer is a protein. Silk has a repeating unit of

several different amino acids. Silk is one of the strongest natural materials and forms the fabric

of bullet proof vests.

The two examples of polymers used so far are cotton and silk, both naturally occurring materials.

Our world is also surrounded by synthetic polymer materials such as polyester, rayon and

spandex. They are used to make many items ranging from water bottles to clothing.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS: HYDROPHOBICITY AND HYDROPHILICITY

When materials are selected for a function, for example a backpack, they are put through many

physical tests for their suitability. The two types of tests that are used in this module are designed

to test for their ability to keep the things that they cover dry.

The ability for something to repel water, is called “hydrophobicity,” this is the measure used to

test the ability of materials to keep things dry. The ability to attract water molecules is called

“hydrophilicity.” How does this happen? The water molecule as described earlier is polar as it

has an uneven distribution of charge between the two ends of the molecule due to an uneven

distribution of electrons.

DISTRIBUTION OF CHARGE IN A WATER

MOLECULE



ADHESION AND COHESION

When you consider the attractive forces between materials, the term adhesion is used to

describe the attractive force between different substances, for example, water and a glass.

Certain insects can walk on water, this is due to a combination of things. First the water molecules

at the surface of the water stick together causing surface tension, secondly the tiny hairs on an

insect’s leg repel water and trap air.

WATER STICKING TO THE SIDE OF A GLASS AND AN INSECT TREADING ON WATER

Cohesion is the ability for materials that are alike to attract each other. Water is the classic

example of cohesion. The fact that you get a drop of water that beads up into a ball like shape,

shows that the water molecules are sticking (clumping) together.

WICKING PROCESS OF MATERIALS TESTING

Wicking is the process in which liquids move through or are pulled through, the fibers in a fabric

by means of capillary action. Capillary action is created by a combination the cohesive and

adhesive forces of water. These two forces working together create a “pull” which causes the

liquid to move through the fibers in the fabric. This force can even work against gravity and pull

the water molecules up through a piece of fabric, paper or in thin tubes. This can also draw

perspiration away from the skin and up to the surface of the fabric, allowing the moisture to

evaporate quickly.

In activity A and B, the planar wicking process and moisture water holding capacity of various

fabrics will be explored.



VOCABULARY

Matter

Atom

Element

Proton

Electron

Neutron

Atomic number

Monomer

Polymer

Hydrophobic

Hydrophilic

Cohesion

Adhesion

Surface tension

MATERIALS

HYDROPHOBICITY TESTING PART A

Material Quantity

Assorted fabrics One set

Waterproof surface; a small plastic plate or waxed paper Six

Water As needed

Water container (i.e. beaker, cup, etc.) One

Timer One

HYDROPHOBICITY TESTING PART B

Material Quantity

Assorted fabrics One set

Water container (i.e. beaker, cup, etc.) One

Plastic pipettes One

Water As needed

Digital scale One



PROCEDURE AND QUESTIONS

PART A

1. Review the steps for Part A of this activity and create a table to record the data you are about

to collect.

2. Using a pipette, measure 3 ml of water (practice a few times over a sheet of paper) and place

the water on to the center of the fabric and start your timer

3. Continue monitoring the fabric sample until the bead of water is completely absorbed by the

material

4. Tip the plate on a 45‐degree angle to the side and observe if any water runs off

5. Which fabric took the longest time to absorb the water? ________________________

6. Which fabric would be best suited for the following applications and why?

a. Medication supply carrier ____________________________________________

b. Table cloth ________________________________________________________

c. Doctor scrubs ______________________________________________________

d. Raincoat __________________________________________________________

e. Exercise Shirt ______________________________________________________



PART B

7. Review the steps in Part B of this activity and create a table to record the data you are about

to collect.

8. Measure the mass of each piece of dry fabric and record it in the table you created.

9. Using your graduated cylinder, measure out 70 mL of water and pour it into a cup. Be sure to

observe the reading of the cylinder at eye level to make sure you are getting an accurate

amount.

10. Fold the fabric small enough to fit into the large plastic cup. Make sure that the fabric is

totally immersed in water for 30 seconds. You can use a plastic spoon to push down the fabric

so that it is completely submerged.

11. Carefully pull the fabric out, trying not to squeeze the fabric. Make sure any excess water

drips back into the cup.

12. Place the wet fabric back on the scale and record the mass of the wet fabric.

13. Calculate the percent water holding capacity of each fabric.

14. Record the volume of water left in the cylinder once the piece of fabric is out.

15. Calculate the amount of water that each piece of fabric absorbed and record it in the table.



16. Create a graph that indicates the different water holding capacity of each fabric using

whichever method you prefer, the scale or the graduated cylinder.

17. Which fabric would be best suited for the following applications and why?


__________________________________________________________________

b. Table cloth ________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

c. Doctor scrubs ______________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

d. Raincoat __________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

e. Exercise Shirt ______________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________



18. What are some drawbacks, for each specific application, as a result of the fabric chosen in

the previous question?


__________________________________________________________________

b. Table cloth ________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

c. Doctor scrubs ______________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

d. Raincoat __________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

e. Exercise Shirt ______________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

19. What fabric would be appropriate to use on the inside of each application and why?


__________________________________________________________________

b. Table cloth ________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

c. Doctor scrubs ______________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

d. Raincoat __________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

e. Exercise Shirt ______________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________



20. Marc and his family were out playing baseball on a beautiful sunny day, when an unexpected

cloudburst came down and soaked the whole family. After half an hour, Sara, his wife, said

that she wanted to go home and was freezing in her wool dress which was still wet. Marc and

the kids were having such a great time that they didn’t want to leave. Their baseball outfits

were made of polyester and were nice and dry and they didn’t feel cold at all. Can you explain

why Sara was still wet and freezing while the rest of the family was dry?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 19. Breaking Point


MODULE 19. BREAKING POINT


INTRODUCTION

What are the strongest materials on Earth? Maybe you’ve heard that diamonds are the strongest

or even spider silk, which is what spider webs are made of. These are certainly high on the list.

Diamond consists of carbon atoms bonded together in a rigid crystal structure, and naturally

occuring diamond was formed millions and millions of years ago. Spider silk is one of the

strongest biological materials, and it is made of proteins. However, there is another animal which

contains teeth that have proven even stronger than spider silk and hold the title for strongest

biological material. Limpets, which are aquatic snails, have teeth made out of nanofibers fused

with a mineral called goethite. Surpassing all of these, graphene is the strongest material,

scientists have discovered. Graphene is a two‐dimensional layer of carbon atoms connected in a

hexagonal structure. It is a highly researched and significant material for the future as it has

tremendous potential for a variety of applications from electronics to biology. Graphene is so

strong that it would take an elephant standing on top of a sharpend pencil to break a sheet of it.

DIAMOND SPIDER SILK LIMPET TEETH GRAPHENE

Materials science is the branch of science and engineering that specializes in the design and

discovery of new materials. It involves physics, chemistry and engineering, and contributes in

very meaningful ways to almost every societal need, including medicine and biological

applications, manufacturing, electrical components and energy production. When designing or

selecting a material for a particular purpose, a materials scientist would consider the material’s

mass and strength, its properties such as the ability to conduct electricity or insulate from heat,

its chemical structure and reactivity, and even its abundance on Earth.

In this module, you will be testing the force required to break three different materials: cotton,

silk, and polyester. Each of these materials is a type of material called a polymer. Polymers are

typically made of organic molecules which consist of repeating units of the molecule. They can

be naturally occurring, such as cotton and silk, or they can be manmade, such as plastics like

polyester or nylon. The other two major groups of materials are metals and ceramics. Each group

has different responses under certain scenarios. For this lab, we will test materials when they



under tension, which means forces will be pulling at either end of the material until it breaks.

Another scenario where forces are at work on a material is compression, when the forces are

pushing inward at either end. There is also bending, torsion (twisting), and shear.

TYPES OF FORCE APPLIED TO MATERIALS

https://steemit.com/

The type of mechanical property we are testing in this lab is tensile strength, which is the

resistance of a material to breaking under tension. It is a measurement of the force per area

required to pull something such as rope, wire, or a structural beam to the point where it breaks.

Tensile strength is measured in units of force per area, also called stress. So, for example, in

metric units it could be measured in Newton per meters squared (N/m2). In the US, it could be

pounds per inches squared (PSI).

A tensile test consists of gradually increasing the force on a material until it breaks. Imagine an

airplane wing extended straight outward. Now imagine attaching cables to it and pulling it

upward. Carefully measuring the amount of applied force, the wing begins to bend upward in a

curved shape until it snaps! Now, let’s test our materials in lab.

VOCABULARY

Materials science

Polymer

Tension

Tensile strength



MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Cotton thread, 30cm 1

Silk thread, 30cm 4‐5

Polyester thread, 30cm 1

Electronic digital hanging scale or a Newton Spring Scale Variable

Binder ring, 2” 1

Masking tape As needed

Scissors 1

PROCEDURE

SET UP:

1. Cut three pieces of masking tape and write the types of thread you will be testing on the tape:

one type per tape.

2. Examine the types of thread you have. Compare the thickness of the thread. Since you will

be testing the strength of the thread, you need to approximate how many of each thread you

need to achieve approximately equal thickness.

3. Fold the different thread types to get similar thickness of each and cut 30 cm lengths of each

type. Place each type of thread on its corresponding masking tape to keep track.

4. Tie a loop on each end of the folded lengths of thread.

EXPERIMENTAL PORTION:

5. Using one length of thread at a time, attach the loop of one side of thread to a binder ring.

Close the ring. Attach the second side of the thread to the hook of the digital scale.

6. If using a digital scale, turn the scale on and make sure it reads 0.

7. Place the binder ring onto a location that would be sturdy enough and will not move as you

pull on the thread. Suggested locations: closed door handle, mounted wall hook, etc.



8. Make sure you are wearing eye protection in the form of safety goggles.

9. Fully extend the thread before you begin pulling.

10. Holding on to the scale, pull the thread until it breaks.

11. Watch the scale as it will record the force (equivalent to the mass in kilograms)

with which you pull the thread. Note the scale’s reading when the thread breaks.

Record the scale’s reading in your table. Notice that the scale records the mass

in kilograms. To get the force with which you pulled on the thread to break it,

you need to convert the unit of mass (kg) to the unit of force (N). Since these

scales were made for measuring weight of objects on Earth and they adjust them

to their mass, one kilogram of mass is roughly equivalent to 9.8 Newtons of

force.

12. Repeat with the same type of thread at least two more times. Calculate the

average amount of force you used to break one type of thread.

13. Repeat the experiment with the two (or more) other types of thread. Record

your readings and the average force needed to break each type of thread.

Type of thread

Trial Force

recorded (kg)

Conversion kg to N

(1kg = 9.8N)

N = kg * 9.8

Force necessary to break the thread (N)

Average force needed to

break thread

1

2

3

1

2

3

1

2

3



14. While performing the experiment, take note of anything that might introduce

inconsistencies or mistakes into your data.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


MATERIALS SCIENCE QUESTIONS

15. What are the three types of materials?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

16. How is tension different than compression?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

17. What is a tensile test?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

18. What is stress?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



19. What is strain?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

20. Why might it be helpful to use terms other than “strong” when describing materials?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

21. What does it mean for an object to be brittle?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

22. What does it mean for an object to be ductile?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

23. What type of materials are to be tested in this module?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

POST INQUIRY QUESTIONS

24. Which fabric had the weakest tensile strength? ____________________________________

25. The strongest? ______________________________________________________________



26. Are the natural fabrics (cotton and silk) or manmade fabrics (rayon, polyester, spandex,

nylon) stronger? Why do you think that is?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

27. Which rope/thread material would you use for the following applications and why?

a. Handle for a bag _______________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

b. Playground swing ropes _________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

c. Outdoor clothes line ____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

d. Indoor clothes line _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

e. Fishing line ___________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

f. Shoe laces ____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

g. Eyeglass strap rope _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

28. Why is it crucial to understand the quality of the materials you are working with?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



29. Mark, Sara and their family are planning an overnight camping trip to Big Bear Mt.  They know

a great deal about hiking, but they are not sure if their old tent ropes are strong enough to

withstand the high winds in the area.  What type of rope should they purchase and why do

you think this type of material would be the best choice?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

30. Below is a microscopic view of threads made of various materials. Choose any three

materials and explain how its engineering properties (i.e. – tensile strength, water

resistance, etc.) can be deduced from the its physical makeup.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 20. Medication Bag Challenge


MODULE 20. MEDICATION BAG CHALLENGE


INTRODUCTION

THE PROBLEM

Millions of children around the world are faced with the lifelong challenge of dealing with severe

allergies where they must carry their medications with them at all times. One of the serious

challenges that parents of these children face, is getting them to keep their medication with them

when they are out of the house. These children want to fit in with their peers and having their

medications in plain sight can be quite embarrassing for them. Often, they will refuse to keep

them nearby. A second challenge is that many children have some difficulty opening and closing

containers because of weakness in their hands and fingers. If a person is not able to use their

thumbs for example, they are considered to have a 25% loss of the use of their entire body!

CONSTRAINTS/ REQUIREMENTS

Your challenge is to create an attractive and practical medication supply carrier for the following

items: an inhaler, a double‐sided Epi‐Pen, a packet of Benadryl capsules, and an information card

about the use of their medications. This medication bag should be able to be worn around the

neck, waist or chest, as well as being small enough to be stored in a backpack or purse. When

designing this medication bag, we must also keep the following constraints in mind. The medicine

bag should be made of lightweight, flexible, durable fabrics, attractive, compact, and water

resistant. It should also have separate compartments to hold the medications securely and be

low cost.

When creating a new product, it is important to understand the pros and cons of all of the

materials that go into making this item. For example, when disposable gloves first came out, they

were often made of a material called latex. Many people are severely allergic to latex and cannot

use this product. As a result, a different material, such as nitrile, was developed for disposable

gloves. Even if we are not concerned about allergies, we still need to know the strengths and

weaknesses of the materials we plan on using in order to choose the best fabrics to create our

medication bag.

PROCEDURE

Follow through on all stages of the design process when designing your bag. Please refer to the

diagram below for the design engineering process.



PRESENTATION

When you have completed your design create a three‐minute pitch for your bag, to present

before potential investors.



NOTES

Module 21. Insulation


MODULE 21. INSULATION


INTRODUCTION

Have you wondered how things heat up? Where does the heat come from? How do we keep our

homes warm during a cold winter day and cool during a hot summer day? How do our bodies

keep an internal temperature of 37 C (98.7 F) while our surroundings are usually much cooler?

Each of these questions can be answered by an understanding of heat transfer and insulation.

Heat is defined as a form of energy that is transferred between two systems at different

temperatures. If there is hot coffee in a mug sitting in a room at normal room temperature, the

higher temperature coffee will transfer its heat to the air in the room until the coffee equals the

room temperature. The higher temperature object always transfers heat to a lower temperature

object or surrounding. Looking at the situation at a much smaller level, the coffee liquid is made

up of atoms that move at a fast speed which causes its high temperature. Meanwhile the cooler

air in the room is made of atoms moving at a slower speed which explains its lower temperature.

When the fast‐moving coffee particles come in contact with the slow‐moving air particles, heat

energy is transferred.

THE THREE TYPES OF HEAT TRANSFER



Did you know that the temperature of Earth is perfect, not too hot and not too cold, for life?

According to NASA, the average temperature on Earth is 1C (33.6F). This seems cold but most

habitable life is on land where it is much warmer, while the icy waters of the north and south

poles are extremely cold. The sun delivers heat to our planet at the perfect temperature for

survival. In fact, the way the sun emits heat is an example of one of the three types of heat

transfer, radiation, where a very hot object emits electromagnetic waves in the form of heat. The

other two types of heat transfer are called conduction and convection. In conduction, heat is

transferred by direct contact between a hot and cold object. In convection, heat is transferred

by the flow of hot or cold air to surrounding objects without touching. Think of a pan of water

being heated over a fire. The burning fire radiates heat to the pan (radiation); the outside of the

pan and its handle becomes hot so if you touch it, your hand will feel the warmth (conduction);

and the boiling water is heating the small area of air just above it (convection).

Now that we know heat transfers so readily, how can we keep anything at a stable temperature?

How do our bodies stay internally warm? The answer is insulation. Insulation is a property of a

material that restricts heat transfer. On our bodies, our skin acts as insulation. It is able to keep

the interior of our bodies at 37C (98.7F) while our surroundings are much cooler! For engineers

and scientists, insulation is a very significant property of a material when designing buildings and

products. A common metric for telling how good a material is at insulating is an R‐value. A higher

R‐value means better insulating capability. An insulated wall may have an R‐value of six whereas

the glass window may have an R‐value of three, so the heat is more likely to be lost through the

glass window.

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Plastic/paper cups 4

Thermometer (Celsius) 1

Newspaper 1 large page (12”x12”)

Sock 1

Aluminum foil 1-2 sheets (12”x12”)

Plastic wrap 1-2 sheets (12”x12”)

Tape As needed

Warm tap water As needed



VOCABULARY

Heat

Conservation of Energy

Conduction

Convection

Radiation

Insulation

R‐value

PROCEDURE

In this activity, you will test various materials for their insulating capabilities: newspaper, wool,

aluminum foil, and plastic. First, you will hypothesize which material will provide the best

insulation.

1. Which material do you think will keep the most heat from escaping? On what do you base

your hypothesis? Remember, there is no wrong answer here. Your understanding of

insulation is based on your experiences. Describe how you know what you know.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

2. Look over the table in the next section to understand how you will be collecting data from

this experiment.

3. Gather a cup for each type of material you are testing.

4. Wrap the material around the outside of the cup. Try your best to make the thickness of

material around the cup the same for each type of material. Use tape to adhere the material

to the cup.

5. Place a thermometer in each cup to measure the initial temperature of water in each cup

immediately.

6. When each cup is wrapped, ask your teacher to pour hot water into each of the cups.

7. Then complete the table in the next section with the data you collect.



DATA TABLE AND GRAPH

Insulation Beginning

Temperature

Temperature after

___ minutes

Change in Temperature (Before minus After)

Newspaper

Wool

Aluminum Foil

Plastic

8. Use the space below to draw a picture of your experimental set‐up, labeling the cups and

materials.




HEAT AND INSULATION QUESTIONS

9. Is heat a type of energy? _____________________________

10. If one object loses heat, where does the heat go? And Why? __________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11. In which direction does heat travel?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

12. What are the three ways heat is transferred?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

13. Explain the three types of heat transfer with a real‐life example. Illustrate, if necessary.

a. ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

b. ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

c. ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________



14. What is a temperature gradient?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

15. What are some examples of things in everyday life that use thermal insulation?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

16. Material A has an R value of 2, and Material B has an R value of 0.1. With which material

would you choose to insulate your home? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


17. What were the results of your experiment? Write two sentences describing your conclusions.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

18. What type of heat transfer was at work during your experiment? Explain.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



19. What would you change about the physical setup the next time you did this activity?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

20. Why would an engineer need to know about insulation?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

21. There are three ways heat transfer occurs: conduction, convection, and radiation. Identify

the type of heat transfer that takes place in each situation.

a. You feel the warm sun on your face ________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

b. Your hand feels cold after holding ice cubes __________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

c. You open the oven door and feel heat ______________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

d. You are warmed by a campfire ____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

e. You burn your hand on a frying pan handle __________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________



22. In industry, an R‐value is used to determine the thermal resistance, or insulation, of a

material. The higher the R‐value the better it is at insulating.

You are at a hardware store.

There are two options of

materials for insulating your

basement walls. One has an

R‐value of 8 and costs

$10/square‐foot, and the

other has an R‐value of 12

and costs $15/square‐foot.

Which material will reduce your heating and air conditioning by a larger amount? Why?

Which material will be more economical to install and why (there is not necessarily a wrong

or right answer)?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 22. Solar Power


MODULE 22. SOLAR POWER


INTRODUCTION

Did you know that Israel is a leader in solar energy technology? Starting in the 1950s, Israel used

solar water heating to provide hot water to homes. It has been advancing solar technology ever

since. In the Negev Desert, a new solar thermal power station has been constructed along with

two nearby plants of photovoltaic panels. Together, these would provide 2.5% of the nation’s

electricity demand, which has a goal of achieving 10% from renewables by 2020.

Where does solar energy come

from? The sun, of course! Inside

the sun, the temperature is 15

million degrees Celsius (27 million

degrees Fahrenheit), and the

atoms that make up the star, our

sun, are bumping into each other

in a process called nuclear fusion

and releasing tons of energy. This

energy is called electromagnetic

radiation, and it travels in the form of electromagnetic waves. The electromagnetic spectrum is

a way to categorize the different energies according to their wavelengths. Longer wavelengths

correspond to less energy, and shorter wavelengths correspond to greater energy. On the

spectrum in the figure below, radio waves have a lot less energy than X‐rays.

ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

The values correspond to wavelength in meters (m)



Within the spectrum, there is a

category called visible light,

near wavelengths of 10‐5 to 10‐7

meters. This visible light is type

of electromagnetic waves we as

humans are able to see. We

cannot actually see any of the

other types of waves, but we can

sense, measure, and use them. For example, X‐rays are much greater in energy than visible light

and we do not see X‐rays but we can design machines that produce X‐rays that can penetrate our

skin and be absorbed by bones. Looking more closely at the range of visible light, we can see it is

broken up into the colors of the rainbow. The colors with greater wavelengths, red and orange,

have less energy than the colors with smaller wavelengths, blue and violet.

How can we see color? We see color based on the light reflected off an object. An object is made

up of atoms which absorb light energy. The atoms moving at a certain frequency absorb the light

energy of the same frequency, and they reflect outward the light energy not absorbed. So

technically objects do not have color unless light is shown upon them.

The sun’s energy allows us to make use of renewable energy for our electricity, heating and fuel

demands. Solar energy comes in many different forms:

Solar cells (photovoltaic cells) – are made of semi‐conducting materials that absorb light

energy and send electrons through a circuit creating electricity

Concentrated solar power – consist of mirrors and reflective surfaces that direct sunlight

to a concentrated location, heating a fluid for energy storage, later generating electricity

Solar thermal heating – are made of surfaces that absorb sunlight to heat water and

homes

Solar fuels – are fuels such as hydrogen that can be formed by reactions that use solar

energy by splitting water and other molecules

Renewable energy is energy that is available after use. Solar, wind, and hydropower (water) are

all types of renewable energy sources because the sun still shines, the wind still blows, and water

still flows after we make use of its energy. Nonrenewable energy is the opposite; it comes from

sources that become used up after we convert their energy. Coal, natural gas, and oil are

examples of nonrenewable sources. They are also called fossil fuels because they were fossils or

organic matter that decomposed over millions of years. We extract these sources for large scale

energy production, but this type of production is not considered sustainable because there are

limited fossil fuels. Renewable energy is popular among scientists and engineers because it is

sustainable for long term use and is generally more friendly to our environment.



VOCABULARY

Renewable energy

Nonrenewable energy

Electromagnetic spectrum

Infrared radiation

Visible light

Solar cell

MATERIALS

Materials Quantity

Temperature strips 1 per sheet of paper

Different colored paper 4‐5 sheets per group

Aluminum foil 30cm x 30cm

Cardboard Variable

Marshmallow 1

Clear plastic wrap 30cm x 30cm

PART I: ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM ACTIVITY: WHAT IS THE WARMEST COLOR?

Using the different colored papers and the temperature strips provided to you, determine the

light absorbing capacity of different colors by measuring their temperatures. Input the data into

the table below and answer the following questions.

Color of Paper Amount of Time in Sun (min.) Temperature (oC)



1. Which of the colored paper tested in your experiment absorbed the most energy? How can

you tell? ____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

2. Why did this color absorb more energy than other colors?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

3. What color would be the most suitable to wear during a hot summer day? Explain.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

PART II: SOLAR COOKER CHALLENGE: CAN YOU MELT CHOCOLATE CHIPS?

Design a solar cooker that can melt a marshmallow with the materials provided. Use your

knowledge of solar thermal energy and the visible light spectrum to create an efficient cooker.

Record the time it took to melt the marshmallow in the next section.

EXAMPLES OF SOLAR COOKERS

https://science.howstuffworks.com/



4. Draw your design in the box below.

5. Record the materials you anticipate using to design and build your solar cooker in the table

below. You can adjust the quantities later, during the building stage.

Material Quantity



DATA TABLE AND GRAPH

6. In the space provided, fill the table with data from your experiment. Remember to include

the variables name and units, in which you will be measuring your results.

Record temperatures inside your cooker with a thermometer at set intervals.

Temperature (oC) Time (min.)


SOLAR ENERGY QUESTIONS

7. What are a few examples of renewable energy?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

8. What is the difference between renewable and nonrenewable energy?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



9. Where do fossil fuels come from and what are a few examples?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

10. From where does the sun get its energy?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11. Is light a particle or a wave? Explain.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

12. On the electromagnetic spectrum, which has a longer wavelength: radio waves or visit light?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

13. In the visible light range on the electromagnetic spectrum, which has greater energy: red light

or blue light?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



14. Does a yellow banana absorb or reflect yellow light?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

15. What color(s) does a black shirt reflect?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

16. What are a few ways solar energy can be used for society’s energy needs?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

17. What type of materials are used to make solar cells?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


18. At what temperature did the marshmallow melt? _____________

19. Why do you suppose microwave ovens use microwaves from the electromagnetic spectrum

to heat food as opposed to visible light or infrared?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



20. Why do you suppose X‐rays are chosen from the electromagnetic spectrum to take images of

bones?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

21. You are given the challenge to select materials and design a cover for outside pipes that would

prevent them from freezing in the winter. Please describe the materials that you would use

and how they would work. Include your drawings in the space below.



NOTES

Module 23. The Chanukah Flame and Chemistry of Combustion


MODULE 23. THE CHANUKAH FLAME AND CHEMISTRY OF COMBUSTION


INTRODUCTION

Chemical and physical changes occur all around and within us. Physical changes are changes in

the appearance or physical state of the substance without changing the chemical composition of

that substance. For example, liquid water freezing into a solid or evaporating to become water

vapor. This change can be

reversed. We see this chemical

change in our bodies. Humans are

made up of 50‐60% liquid water,

however we breathe out gases

and water in a vapor state and

you can see this on a cold winter

day when we see the water vapor

in our breath condensing to water

droplets in the cold air.

WATER VAPOR IN OUR BREATH

When a chemical change occurs, the substance goes through a change in chemical structure. An

example would be when iron is in contact with water and oxygen it produces iron oxide – a

chemical compound that has a different molecular structure to iron. Iron oxide, commonly known

as rust, looks different and has different

chemical properties. You can see an

example of this chemical change in old

cars, where after a while the metal parts

begin to rust. Unlike most physical

changes, chemical changes are not

easily reversed.

IRON OXIDE (RUST) FORMS ON AN OLD CAR, THAT HAS BEEN IN CONTACT WITH WATER AND OXYGEN FOR A LONG TIME

The process by which a chemical change occurs is called a chemical reaction. In chemical

reactions one or more substances, called reactants undergo a chemical change to produce one

or more products.



The chemical formula for the chemical change associated with iron rusting is shown below, four

molecules of iron and six molecules of oxygen react to produce two iron(III)oxide molecules.

4Fe + 6O2 → 2Fe2O3

Reactants Products

Iron and oxygen are the reactants in this chemical reaction, while iron(III)oxide is the product.

When a chemical reaction occurs, energy is transferred to and from the surroundings. Sometimes

it is such a small change that it is hard to detect, and at other times such as when fire is produced,

it is easy to detect.

Chemical reactions that transfer energy in the form of heat to the surroundings are called

exothermic reactions (exo=exit) causing the temperature of the surroundings to increase. An

endothermic reaction removes heat from the surroundings, causing the temperature of the

environment to decrease.

HYDROCARBONS

In this module you will study the combustion reaction, during which paraffin wax in a candle

burns with oxygen. Paraffin is an example of a group of compounds known as hydrocarbons.

Hydrocarbons are made up of long chains of hydrogen and carbon units bonded covalently

(sharing electrons). Every carbon in the chain is bonded to two hydrogen atoms, and the two

carbons at each end of the chain are bonded to three hydrogens. The chain can be very long with

thousands of carbons‐hydrogen units. The bonds of the hydrocarbon are non‐polar. This term

refers to the fact that the bonds do not attract water molecules, whereas a polar material does

attract water molecules.

CH3‐CH2‐CH2…CH2‐CH3

Candle wax is made up of several different

hydrocarbon chain molecules mixed together. Each

molecule contains 14‐16 carbon atoms.

In this activity, designed specifically for Chanukah,

you will carry out several fascinating experiments, all

of them dealing with the study of the combustion

(burning) reaction. Note that not all materials can be

burned, many materials in your home are designed

to be fire proof or inflammable, like your saucepans,

stove top and Chanukah menorah. Candles however

are flammable and designed to be burned as fuel.



VOCABULARY

Chemical change

Physical change

Chemical reaction

Combustion

Endothermic reaction

Exothermic reaction

MATERIALS

Materials Quantity

Chanukah candle 1

Match box 1

Skewer, wooden 2

Glass jar 1

Ruler (metric) 1

Scale (0.01g resolution) 1

Timer 1

Aluminum foil (to cover surface) As needed

Beeswax sheet (10cmx10cm) 1

Wick (12 cm) 1

PART I: OBSERVING THE CANDLE AND THE FLAME

OBSERVING THE CANDLE

1. Examine an unlit candle closely. What individual components make up the candle? Draw the

main components of the candle in the space below:



2. Create an aluminum holder for the candle by scrunching up some foil and pushing the end of

the candle in the foil. Make the base of the foil flat to support the candle. Once the candle is

secure light the wick with a match. Examine the flame, and draw its structure below:

3. Hold the candle over a glass of water, and tip it so that some of the wax drips into the water.

What happens to the wax? Describe in detail. What does this tell you about the candle wax?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

HOLDING A SKEWER TO THE FLAME

4. Take a wooden skewer and hold it at one of the ends. Place the middle to end part of the

skewer through the middle of the candle flame, hold there for four seconds and remove. Is

there a pattern that you see? What might the pattern tell you about the heat in the different

regions of the candle flame?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



PART II: OBSERVING REACTANTS AND PRODUCTS.

5. Using the aluminum candle holder and the candle from previous observation, light the candle

and place a glass jar over the flame, so that it completely encases the candle, what do you

observe?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

6. Hold a glass beaker over the flame without encasing the flame completely? What do you see

on the glass? What is this? What conclusion can you make about what is happening

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

PART III: OBSERVING THE CHANGE IN LENGTH AND MASS OF A CANDLE OVER TIME

WATCHING THE LENGTH AND MASS CHANGE.

7. What happens to the length and mass of the candle over time? Write down your hypothesis.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

8. Measure the height of the same candle you used to examine the flame. Turn on the scales

and place the candle (with the holder) on top. Notice the weight of the candle. Write down

both height and mass.

Height of candle = ________________cm mass of candle = __________________ g



9. Light the candle and watch what happens to the mass of the candle closely for about 30

seconds to a minute. Blow the candle out.

10. What did you notice? What happens to the mass of the candle as it burns?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11. Wait for the wax to solidify. Measure the length of the candle again. Did it change? By how

much? _____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

12. Was your hypothesis correct or incorrect? ________________________________________

13. If your hypothesis was incorrect, what led you to make an incorrect assumption about either

length or mass of the candle or both?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

14. What conclusions can you make after running the experiment?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

MEASURING CHANGE IN LENGTH AND MASS

To proceed with the experimental portion, follow the steps below to make your own candle:

15. Lay the wax sheet flat on a surface of the table. You can place paper under the wax to protect

the surface.



16. Place the wick along the edge of the wax sheet that represents the height of the candle. There

should be 1‐2cm of wick sticking out of one of the sides of the wax sheet.

17. Warm up the wax sheet using a hair drier. It only takes a few seconds. Do not overheat, as

wax will melt and will be difficult to roll.

18. Gently roll the edge of the wax sheet around the entire length of the wick. Continue rolling

the wax until the end. If the edge does not stick well to the body of the candle, warm it up

with hair drier for a few seconds and smooth the edge to attach to the candle along its entire

length. For reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgpBuazBWiY

19. Once you have your group’s candle, measure its length and mass. Record it here:

Length of candle = ____________cm mass of candle = ____________g

20. Your teacher will give your group an assigned length of candle for which you are responsible.

Mark the assigned length from the top of the candle. Make a stand for your candle out of

aluminum foil. Make sure the candle is standing upright (not at an angle). Light the candle

and start the timer.

21. Stop the timer and blow the candle off when it burns through to the mark you made. Record

the time on the whole class table.

22. Wait for the wax to solidify, then measure the remaining mass of the candle. Calculate the

mass your candle lost during its burning time. Record it on the whole class table.

23. Copy the whole class table in the space below. If there are multiple times and masses

recorded from multiple groups, only record the averages.



24. In the space below, graph the data collected by the class in a mass lost vs. time and length

lost vs. time graphs.

CHALLENGE

25. Using the data collected and the graphs you put together, figure out the following:

a. How much mass does a candle lose in 1 minute? __________________________

b. How much length does a candle lose in 1 minute? _________________________

26. Looking at the graphs, can you estimate how long and of what mass should a candle be if it is

meant to burn for 3.5 hours. Write down the directions for making such a candle.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________




27. Out of what material do you think the candle is made? What is special about the candle

material? Why does it float in water, rather than dissolve in it?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

28. The flame gives off both light and heat. A kettle of boiling water only gives off heat. What is

the difference between these two processes? Why does the boiling water only give off heat,

while the burning candle also gives off light?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

29. Is the color of the flame uniformly consistent throughout the flame? What colors radiate from

the various regions of the flame? Try to think of a possible reason for this?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

30. What determines the characteristic elongated shape of the flame? What would the flame

would look like in outer space, where there is no gravity?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



31. What determines the boundaries of the flame? Why does it have a defined size?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

32. In Part II, you observed the burning of the candle. Are the changes you see physical or

chemical? Support your answer by referring to your observations.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

TAKING NOTICE OF REACTANTS AND PRODUCTS

33. From observing the candle go out under the glass in Part II, what conclusion can you make

about substances that are necessary for the candle to burn?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

34. What two other components are necessary for the combustion reaction to take place? What

observations support your answer?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

35. What are the products of the combustion reaction? How do your observations in Part II prove

the presence of those products?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



36. We are used to thinking of water as an effective means for putting out fire. However, in this

experiment we see that water (condensing on the wall of a beaker) is one of the two products

of a burning fire. The second product, CO2, remains in a gaseous form at room temperature,

and therefore it will not condense into a liquid. Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

37. What is a chemical and physical change? During your experiments the candle wax showed

both a chemical and physical change. Describe them below:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

38. Fill in the sections for the chemical reaction showing a candle burning below:

CH3‐CH2‐CH2…CH2‐CH3 + ____________→ CO2 + __________ + ___________

39. What is a combustion reaction? Why is the burning of candle wax considered combustion?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

40. In Part III, you needed to allow wax to cool before measuring the mass of the candle. Why

was it important to allow the wax to cool? What other precaution did you need to take when

preparing the candles for the same reason?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 24. The Six Simple Machines and the Inclined Plane


MODULE 24. THE SIX SIMPLE MACHINES AND THE INCLINED PLANE


INTRODUCTION

Throughout history humans have been seeking equipment or devices that would make their life

easier when carrying out work. In earlier days in history life was very labor intensive and the day’s

workload high, so developing a machine that could ease that workload brought relief to the

workday. The six simple machines shown below are machines that make certain tasks easier by

creating a mechanical advantage. Think about how they are used in the example and how this

may create a mechanical advantage.

SIX SIMPLE MACHINES.

The inclined plane is one of the six simple machines used to create a mechanical advantage. In

this experiment the mechanical advantage of an inclined plane will be explored. You will see if

changing the angle (by changing the height) of the inclined plane will change the mechanical

advantage. Remember to record all data and answer all questions.



VOCABULARY

Machine

Lever

Wheel and axle

Pulley

Inclined plane

Wedge

Screw

Fulcrum

Force

Energy

Work

Mechanical advantage

Gravity

Friction

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Spring scales 1

String 1

Plastic bag 1

Weights (marbles, rocks, etc.) 1‐2kg worth

Books As needed

PROCEDURE

1. Stack some books and make a ramp by placing one end of the

board on top of the books.

2. Put the marbles in the Ziploc bag and tie the string onto the bag

Use the string to hang the bag of marbles from the spring scale.

Record the weight: _____________ N

3. Place the marbles at the bottom of the ramp and use the spring

scale to pull them up the ramp at a slow constant speed.

TIP ‐ record a short video of the scale as you

pull the weight up the ramp and replay it to

see the measured force.

Record the required force = ____________ N

4. Change the slope of the ramp by adding or

removing books.



5. Repeat the measurement of force required to pull the books up the ramp. Remember to pull

at a slow and constant speed.

6. Calculate the mechanical advantage of the ramp in each trial using the following formula, and

record your data in a table below.

𝑀𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑑𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠

𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑢𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑝

DATA COLLECTION

7. Create a data table in the space below to record the number of books used to create the

ramp, force required to pull the weight up the ramp and mechanical advantage for each trial.


8. If your maximum pull strength is 100 Newtons, how much weight could you pull up the ramp

that you used in trial 1? (hint‐ think about the "Mechanical Advantage”). Show your

calculations.



9. Describe how changing the slope of the ramp affects the force required to pull the marbles

up the ramp.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

10. How is a wedge like an inclined plane? How is it different?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11. What type of simple machine is found on a water bottle cap?

a. lever b. pulley c. wheel and axle d. screw

12. Which is an example of a wheel and axle?

a. shovel b. water faucet knob c. seesaw d. crow bar

13. Which is not a type of simple machine?

a. spring b. screw c. pulley d. wedge

14. Work is...

a. energy from the sun b. a force that moves an object

c. a type of machine d. a force that pulls you towards the Earth

15. What type of simple machine is found on the cap of a pickle jar?

a. lever b. inclined plane c. screw d. wheel and axle



16. Which of these is an example of a wedge?

a. skateboard b. broom c. stairs d. butter knife

17. A screw is made up of _________ wrapped around a post or rod.

a. treads b. springs c. threads d. strings

18. Which of these is not an example of an inclined plane?

a. ladder b. stairs c. wall d. driveway

19. Which is an example of someone using a simple machine to do work?

a. boy runs across a football field b. a banker counts money

c. a mother pushes a stroller up a ramp d. a girl eats a sandwich

20. Adam is using a screwdriver to insert a screw. The screwdriver is being used as...

a. a pulley b. a screw c. a lever d. a wheel and axle

21. Jay is using a screwdriver to pry open a paint can. The screwdriver is a…

a. pulley b. inclined plane c. screw d. lever

22. Which is a characteristic of simple machines?

a. They run on electricity b. They take a long time to make

c. They have few or no moving parts d. They are not very large

23. Which type of simple machine would be found on the bottom of a wagon?

a. a pulley b. a screw c. a wedge d. a wheel and axle

24. What two parts might make a pulley? A wheel and ______________

a. axle b. wire c. screw d. fulcrum

25. A broom is a lever. Where is the fulcrum? Explain.

__________________________________________________________________________



26. An electric fan is made up of several simple machines. Tell where you would find an inclined

plane on a fan. Also, tell where you would find a wheel and axle.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

27. Explain how the shoelaces on your shoes are similar to pulleys.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

28. Fill in the blanks below using the words from the following box:

Machine Gears Friction Force

Bearings Lever Fulcrum Plane

Gravity Work Energy lifting

a) ____________________ is a push or pull.

b) A ______________________ is the point on which a lever rests.

c) ______________________ are wheels with teeth that fit together.

d) ______________________ is something that makes work better, easier, or faster.

e) ______________________ results when a force moves an object.

f) ______________ is a force that slows objects down when they rub against each other.

g) A ______________________ is any flat surface.



SIX SIMPLE MACHINES (https://mrcurran.wordpress.com)

29. Draw a line from the item in column A that matches the item in column B.

A B

Screw two inclined planes that come to a point

Wheel and axle a bar that pivots around a fulcrum

Pulley an inclined plane wrapped around a pole

Inclined plane a plane that has one end higher than the other

Wedge a wheel with an axle around its center to move loads

Lever a wheel with a groove for a rope that is used for lifting

30. True or False: Write T beside each true statement and F beside each false statement.

a) _____ Machines make a job easier.

b) _____ A light bulb is a kind of lever.

c) _____ A screwdriver is kind of wheel and axle.

d) _____ An inclined plane makes work harder.

e) _____ A nail is an example of a wedge.

f) _____ A hammer is a kind of lever.

g) _____ A pencil sharpener is a kind of pulley.

h) _____ A car is an example of an inclined plane.

i) _____ The flag is raised and lowered with a pulley.

j) _____ Some objects are more than one kind of simple machine



Pick a simple machine to answer the following:

31. What simple machine would you use to get up on a slide? _______________________

32. What simple machine would you use to chop down a tree? ___________________

33. What simple machine would you use to open a door? _______________________

34. What simple machine would you use to take the flag down? _________________

35. What simple machine would you use to get a big rock off the bike path? ___________

36. What simple machine would you use to hold two boards together? ______________

37. What simple machine would you use to keep a door from shutting? ______________



NOTES

Module 25. Pulleys


MODULE 25. PULLEYS


INTRODUCTION

Pulleys are one of the six simple machines used to create a mechanical advantage. They are used

all around us. You have probably seen them on cranes, exercise machines, garage doors, and

many other places. They are very useful because they provide a way to reduce the effort required

to lift heavy objects. You will learn how pulleys are able to provide this advantage and

demonstrate it using pulleys in various configurations to lift a weight.

VOCABULARY

Theoretical mechanical advantage

Actual mechanical advantage

Gravity

Mass

Weight

Pulley

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Approximately 6 meters of nylon rope/string 1

Double‐pulleys 2

Spring scale 1

Weight (can use soup cans, rocks, weights, etc.) As needed

Calculator 1

Module 25. Pulleys


PROCEDURE AND TESTING

Use a calculator to solve the problems in this section

1. In this picture, we see a 100kg mass. Gravity pulls down on this mass with a force of 980N.

There are two ropes connected to pulley A, and both pull up. Remember the total upward

force must be the same as the total downward force. What is the tension force in each rope?

Left side of Pulley A is ______N + Right side of pulley B is ______N = 980N

2. Since the tension in the rope is the same everywhere, how much force is

required by the hand to hold the weight? _____________ N

3. Select a weight to use throughout this activity.

To measure forces and loads in this activity we will be using a spring scale. By attaching a

load to the hook of the scale and reading the markings on the side of the scale, we can

determine how much weight, or force, is being exerted on the scale.

Make sure to select a spring scale that is appropriate for the weight of the object you chose.

The measurements need to be as precise as possible.

4. Measure the weight of your object.

_____________________N = ________________ kg

Module 25. Pulleys


Refer to the following images for the remaining questions:

Note: Number of ropes attached to lifting points: A = 1, B = 2, C = 2, D = 4. This number refers

to the number of ropes that are attached to the point where the weight is being lifted.

5. Set up your pulley, weight, rope and scale as shown in Figure A above.

6. Compute the theoretical MA of this system using the equation below. Show your work.

𝑀𝐴 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝐼𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒

𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑑𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑑

𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡

7. Using the spring scale, what is the actual required force to raise the object? Effort =______ N

MAtheoretical = __________________

Module 25. Pulleys


8. Calculate the actual mechanical Advantage (MA) of the pulley system using the equation

below. Show your work.

𝑀𝐴 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑑

𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒

9. How does actual mechanical advantage compare to the theoretical mechanical advantage

from above? If they differ, by how much? Why do you think that is?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

10. Set up your pulley, weight and rope as shown in Figure B. Show your work in the space below.

a. What is the theoretical mechanical advantage of this system? MAtheoretical = ________

b. What is the required force to raise object higher? Effort = ________

c. Calculate the actual mechanical advantage of the pulley system. MAactual = ________

MAactual = __________________

Module 25. Pulleys


11. How does actual mechanical advantage compare to the theoretical MA in this system? If they

differ by how much? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

12. Set up your pulley, weight and rope as shown in Figure C. Show your work below.

a. What is the theoretical mechanical advantage of this system? MAtheoretical = _________

b. What is the required force to raise object higher? Effort = _________

c. Calculate the actual mechanical advantage of the pulley system. MAactual = _________

13. How does actual mechanical advantage compare to the theoretical mechanical advantage in

this system? If they differ, by how much? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

14. Set up your pulley, weight and rope as shown in Figure D. Show your work below.

a. What is the theoretical mechanical advantage of this system? MAtheoretical = _________

b. What is the required force to raise object higher? Effort = _________

c. Calculate the actual mechanical advantage of the pulley system. MAactual = _________

Module 25. Pulleys


15. How does actual mechanical advantage compare to the theoretical mechanical advantage in

this system? If they differ, by how much? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


16. In general, were the theoretical mechanical advantages similar to the actual ones? What do

you think causes them to be similar or different?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

17. What do you think were some sources of error in your experimental procedure?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Module 25. Pulleys


18. What are some constraints that you as engineers might consider while designing a pulley

system?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

19. Calculate the percent error in the mechanical advantage of the actual pulleys compared to

the theoretical pulleys for all four systems above. Show your work and circle final answer for

each system.

Module 25. Pulleys


NOTES

Module 26. Torque


MODULE 26. TORQUE


INTRODUCTION

Did you ever stop to think why the handles on doors are on their outermost edge? What would

happen if you tried to open a door with a handle as close to the hinges as could be? Would you

be able to open it? Give it a try. Try to open a door by pushing on it right next to a hinge. Can you

do it? If you can, you must be incredibly strong. It takes significantly more force to open a door

by pushing or puling on it next to a hinge rather than as far away from it as possible. In this

module you will explore why this is the case.

ARCHIMEDES’ LEVER USING A LEVER TO LIFT A BOULDER

https://www.gettyimages.com/ Elroy M. Avery School Physics

Levers, which are one of the simple machines (reviewed in Module 22), uses torque. The Greek

philosopher Archimedes famously said in 3rd century BCE: “Give me a place to stand and I will

move the Earth.” He was referring to using a lever and the possibilities that torque and the

appropriate length lever arm present.

In this module you will first explore how the force necessary to open the door differs when you

change where you place a door handle. Next, you will perform an activity that demonstrates that

when you know and understand the laws of physics, you don’t need a lot of force to move a

seemingly immovable object.

VOCABULARY

Torque

Moment arm/lever arm

Pivot point/fulcrum

Hinge

Lever

Effort

Load

Force

Applied force

Module 26. Torque


MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Ruler 1

Pencil 1

Tape (duct tape) as needed

Pennies 10‐30

Spring scale set 1

DESIGN AND TESTING

PART I. MEASURING TORQUE

Your teacher will set up hooks on a door to the classroom or a cabinet door, where you will

measure torque at different distances away from the hinge.

1. Using the set of spring scales measure the force it takes to pull the door either open or closed.

Notice the force it takes to just start the door moving. Notice that you will need different

scales at some of the distances, as the amount of force necessary will change. Try to measure

the force as precisely as possible. Record your data in the table below. Calculate Torque for

each point using the following formula:

𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑞𝑢𝑒 𝑁𝑚 𝐿𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑚 𝑚 ∗ 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑁

Distance from the hinge/lever arm (m)

Force recorded (N)

Which spring scale did you use for this measurement?

Torque

lever arm (m) x force (N)

Module 26. Torque


2. How did the force necessary to get the door moving differ from one point to the next?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

3. Discuss with your team and then the class what you observed. Discuss how these

observations relate to the video you watched, where football players spoke about the need

to stay closer to the ground?

PART II. PENNIES WORTH OF TORQUE

In this activity you will try to move a load (pennies on one side of the fulcrum) by applying a force

(pennies of the other side of the fulcrum) at different distances away from the fulcrum.

4. How is this activity, and its principles, similar to the previous one?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

5. How is this activity different the previous one?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

6. Set up a lever and fulcrum using a ruler and a pencil. Use tape to keep the pencil in place at

approximately the center of the ruler.

Module 26. Torque


7. For the “load” pennies (the pennies on the left) record the lever arm and load force in the

first table, then calculate the counter‐clockwise load torque. This “load” will stay in the same

spot for the remainder of the activity.

Load Lever Arm length (cm)

Load Force

(# of pennies)

Load Torque (counter‐clockwise)

[ Force x Lever Arm]

All Trials

8. Choose 4 different “Lever Arms of the Applied Force” (locations on the right side of the

pencil). For each location, find out how many pennies on the right side of the pencil, does it

take to lift the load pennies. Record the information in the table below and calculate the

applied clockwise torque in each case.

Trial Applied Force Lever Arm length

Load Force

(# of pennies)

Load Torque (clockwise)

[ Force x Lever Arm]

1

2

3

4

9. In each case, how did the “applied torque” compare to the “load torque?”

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


10. Is it possible for a small weight to create enough torque to lift a larger weight? Explain your

answer by using the concept of torque.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Module 26. Torque


11. Describe and explain at least 2 common ways that you use torque every day. Include

specifically what is used for the lever arm and what is used as the force.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

12. An offensive lineman will often try to get under and lift the opposing defensive lineman. Use

concepts of torque to explain how this might help the offensive lineman. Draw a picture, if

necessary, and consider that the pivot point of the defender is often where the defender’s

feet are in contact with the ground.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

13. Beside each example below, place an F if a linear force is applied, a T if this is an example of

a Torque.

a. ______ You move a couch across the living room floor.

b. ______ A student hanging on a chin‐up bar, pulling upward to do a chin‐up

c. ______ A mechanic pulls on the end of a wrench to tighten a bolt on the engine.

d. ______ A boy pushes his little brother on a swing.

e. ______ Riding your bike, pushing on the pedals to make the bike go up a hill.

f. ______ The wind trying to bend a tall tree in half.

g. ______ The wind pushing on a sail on a boat.

Module 26. Torque


14. In each situation, state what is the source of the applied torque on the object and describe

what creates the opposing torque that prevents resulting motion from the applied torque:

a. The wind blows against a tall tree in a storm, but the tree does not fall over.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

b. A plumber uses all his strength pushing down on the end of a pipe wrench, but the

nut refuses to budge.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

c. A construction worker uses a pry bar under the edge of a large rock. If the end of the

pry bar can be moved down, the rock will lift, but the rock remains unmoved.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

15. Create your own example of applied torque and opposing torque as in the examples above.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

16. Define Torque in Words:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

17. Define Torque using an equation: _______________________________________________

18. Define Pivot point or Axis of Rotation:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

19. Define Lever Arm:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Module 26. Torque


NOTES

Module 27. Projectile Motion


MODULE 27. PROJECTILE MOTION


INTRODUCTION

What do basketball, baseball, football, shot put, tennis, golf, volleyball, and soccer all have in

common? All these sports use a ball that is projected into the air with the use of a body part or

some sort of stick. A “projectile” is therefore when an object (not necessarily a ball) is thrown,

kicked, hit, or launched through the air. This object then follows a path that is determined by the

force with which it was thrown and the force of gravity that will inevitably bring this object back

to the ground. We can predict how far and how high the object is going to be projected because

the laws of physics govern projectile motion for all sports. In fact, the same laws are used to

design skate‐park and skiing ramps, footballs and satellites.

In this module you will explore the science of NFL Football. You will use a projectile motion

stimulation to play around with variables and see what affects the shape of the path an object

takes when it is projected forward.

VOCABULARY

Projectile

Trajectory

Initial speed

Launch angle

Range

Air resistance

Drag coefficient

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Targets: garbage cans, buckets, boxes, etc. At least one

Objects to project into targets: paper, cotton, tennis balls,

feathers, pencils, specks of sand, drinking straws, etc.

5‐10

Computer with internet access 1



PROCEDURE AND DATA COLLECTION

PART I. PROJECTILE MOTION PATHS

1. Take time to research and define the terms in the Vocabulary section of this module. Use the

space in the notes section to write down the definitions.

2. Toss assorted materials provided by the teacher into a small target.

3. What objects were particularly easy to toss into the target? Why do you think that is?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

4. What objects were particularly difficult to toss into the target? Why do you think that is?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

5. Use a drawing to describe the paths (trajectories) of different objects as you threw them

toward the target.



6. Watch the NBC Learn Video THE SCIENCE OF NFL FOOTBALL – Projectile Motion and

Parabolas.

PART II. THE VARIABLE OF THE PROJECTILE MOTION (COMPUTER REQUIRED)

7. Go to the PHET web site http://phet.colorado.edu/web‐pages/simulations‐base.html. Go to

the Physics Page and scroll down to select the Projectile Motion simulation. Spend a few

minutes familiarizing yourself with the simulation. You will now explore the different

variables involved that determine the trajectories of the objects projected in the air.

8. Air Resistance (Drag Coefficient) vs. Range: Create and conduct an investigation to

determine how air resistance (drag coefficient) affects the range of a projectile.

a. Briefly describe the technique you will use. What variable(s) will you change and what

variable(s) will you measure?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

b. Make a table to record your results.

c. Reflect upon your data table and explain what you found about the effect of air

resistance (drag coefficient) on the range of a projectile.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________



9. Initial Speed vs. Range: Create and conduct an investigation to determine how initial speed

affects the range of a projectile.



_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________




__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________



10. Launch Angle vs. Range: Create and conduct an investigation to determine how the launch

angle affects the range of a projectile. (Note: Try many angles between 0 and 90.)



_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________




__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________



11. With no air resistance:

a. Find the angle that will produce the maximum range and record this angle: _______

b. Is this angle different for different objects? _________________________________

12. With Air Resistance:

a. Find the angle that will produce the maximum range and record this angle: _______

b. Is this angle different for different objects? __________________________________

13. For a football, find two different angles that produce the same range.

a. Record these two angles and the range: __________________ , __________________

b. Compare the time in the air for each of these angles and explain any difference.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

14. What advice about angle and kicking speed would you give to a punter who wants to

maximize the distance of a punt? Explain your reasoning?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

15. What advice about angle and speed, would you give a punter that is not trying to maximize

distance, but instead wants a long “hang time” to allow his teammates as much time as

possible to “get downfield”.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 28. Rubber Band Racers


MODULE 28. RUBBER BAND RACERS


INTRODUCTION

Have you ever had one of those days when you are low on energy? What does that mean when

you have low energy? For your body it means that your it is not being efficient at converting the

food and drink you absorbed into the chemical energy the

cells in your body need to perform well, including the cells

in your brain and muscles. Chemical energy is stored in

your body until it converts it into other types of energy:

mechanical when your muscles move your bones, kinetic,

when your bone movement results in you moving all

around, and thermal energy that keeps your body warm.

CHEMICAL ENERGY CONVERTED INTO MOTION

All energy is at some point is converted into another type. No energy is ever wasted as stated in

the Law of Conservation of Energy.

CHEMICAL ENERGY CONVERTED INTO

ELECTRICAL ENERGY INSIDE A BATTERY.

https://www.cdli.ca/

GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL ENERGY

CONVERTED INTO KINETIC ENERGY.

http://worldartsme.com/

Chemical energy proves to be extremely

important for human body because it is the form

of energy that is stored until it is ready to be used

or transferred into other types of energy that

perform some kind of work. We call this type of

energy Potential since it has the potential to

perform work, potential to be transferred into

another form.



What other types of potential energy are there? The types of potential energy are: chemical,

gravitational, nuclear, and elastic.

Chemical energy can be transferred into kinetic energy inside your body or in a car engine.

Chemical energy can also be converted into electric energy inside a battery. Gravitational energy

converts to kinetic energy (movement) when an object moves from a higher ground down like

you can see in a projectile in module 25. Nuclear energy is stored in a nucleus of an atom and is

released when atoms are either broken apart (fission) or fused together (fusion). This conversion

releases incredible amounts of energy we use to generate electrical energy to power homes and

factories. It can also be used as a devastating weapon.

In this module you will explore elastic potential energy, which can be stored either in a spring or

a rubber band. When you push down on a spring or stretch it out you convert mechanical energy

into elastic energy. Releasing the spring converts this energy into kinetic energy. You can test

that by placing something at the end of the spring. Many wind‐up toys use elastic potential

energy to operate. You also experienced this form of energy in modules where you use a spring

scale (Six Simple Machines, Pulleys, Torque). Today however your task will be to use the elastic

potential energy that is stored in a rubber band when you stretch it out.

ELASTIC POTENTIAL ENERGY IN A SPRING OR RUBBER BAND.

VOCABULARY

Force

Gravity

Friction

Energy

Transfer of energy

Law of Conservation of Energy

Potential energy

Elastic potential energy

Speed

Distance



MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Cardboard, letter size or smaller 1

Wheel material (can be CDs, caps, plates, etc.) 4

Rubber bands 4

Paperclips 4

Thumbtacks As needed

Scissors 1


Tape measure 1

Stop watch or timer 1

Plastic Straws 2

Skewers 3

DESIGN AND BUILD

1. Your assignment is to build a car with just the materials you are given. You do not have to use

all of the materials, but you cannot use materials other than the ones in the list above. Your

car must move at least 3 meters from the start line on a 1m wide track.

2. Your car design must follow these limitations:

Your car must use the energy stored in 1‐4 rubber bands

The car must move on its own without you pushing it forward

You cannot use rubber bands as a slingshot. The car must be placed down on the start line and move on its own

You cannot use wheels from toy cars, only materials that resemble wheels

3. Meet as a team and discuss the problem you need to solve. Then develop and agree on a

design for your rubber band car. You'll need to determine what materials you want to use

and in what way. You may test the materials when you are working on your design.



4. Draw your design in the space below.

Material Quantity



5. Build your rubber band car. During construction, you may decide you need additional

materials or that your design needs to change. This is ok – just make a new sketch and revise

your materials list.

TESTING

6. Test your rubber band car on the track designated by your teacher. Do at least 3 trial runs.

For each trial, record the distance your car travels in meters and how long it takes your car to

travel that distance in seconds. From the two data collected, calculate the speed of your car

in meters per second (m/s). Be sure to watch the tests of the other teams and observe how

their different designs worked. When you collect all the data, calculate the average distance,

time and speed for your car.

Distance Traveled within Track (m)

Time Traveled within Track (s)

Speed (m/s) Distance/time

Test 1

Test 2

Test 3

Average

7. If time allows, redesign and retest your car. Make sure to ask your teacher if there is ample

time for redesign.

DESIGN ANALYSIS

8. What was the single biggest factor in limiting your car’s range?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

9. What factors caused your car to go in a straight path? Or not it a straight path?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



10. Did you decide to revise your original design or request additional materials while in the

construction phase? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11. If you could have had access to materials that were different than those provided, what would

your team have requested? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

12. Do you think that engineers have to adapt their original plans during the construction of

systems or products? Why might they?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

13. If you had to do it all over again, how would your planned design change? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



14. What design elements or methods did you see other teams use that you thought worked

well?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

15. Do you think you would have been able to complete this project as well if you were working

alone? Explain…

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


Define the following three terms:

16. Potential energy

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

17. Elastic potential energy

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



18. Speed

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

19. Besides elastic potential energy, what other types of potential energy are there?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Briefly describe how you used each of the following steps of the engineering design process:

20. Problem Definition ___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

21. Idea Generation _____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

22. Solution Creation ____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

23. Testing / Analysis _____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

24. Final output _________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 29. Speed, Velocity and Graphing


MODULE 29. SPEED, VELOCITY AND GRAPHING


INTRODUCTION

You might have noticed that this Workbook uses only Metric units of measurements in the

experiments. United States uses Royal units of measurement. It is important to be able to convert

the units within each system and between the two systems of measurement.

CONVERTING UNITS ‐ DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

Baseball travels 90 feet from the pitcher's mound to catcher in 0.7 seconds. We could say that

the speed was 90 feet / 0.63 second. Doing the division this is 142 ft/sec. How fast is this in

kilometers / hour? To make this conversion we multiply by quantities that are equal to 1. For

example, there are 60 seconds per minute, so 60 sec/min has unity value. We can multiply or

divide by things with unity value without changing the actual result. The same as multiplying by

1. Likewise multiplying by 60 min/hr does not change the value. Also, there are 0.3 m per ft and

1000 m/km.

We can use the inverse of these things as unity quantities 0.3 m/ft or 1km/1000 m are both unity

quantities. Let's do the conversion:

142 𝑓𝑡1 𝑠𝑒𝑐

60 𝑠𝑒𝑐1 𝑚𝑖𝑛

60 𝑚𝑖𝑛1 ℎ𝑟

0.3 𝑚1 𝑓𝑡

1 𝑘𝑚1000 𝑚

Notice, we can cancel the units when they appear on both the top and the bottom of the

multiplication to give the final units.

142 𝑓𝑡1 𝑠𝑒𝑐

60 𝑠𝑒𝑐1 𝑚𝑖𝑛

60 𝑚𝑖𝑛1 ℎ𝑟

0.3 𝑚1 𝑓𝑡

1 𝑘𝑚1000 𝑚

139𝑘𝑚ℎ

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPEED AND VELOCITY

When an object moves, it has both speed and velocity. Although these two parameters are often

used interchangeably, they are different. A car which travels 90 kilometers in 1.5 hours is said to

have a speed of 60 kilometers per hour. Speed is the distance traveled divided by the time it

took:

𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠

𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟

Speed tells little about how the trip progressed as a whole. Suppose the car went 75 km/hr on

the freeway, went through at town a 30 km/hr, stopped for gas, then went 75 km/hr the rest of



the way. Speed is averaged over a period of time. Speed tells us nothing about direction.

Velocity is different. Velocity reveals exactly how fast an object is moving at a single instant of

time and it specifies the exact direction at that time.

https://serpmedia.org

In this module you will measure the time it takes members of your team to move a specific

distance. Knowing time and distance will allow you to calculate the average speed with which

each team member was moving. Since you will be moving in one direction, you will also know

the velocity.

VOCABULARY

Speed

Velocity

Interval

Unity factors

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Tape measure or meter sticks (metric) As needed

Timer or stop watch 1

TESTING

1. Set up "timer keepers" along a track at preset intervals to record the time it takes for the

"walker" to pass each interval station.

6 meters

Time Keeper 1

Time Keeper 2

Time Keeper 3

Time Keeper 4

Time Keeper 5

Time Keeper 6



2. Record the data in the chart below.

Time (seconds)

Distances from starting line (m)

Example Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 4

1 4.33

2 8.71

3 11.82

4 15.23

5 20.76

6 23.97

average speed (m/s) =

0.8 m/sec

3. Using the data from step 2, graph the distance versus time for each student in the space

below or using any spreadsheet application on a computer, if allowed by your teacher. If using

a computer application, print your graph and glue it below.

Make sure to label your graph, its axes, intervals and units of measurement.



4. Which students walk at a steady pace? How can you tell?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

5. Do students tend to walk faster, slower, or no change as they near the end of the course?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

6. Why do you suppose we did our calculations in these specific units (meters and seconds)?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


7. A student walks from the classroom to the office, a distance of 14 meters. It takes the student

1.5 minutes. What is the speed in meters / minute? ________________ m / min

8. What is the speed in m / second? Show your calculations below. ________________ m / sec



9. Match the following activities with the appropriate units of measurement for each

a. A speeding bullet ____ Revolutions per month

b. The growth rate of a person ____ Meters per second

c. A passenger train ____ Kilometers per hour

d. A snail ____ Revolutions per year

e. Orbits of Earth around the Sun ____ Centimeters per hour

f. Orbits of the Moon around Earth ____ Centimeters per year

10. Show how the units cancel to give the final units. Use the given Unity Values to convert each

value below.

Unity Values: 5280 ft./mi , 3600 sec/hr , 12 in/ft. , 2.54 cm/in , 0.01m/cm

3 hr. x _____________ = _____________ sec

6 ft. x _____________ = _____________ in

52 in x _____________ x _____________ = _____________ m

11. Imagine scientists from around the world are working on a space travel project. DO you think

that it would be necessary to use the same measurement system when working on

engineering projects? Why or why not? What can be a possible consequence for not using

the same system and constantly converting units from one to another?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 30. Egg Drop


MODULE 30. EGG DROP


INTRODUCTION

The goal of this activity is to apply the engineering design process to create a device that will

allow a raw egg to be dropped from a predetermined height without breaking.

NEWTON’S THIRD LAW.

Think about how things break, what happens in the instant that the object breaks. To understand

what is going on, Newton’s Third Law should be examined. The law states the following:

“FOR EVERY ACTION THERE IS AN EQUAL AND OPPOSITE REACTION”

Consider a raw egg dropping from a height,

lets apply Newton’s Third Law to see what

happens when it is falling to the floor and

when it meets the floor. When you drop an

egg, it falls, gaining speed (accelerating)

because gravity is applying a force to

it. When the egg hits the floor, it stops

because the floor applies the exact same

force on the egg but in the opposite

direction (Newton’s Third Law). Basically,

the floor hits back!

NEWTON’S SECOND LAW

Now examine the force involved in the process. Newton’s Second Law comes in here which is:

“THE ACCELERATION OF AN OBJECT EQUALS THE NET FORCE ACTING ON THE OBJECT

DIVIDED BY THE OBJECTS MASS”

The formula for Newton’s Second Law is therefore:

Module 30. Egg Drop


How does this apply here? The force with which the egg hits the floor and the force that hits back

at the egg are dependent on the acceleration and the mass of the object. How can this be

interpreted? The higher the drop the greater the force and/or the higher the mass of the egg the

greater the force upon the egg.

In the design engineering process, consider how objects we see in everyday life are protected.

Why do you wear a helmet when you ride your bicycle? Why is the specific packaging used for

eggs in a supermarket? When a parachute is used, how does it protect the jumper from injury?

Consider these and many other devices when you make your design.

VOCABULARY

Speed

Newton’s Second Law

Newton’s Third Law

Velocity

Acceleration

g

Force

Pressure

MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Assorted packaging materials (i.e. – straws, paper, cotton balls, tape, etc.) As needed

Raw egg 1

Tape As needed

DESIGN AND TESTING

1. Examine the materials provided by the teacher. Discuss in your team a design for a device

that will protect an egg when dropped from a specific height (which will be determined by

your teacher and will be the same for every group).

2. How much of each material do you anticipate using in your design?

Material Quantity

Module 30. Egg Drop


3. Draw a design everyone in your group agrees on in the space below.

4. When testing your apparatus, record the time it takes to reach the ground below. Then

convert that time to minutes. _____________ seconds = ______________ minutes


To determine how fast an object is traveling when it hits the ground, we can use the following

formula, which allows you to determine speed in meters per minute.

𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔

𝒎𝒊𝒏𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒊𝒏

5. According to the above formula, does it matter how heavy the falling object is? Explain.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Module 30. Egg Drop


6. For this activity, would it be better to use heavier material that is more protective, or lighter

material that is less protective? Justify your response?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

7. What was the speed of your egg when it hit the floor? Show your calculations below:

8. The above formula does not take into consideration designs that proactively slow the egg

during its decent, such as a parachute. Were the speeds of all the eggs tested in your class

the same or different when they hit the floor? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

In 1997, NASA used air bags to protect Pathfinder as it landed on Mars. In 2012 NASA used a

rocket crane to slowly lower the Curiosity rover to the Mars surface.

Module 30. Egg Drop


9. What were some of the pros and cons of each of these approaches?

Pros: Pros:

Cons: Cons:

10. Referring to Module 1 on the engineering design process, how did this process fit into the

engineering design process?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11. What process would you add to the engineering design process to make it more relevant to

solving this particular design challenge? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Module 30. Egg Drop


12. Briefly describe what steps were taken to fulfill each stage of the design process. Write “Not

Used” if you did not need that step for this particular project.

Problem Definition – _______________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Research – _______________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Idea Generation – _________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Build – __________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Testing / Analysis –_________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Improvement – ___________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Final Solution and Output – __________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

13. Speculate what steps the NASA design engineers took in each stage of the design process

when designing and creating the rocket crane to slowly lower the Curiosity rover to the Mars

surface.

Problem Definition – _______________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Research – _______________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Idea Generation – _________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Module 30. Egg Drop


Build – __________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Testing / Analysis –_________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Improvement – ___________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Final Solution and Output – __________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

NOTES

Module 31. Get a Lift


MODULE 31. GET A LIFT

INTRODUCTION

Did you know that Israel’s Air Force and its commercial fleet EL AL were born at the formation of

the nation, in 1948? EL AL’s first job was to bring to Israel its first president. Soon after, the fleet

participated in operation Magic Carpet, which

brought Jews from Yemen to Israel. Since its birth

to now, Israel’s commercial fleet welcomed its first

female pilot (Smadar Shechter) in 2010 and

expanded to fly to 37 direct destinations around

the world in its 42 aircraft.

Israel’s ability to fly its citizens and visitors came

only 45 years after Wilbur and Orville Wright

invented and flew the first successful airplane. On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made

four brief flights at Kitty Hawk, NC. The first flight was only a brief 12 seconds. But it gave birth

to human flight. This initial endeavor,

through more than 100 years of iteration,

re‐design and advances in technology was

not only the basis for the currently longest

flight of over 19 hours, but also to human

exploration of space

In this lesson, you will learn about the four

forces of flight — drag, lift, thrust, and weight — through a variety of fun flight experiments. You

will “fly” for short periods and then evaluate factors that might either increase or decrease your

“flight” duration. You will also discover how air moving at different speeds over a wing keeps

planes aloft.

THE LAW OF CONTINUITY

Let’s first examine some fluid and gas behavior. When a fluid (liquid) or a gas flows through a

pipe of varying diameter, it flows faster at narrow places than it does at larger diameter places.



SHOWING FLUID OR GAS MOVING THROUGH A TUBE WITH VARYING

DIAMETERS – THE LAW OF CONTINUITY

http://www.aplusphysics.com/

The law of continuity states that the area of the larger cross section "A1" multiplied by the velocity

flowing in the larger area is equal the smaller area "A2" multiplied by the velocity in the smaller

area.

A1*V1 = A2*V2

So, if the area decreases – A2 the velocity V2 increases so that A2V2 remains equal to A1V1. This

law is important and basically says that the velocity increases with decreasing diameter. Think

about it‐ it makes sense and you can easily test it by blowing through rolled up cardboard that

can be made to have different diameters.

BERNOULLI'S EQUATION

In 1738 Daniel Bernoulli found that when measuring pressure and speed of air, an increase in the

speed of a fluid (including air) occurs simultaneously with a decrease in pressure. If the air or

fluid is moving faster in one region than it is in another, then the pressure in the faster region is

less than it is in the slower region. The simplified form of Bernoulli's equation that is applicable

for types of problems addressed in this lab is:

p1 ‐ p2 = 1/2 * ρ * (V22 ‐ V1

2)

Where p is pressure and V is velocity. ρ is the density of the material and important since the

density of air can change with temperature, humidity and altitude. A reliable average for air

density is 1.225 kg/m3.

Bernoulli’s equation shows that if the velocity in area 2 is greater than the velocity in area 1, then

the pressure in area 1 is higher than the pressure in area 2. This equation reflects the basics of

the Bernoulli principle.

VOCABULARY

Air pressure

Bernoulli’s Principle

Drag

Fluid

Force

Lift

Thrust

Weight



MATERIALS

Material Quantity

Paper 1

Balloons 2

String 36 cm per piece 2

Scissors 1

Paper helicopter template 1

DESIGN AND PROCEDURE

PART I: THE PAPER TENT

1. Fold a piece of paper in half, lengthwise, and stand

it up to create a long tunnel.

2. What do you hypothesize will happen when you

blow through the tunnel?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

By blowing through the tunnel you increase the air velocity inside the tunnel, relative to the

outside of the tunnel and consequently lower the air pressure inside the tunnel. This means the

air pressure inside the tunnel will be less than outside the tunnel. This demonstrates Bernoulli's

Principle, that was covered in the introduction.

Circle the correct answers.

3. When I blow through the tunnel, the air velocity will be greater on the (inside / outside)

and the air pressure will be greater on the (inside / outside).



4. Bernoulli's Principle states that as air moves faster over a surface, the pressure exerted on

the surface (increases/ decreases).

5. Describe what happens to the tunnel walls when you blow through the tunnel. Use the

following terms in your description: pressure, force, velocity, air.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

PART II: BERNOULLI’S BALLOONS

6. Blow up two balloons and tie each one to a string. Hold the balloons a few inches apart and

blow between them. What happens?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



The figure above shows a cross‐section of an airplane wing, indicating the path of air as it travels

over and below the wing.

7. If the air traveling over the wing has to travel a farther distance, then it will travel faster than

the air below the wing. This means that the air pressure above the wing will be greater or

less than the air pressure below the wing? ____________________________

8. If the air pressure above the below the wing is different, it will create a force, called lift, in

the direction of the lower pressure. Draw an arrow on the wing diagram above indicating in

which direction the force of lift will be acting.

9. Will an airfoil (i.e. ‐ wing) help a space shuttle fly in outer space? Why or why not?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

10. Below is the diagram view of your two balloons from

above. Draw lines indicating the flow of air around the

balloons.

11. Draw arrows indicating the direction of net air pressure acting on the balloons.

PART III: PAPER HELICOPTER

Drag

Drag is resistance to airflow. For example, if you stick your hand out of a slow‐moving car window



and your palm is facing the front of the car, your hand will feel like it’s being pushed back. This

is because your hand is resisting the airflow or increasing drag. If you rotate your hand so that

it’s parallel to the road and your thumb is towards the front of the car, your hand doesn’t get

pushed back. This is because you have decreased the drag.

For this part you will use a paper helicopter model your teacher will hand out.

12. Make your paper helicopter as shown in the figures below:

a. Cut only on the solid

black lines of your

paper helicopter.

b. Locate the two long

dotted lines and fold

them towards the

center (like a tri‐fold).

You have just made

the fuselage or body of your helicopter.

c. The side with two parts are the rotor blades of your helicopter.

Fold one towards you and one away from you, folding on the

dotted line.

13. Test fly your helicopter, without the paperclip, by dropping it.

Describe how it flew:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

14. What do you hypothesize will happen when you attach one paperclip to the fuselage of your

helicopter? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



15. Test fly your helicopter with the paperclip attached. What happens?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

16. What other modifications can you make to your helicopter to make it stay in the air longer?

(hint: think about the rotor blades). Give it a test flight!

Draw the final version of your helicopter:



www.cgtrader.com

17. Describe the modifications you made to your helicopter that worked or did not work:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

18. What is the purpose of the rotor blades? Talk about the forces acting on your helicopter using

the following words: lift, weight, thrust, drag.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Fuselage



NOTES

Module 32. Respiration and Lungs


MODULE 32. RESPIRATION AND LUNGS


INTRODUCTION

Breathe in…. Breathe out…. Where have you heard this phrase before? In a doctor’s office? When

you meditate or just trying to relax and gather your thoughts? But how often do you have to stop

and remind yourself to breathe? Probably not very often. This is for one simple reason – humans

and other living organisms require breathing (or other form of gas exchange) to survive. Oxygen,

the gas our body separates from the mixture of gases in the air, is necessary to produce energy

that your body, its many organs, and cells that make up those organs, need in order to function

and maintain homeostasis.

What does breathing do exactly? Why is it so important? We know we have to do it. After all, try

to hold your breath for a bit…. Your body will let you know you can’t do that indefinitely. In fact,

your nervous system has a self‐protective system in place that will not let you hold your breath

for long enough that your body will get damaged. It will make you take a breath. But why do we

need to breathe?

Breathing allows your

body to take in about

500ml (about 1 ½ soda

cans) of air into your lungs

during regular, not forced

inhalation and then force

the same amount out

during exhalation. The

difference between the air

that is inhaled and exhaled

is not big, but significant.

We breathe in air with a

higher concentration of oxygen (O2) than we breath out and lower concentration of carbon

dioxide (CO2) than we breath out. Inside the lungs’ smallest compartments – the alveoli, the

oxygen in the air passes into the capillaries in exchange for carbon dioxide that leaves the

bloodstream and then expelled when you exhale.

ACIDS AND BASES

How can we verify that there is CO2 in the air we breathe out? This is where our understanding

of acids and bases comes in. Whether you have learned about acids and bases before, let’s look

at what makes a solution acidic, neutral or basic.



A solution is considered acidic if it has a high concentration of hydrogen ions – H+. A good example

of an acidic solution is hydrochloric acid (HCl, pH2). In solution, HCl breaks into hydrogen and

chloride ions:

HCl H+ + Cl‐

A solution is considered basic or alkaline if it has a high concentration of hydroxide ions – OH‐. A

good example of a basic solution is sodium hydroxide (NaOH). In solution, it breaks down to give

sodium ion and a hydroxide ion:

NaOH Na+ + OH‐

Notice, that if we mix the two solutions mentioned above, we will get water (H2O) and table salt

(NaCl), thus neutralizing both acid and base, creating 2 substances both neutral in pH (pH 7):

H+ + Cl‐ + Na+ + OH‐ H2O + NaCl

Both acidic and alkaline solutions can be harmful to our bodies if found it the environment. While

strong acid could burn skin, a strong base would turn skin into soap. However, as damaging as

these are in our environment, in a stomach,

depending on what we eat, the pH is

between 1.5 and 3.5 caused by the

presence of HCl (hydrochloric acid). This

high acidity is necessary for our bodies to

digest the foods we eat.

Look at the pH chart to the right and what

substances can be found at different pH

readings. It is important to know that a

single digit change in pH is equal to 10 times

increase in the concentration of the H+ ions.

This is what is called a logarithmic scale (as

opposed to linear scale where increase of 1

would translate to increase in

concentration by 1).

What about the CO2 in the air we breathe out? When CO2 is mixed with water, some of it turns

into carbonic acid (H2CO3), which in water breaks into bicarbonate ion (HCO3‐) and hydrogen ion

(H+).

CO2 +H2O H2CO3 + H2O HCO3‐ + H+

And you already know what hydrogen ions do to the pH of a solution. In this investigation you

will measure how much exercising will increase your CO2 output, when compared to your resting

breath. You will also explore the organs involved in the process of breathing by making a model

of a chest cavity.



VOCABULARY

Solution

pH

Acid

Base

neutral pH

hydrogen ion

hydroxide ion

water molecule

lung

respiratory system

respiration

diaphragm

muscle

homeostasis

organ

cell

MATERIALS

Material (size) for Acid‐Base Observation Quantity per group

Beakers, 100ml 4

Mystery liquids 4

Pipette, plastic 4

pH indicator liquid 500ml

Plastic cup 2 per student + 1 for control

Straw 2 per student

Timer 1

This table contains materials you will use to build a model of human chest cavity. Fill in empty

rows with materials other than those provided to you by the teacher. Make sure to indicate the

size of the item and how much of it you used.

Material (size) for Build a Lung activity Quantity per group

Plastic bottle, 2L 1

Balloon, large 1

Balloon, medium 2

Straws 2‐10

Rubber bands 2‐10




PART I: ACID OR BASE?

In this portion of your respiratory system investigation, you will measure the acidity (pH) of

common household solutions. You must not taste or directly smell any of the solutions. Not all of

them are representatives from your refrigerator.

1. Your teacher will give you the list of solutions that will be distributed among groups. Each

group will receive only 4 of these solutions.

2. Write down the list in the table below and predict the pH for each of the solutions. Don’t be

concerned with getting the pH wrong. You will correct any mistakes once your investigation

is complete.

Solution pH (predicted) pH Solution pH (predicted) pH

1 5

2 6

3 7

4 8

Next, you will receive a solution that will serve as an indicator for your mystery solutions. This

solution is made of boiled purple cabbage leaves. Its color is normally purple. When H+ is added

to it, it will turn red. If OH‐ ions are added to it, it will gradually turn green and then turn yellow.

3. In the space below, design a table to record your observations.

Then follow your teacher’s directions to measure the acidity of each mystery solution in your set.

Record your data and share it with your class when directed by your teacher.



PART II: CO2 IN MY BREATH

4. Next, you will measure the change in CO2 concentration in your breath before and after you

exercise. Either independently or in your group answer the questions below before receiving

the materials and conducting this inquiry.

5. Why do you expect your breath to change the color of the indicator solution?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

6. What color do you expect the solution to become after being exposed to your breath? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

7. Think of ways to add gas (as in your breath) to a solution to change its pH?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

8. In the inquiry below, you will measure what it takes to change the pH of the indicator solution

using your breath. What do you need to do to dissolve the CO2 in your breath in the indicator

solution? What do you think you need to measure to make your inquiry reliable?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



9. How many trials do you think it is important to run to make the data you collect reliable?

Why? ______________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

10. What will serve as a control for this inquiry?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11. In the space below, record the procedure for your inquiry. Don’t forget to account for all the

members of the group recording their data. Show the procedure and the table (below) you

create as a group to your teacher before proceeding with the inquiry.



12. In the space below, design a table to record what it takes to change the color of the indicator

solution.

13. During discussion session record what you noticed other groups did well and where

improvement is necessary.

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________



PART III: STRUCTURE OF A LUNG

Your teacher will demonstrate and explain a function of a model.

14. Answer questions 16 – 18 in the Assessment Questions section. Then, draw a picture of the

model you were shown in the space below. Label what each part of the model represents.

DESIGN: BUILD A LUNG

Now that you have experienced the function of the lungs and understand how they work in

conjunction with the diaphragm, create a model of lungs using the materials made available by

your teacher.



15. Before you begin building, discuss possible structures and ideas with your group. Diagram or

draw possible designs in the space below.




ACID OR BASE

16. On presence of which two molecules does the acidity of a solution depend?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

17. Draw a diagram using symbols for the two molecules you discussed above to illustrate an

acidic, a neutral and a basic pH solution.

18. Why do you think the indicator solution would turn first green and then white if you add

bleach to it?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

CO2 IN YOUR BREATH

19. When did the indicator solution change color faster before the exercise or after? Why?

__________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



20. What color did the solution turn? ______________________________

21. What does the new color of the solution indicate?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

22. Why does it take a shorter time to change the color of the indicator solution with your breath

after you exercise?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

23. Is it possible to compare the results from one member of the group to the other? Why or why

not? _______________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

24. How would you need to modify the procedure to reliably compare the results from each

member of the group or even class?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



25. In this activity you measured how much CO2 your lungs produce before and after exercise.

How do you think the amount of CO2 your lungs expel relates to the amount of energy your

body needs before and after the exercise? How does it relate to the amount of O2 your lungs

took in before and after the exercise?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

26. Write a sentence relating these three things: oxygen consumption, energy production, carbon

dioxide expulsion.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

27. While we know that oxygen is needed to produce energy in your body’s cells, why do you

think your body needs to expel carbon dioxide? Base your answer on what you know CO2

does when found in solution.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

28. How do the results of your inquiry compare to those of other members in your group? In your

class? Discuss the reasons they are similar or different. Consider whether the differences are

caused by gas exchange or experimental design.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



29. In this inquiry, are you measuring precise amounts (quantitative data) or are you comparing

your results and qualifying what you observe (qualitative data)? Explain.

__________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

LUNG STRUCTURE

30. What does the model shown to you represent?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

31. To what two body systems does the diaphragm belong? Explain your answer for each system?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

32. What is the function of the diaphragm in the respiratory system?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



33. Put the following words in order to indicate the path oxygen takes from the air outside of

your body to the inside its cells:

BRONCHIOLES BLOOD MOUTH/NOSE ALVEOLI TRACHEA BRONCHI

BUILD A LUNG

34. What is the main difficulty you faced when designing your model of the respiratory system?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

35. How did you solve it? Did you have multiple possible solutions? How did you arrive at the

design you decided to build?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

36. Create a similarities and differences table in the Notes section to write down how your model

is the same as an actual chest cavity and how it is different. Consider both the function and

the structure of your model and that of a human chest cavity, as discussed in class.

1

2

3

4

5

6



NOTES

Module 33. Respiration, Fermentation and Photosynthesis


MODULE 33. RESPIRATION, FERMENTATION AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS


INTRODUCTION

What is the connection

between the organisms on our

planet? They are all different,

yet they all depend on the same

energy currency: ATP. They all

need to go through a process

during which they exchange CO2

for O2 or vice versa. They all

need carbohydrates in one form

or another and for different

reasons – some to maintain

structure, some as a source of

energy.

CELLULAR RESPIRATION

All living cells exchange gases. Cells of complex organisms, such as yourself, other animals and

plants respire to produce energy, which they need for the many processes that take place inside

the cell. This allows the organism to perform the functions essential to its survival. As you may

already know, animals breathe to provide oxygen for the process of cellular respiration.


http://www.lamission.edu/



Cells take up oxygen and use it to make ATP. ATP is a very special molecule that is extremely

important to all organisms, since it provides the necessary energy. In this process cells use up

oxygen, water and some form of fuel molecule (usually a type of sugar) and produce ATP and

carbon dioxide.

C6H12O6 + 6O2 6CO2 +6H2O + energy (heat and 38ATP molecules)

It is obvious why animals need energy. We need to move, think, breathe. All that requires the

cells in our brain, our muscles and other organs to perform complex functions. But why do plants

need energy? The most important function that plants go through is to produce seeds of some

sort that will ensure that the next generation of plant will come about in the future. Making seeds

and protecting them takes a lot of energy!

ELEPHANT RUN. POMEGRANATE TREE. YEAST CELLS

FERMENTATION

Yeast is a live unicellular fungus the work of which you encounter every day at breakfast, lunch

and dinner when you place a piece of bread in your mouth. Without yeast, or rather the process

of fermentation it goes through, you would be eating maza all year round. In the section above,

you learned about cellular respiration. You now know that living organisms need oxygen to

respire. What happens when there isn’t much oxygen available? What about organisms that just

don’t need the same amount of ATP as produced in cellular respiration? What about organism

that just don’t “know” how to perform cellular respiration?

WHAT A DIFFERENCE YEAST MAKES: CHALA AND MAZA.



Yeast is one of the organisms that “knows” how to perform both fermentation and respiration.

However, it prefers to ferment. Yeast consumes glucose and oxygen and produces alcohol and

CO2.

C6H12O6 → 2 C2H5OH + 2 CO2+ 2ATP

Another organism that performs fermentation is also unicellular. The results of this you consume

as yogurt or sauerkraut. This organism is a bacterium called lactobacillus. It prefers lactose (sugar

found in milk) as a source for energy. Instead of alcohol, this organism makes lactic acid, which

turns milk into yogurt and makes cabbage sour.

C6H12O6 2C3H6O3 + 2ATP

OTHER PRODUCTS OF FERMENTATION: YOGURT AND SOURCROUT

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Why is it that we are concerned with wasting

paper? Is it paper that we are worried about

losing? Or the trees that are used to make

paper? Trees, and all other plants, use carbon

dioxide to make glucose, which they use for

cellular respiration and to make cellulose, for

structural purposes. In the process of making

glucose, plants also make oxygen, which they

don’t need in the same incredible amounts

that animals need to survive. An average

human needs about 50L of oxygen per hour.

Two mature trees produce 1‐year supply of

oxygen for a family of 4.

TREE’S ROLE IN CONVERTING CARBON DIOXIDE AND OXYGEN IN THE AIR WE BREATHE



The fewer trees there are, the less oxygen there is available for all animals, not just humans. In

addition to releasing oxygen, don’t forget that trees consume carbon dioxide. This is also

important because high concentrations (overall amount in the overall air) of can negatively affect

animal’s breathing, even if there is a lot of oxygen available. So, what do you think? Should we

keep trees around?

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

VOCABULARY

Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)

Breathing

Cellular respiration

Yeast

Fermentation

Chloroplast

Chlorophyll

Photosynthesis

Carbohydrate

Oxygen

Carbon dioxide

MATERIALS

Materials for Part I: Cellular Respiration (size) Quantity per group

Test tubes (________________) 4‐6

Stoppers or Parafilm 4‐6

Rehydrated seeds As needed

Dry seeds (for observation) 10‐20 seeds

Indicator solution As needed

Test tube rack 1‐2

Label tape

Permanent marker



Materials for Part II: Fermentation in Yeast (size) Quantity per group

Test tubes 25mm X 150mm 3‐4

Plastic test tubes, 15ml, graduated 3‐4

Yeast packets 3‐4

Water As needed

Sugar As needed

Thermometers 3‐4

Materials for Part III: Photosynthesis (size) Quantity per group

Test tubes 25mm X 150mm 3‐4

Rubber stoppers #4, with hole 3‐4

Pipette tip (1ml) 3‐4

Elodea plant (sprig) 3‐4

Water + baking soda solution As needed

Test tube rack 1‐2

Light source 1

Stop watch 1

PART I: CELLULAR RESPIRATION

OBSERVING THE SEEDS

In this section you will observe the result of cellular respiration in seeds. To allow seeds to be

stored, they are dehydrated. Which means, water is removed from them to prevent the seeds

from going through cellular respiration, sprouting and growing. In order to observe cellular

respiration, seeds must be rehydrated.



1. Your teacher will place seeds you will use for the inquiry in water over night to allow the seeds

to absorb water – rehydrate. Note the difference in seeds’ appearance and texture before

and after they have been rehydrated. Draw a dry seed and a rehydrated seed or seeds below.

Write down the differences in the space below.

2. Next you will set up the respiration chambers. Remember that you are planning to observe

cellular respiration in a plant. Answer the following questions before proceeding:

3. What gas do you expect to produce? _____________________________________________

4. What color do you expect the indicator to become as seeds go through cellular respiration?

Explain. ____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

5. What controls do you need to set up?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



6. Observe the set‐up of the respiration chambers for the sprouting seeds. Make a diagram or

drawing of the set up in the space below. Make sure to record the color of the solution, since

it will be the indicator of gas exchange taking place.

INQUIRY

7. Design a comparison inquiry in the space below. Answer the following questions to help in

your design:

8. What variables can you compare in this inquiry?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

9. What do you expect to be different? Write a hypothesis. Don’t forget to explain why you think

your hypothesis might be true.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



10. How long do you expect to observe the seeds to see change? At which points in time will you

record your observations?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11. Draw a diagram of your set up below.


12. Design a table to record the data you collect from your inquiry in the space below.



PART II: FERMENTATION IN YEAST

OBSERVING THE YEAST

In this section of the inquiry you will observe the process of fermentation performed by yeast.

a. Yeast needs sugar and warm temperature to perform fermentation. Look at the set‐up steps below. They are in an incorrect order. Consider what yeast needs and rewrite the steps in the correct order.

b. Your teacher will perform the steps in the order on which you decided.

c. Observe. If the steps are correctly ordered, you will observe gas being produced.

d. Discuss with class what the correct order might be and what may result if no fermentation is taking place. Write possible outcomes below.

Yeast set up

13. Place a number to the left of each step indicating the correct order to perform the experiment

______ Pour the contents of the beaker into a test tube

______ Attach the mouth of the balloon to the neck of the test tube

______ Add one packet of yeast, mix well and wait for 2 minutes

______ Add 50ml of recently boiled water (70C to 80C), stir well and wait 2 minutes

______ Use a rubber band or tape to secure it

______ Add 3 teaspoons of sugar to the test tube

______ Add 50ml of room temperature water to the test tube

INQUIRY

14. Next, you will design, perform and analyze an inquiry in a team. Before you join your team,

write down what factors you think could change the amount of CO2 the yeast would produce

by fermentation:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



Next, you will join your team and discuss which ONE factor you will test. Before you perform

your inquiry, discuss and answer the following questions:

15. What is the independent variable? _______________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

16. What is the dependent variable? ________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

17. What are your constants? ______________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

18. What is/are your control(s)? ____________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

19. How will you measure your result?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

20. What is your hypothesis?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



21. Write up the protocol for your inquiry, complete a materials table, draw a diagram of the set

up, and design a table to collect your data. Show your protocol and diagram to your teacher

before receiving materials for your inquiry.



22. Perform the inquiry; record data; build a graph of your results in the space below

PART III: PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN ELODEA

OBSERVATION OF ELODEA PLANT

In this section you will observe photosynthesis performed by

the plant often used in aquariums.

Your teacher will set up the plant in water with baking soda

dissolved in it. The chemical name for baking soda is sodium

bicarbonate and its formula is NaHCO3. Notice, that it has

carbon in its formula. Sodium bicarbonate dissolves easily in

water. Because of that, baking soda is a good source of carbon

for the plants to use during photosynthesis.



23. Observe gas production during photosynthesis in your teacher’s set up. Record your

observations in the space below. Draw a diagram of the set up at the start and finish of the

observation.

24. Record possible questions you have about the set up and what you are observing.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

INQUIRY

Next, you will design, perform and analyze an inquiry in a team. Before you join your team, write

down what factors you think could change the amount of O2, which Elodea would produce by

photosynthesis. Next to each factor write down how you think the amount of O2 will change with

the change in this factor – your hypothesis. Remember that a hypothesis is not a guess. It must

be based on what you have learned about photosynthesis and how it works.



25. Join your team and discuss which ONE factor you will test.

26. Using the materials provided to you, design and assemble the apparatus for measuring the

volume of O2 produced by Elodea.

Before you perform your inquiry, discuss and answer the following questions:

27. What is the independent variable? _______________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

28. What is the dependent variable? ________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

29. What are your constants? ______________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



30. What is/are your control(s)? ____________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

31. How will you measure your result?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

32. What is your hypothesis?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

33. Decide on the procedure you will follow (in the space just below) and design a table to collect

your data (in the space of section f). Show your apparatus, procedure and data table to your

teacher before moving forward.



34. Measure volume of O2 produced by elodea plants and record it in your table



35. What is the name of the energy molecule organisms on our planet use?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

36. Write a general formula for the cellular respiration process.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



37. What gas is consumed in the process of cellular respiration and what gas is released?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

38. What experimental result confirms your answer to the question above?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

39. What are the important controls that had to be considered when running a comparison

inquiry? ____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

FERMENTATION IN YEAST

40. What gas is consumed in the process of fermentation in yeast and what gas is released?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

41. What experimental result confirms your answer to the question above?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



PHOTOSYNTHESIS

42. Why is photosynthesis also called the process of carbon fixing (or fixation)?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

43. What does the plant need in order to go through the process of photosynthesis? What did

your teacher include in the set up to provide these essential ingredients?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

44. What gas is consumed in the process of photosynthesis and what gas is released?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

45. Why do we observe the gas accumulating at the top of the test tube (and not elsewhere in

the beaker)?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

46. What three components are needed to produce fire?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



47. What do you need to prove that oxygen gas was produced in the Elodea set up and not some

other gas? __________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

48. What would you expect to see if the seeds in your cellular respiration inquiry were performing

photosynthesis in addition to cellular respiration?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

WHOLE MODULE ASSESSMENT

49. Which process produces the largest number of ATP molecules?

___________________________________________________________________________

50. On the following page, fill in the table to compare and contrast the process of cellular

respiration, fermentation and photosynthesis.

51. Choose a statement to defend:

a. Cellular respiration and Photosynthesis are independent of each other.

b. Cellular respiration and Photosynthesis depend on each other.

Use the information you gained in the process of this module to defend the statement you

chose and critique the opposite statement.



Cellular respiration Fermentation Photosynthesis

NOTES

Module 34. The Sense in Senses


MODULE 34. THE SENSE IN SENSES


INTRODUCTION TO THE SENSES

Are you familiar with Ben & Jerry’s ice cream? You probably are! What do your senses have to do

with it? Well… it tastes really good. It is sweet and chunky. But are you familiar with how it

became what it is? One of the founders of the company – Ben Cohen, has a severe case of

anosmia. This is a disfunction that affects your sense of smell and taste.

Ben Cohen cannot taste or smell anything! So how did he contribute

to the creation of one of the most famous ice cream companies? He is

responsible for the chunkiness of the ice cream. Ben Cohen relies

purely on how the ice cream feels. Since ice cream itself doesn’t have

a very interesting texture, the founders of Ben & Jerry’s decided to

make it interesting, by adding the different textures of crunchy nuts,

thick cookie dough, gooey caramel, fluffy marshmallows, brittle

chocolate, and so much more to their ice cream pints. Can you think of

what the different feels of the Ben & Jerry ice cream types are?

In this module you will re‐discover your senses and the organs that are responsible for them.

1. Read the article below independently. Pay attention to details. As you are reading, underline

or highlight words that should be included in the Vocabulary section.

The five senses of the body include sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Human beings and

most other animals use the five senses to help them live and experience the world around them.

The senses also help people to learn, protect themselves, and to enjoy the differences between

foods, sounds, and other experiences a person has in life. The senses also work together to give

you a clear picture of the activities around you.

The first sense is sight, which depends on the eyes. People use their eyes to see the people,

objects, and other items around them. Of course, the sense of sight is also helpful for reading,

traveling, driving, and moving from place to place each day. Inside the eye there are special lenses

that take in light to help people see things. If it is too dark, a person will have trouble seeing. The

eyes can also adjust to the amount of light available. Many people, though, young and old, may

also need glasses to help them see clearly. Some people may be able to see things up close, but

not far away, which means they are nearsighted. If a person can see far away but not up close,

they are farsighted. If a person is blind, there are special books written in braille which helps

them feel the raised letters. Some blind people also have special dogs to help guide them from

place to place in their home and when they go places.



DIAGRAM OF THE EYE DIAGRAM OF THE EAR

The second sense, hearing, depends on the ears. There are actually three parts of the ear, the

outer ear, middle ear, and the inner ear. The outer ear is the part other people can see. The outer

ear catches the sound waves as they travel to the person and then sends them into the ear. The

outer ear acts like a funnel collecting the different sounds a person experiences. The middle

ear contains the eardrum and several bones which transfers sound from the outer ear to the

inner ear. The inner ear consists of tubes and passages that takes the sound vibrations and sends

it to your brain for understanding.

DIAGRAM OF THE NASAL CAVITY THE SKIN

The third sense, smell, depends on your nose. Inside the nose there is a substance that takes the

fumes of an odor and then sends it to the brain. If a person gets a cold the sense of smell may

not be as strong. The nose also helps clean the air a person breathes by filtering it. Inside the

nose there are tiny hairs, called cilia, which act as cleaners to help keep substances in the air from

entering a person's body through the nose. In addition, the nose affects the way a person speaks.

If a person holds their nose while speaking, their voice will sound different. Smell also helps with

the sense of taste. As a person tastes the food in their mouth, the aroma of the food enters a

person's nose.



The next sense, feeling, or touch, can be experienced throughout the entire body through a

person's skin. Some parts of the body are more sensitive to touch than other parts. The skin has

parts in it that collect information and sends it the brain. Most of a person's feeling is done by

the hands. In addition, when a person has a stomach ache or feel other kinds of pain, the sense

of touch is working from inside the body.

The final sense, taste, comes from the taste buds on a person's tongue. As stated earlier, the

sense of smell also affects the sense of taste. The tongue tastes five different flavors: salty, sweet,

sour, bitter and savory (also called umami). Many foods a person eats may be a combination of

the five main flavors. The tongue can also feel whether something in a person's mouth is hot,

cold, creamy, crunchy, or dry.

THE MANY USES OF TONGUE.

In summary, the five senses are sight, hearing, smell, feeling, and taste. The five senses work

together to help you live, protect yourself, learn, and enjoy the world around you.

http://www.softschools.com/

2. Write down two facts about each sensory organ and its sense below:



3. Your ears are also responsible for your sense of balance. Why do you think it is important to

talk about sense of balance in addition to your other five senses?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

4. In addition to the six senses you just read about, other senses include sense of temperature,

pain, pressure and motion. What organs do you think are involved in these senses?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

VOCABULARY

5. Create a list of words that you think need to be included in this section as you move through

the module, starting from the reading you have already completed finishing with your

independent research project.



VOCABULARY

MATERIALS


Eye cover (personal, provided by each student in group) 2

Sweet, sour, salty, bitter cups set 1

Stirrers 8

Jelly Belly’s (5 in a cup) 2

Skewers 3‐7

Pencils 1‐3

Ruler 1

Meter stick 1



SENSE‐STATIONS

Working in groups of two, go through each of the stations and record your observations. You do

not need to follow any particular order of stations, unless your teacher directs you to do so. Make

sure to find the right station in your notes before starting to record your observations. Only go

to a station that is not occupied by another group of students (pink tables). Complete the

observations at your desk for the stations that have a “*” after their letter (green tables). If all

the other stations are occupied, work on one of the stations that can be done at your desk.

As you go through each station, record the sense(s) you think you will be exploring and which

sensory organ(s) you think is(are) involved in completing the activity at that station. Feel free to

change your answer as you go through the activity or during the whole class discussion after the

activities have been concluded.

For some of the activities you will need to cover your eyes. Please use your own personal eye

cover to avoid spreading personal oils and bacteria to your classmates.

Station

A How good is your 20/20?

Sense(s)

Organ(s)

6. Stand 3 meters away from the eye chart (aka Snellen chart)

7. Cover your right eye with your hand (don’t close your eye, just cover it), read the lines of

letters one at a time, while your partner is confirming that you are reading the letters

correctly. Stop on the line where you make at least 2 mistakes or cannot recognize at least 2

letters. Record your data.

8. Repeat with your left eye. Record your data.

LEFT EYE:

Line with 2 or more mistakes ____________ vision ____________________

RIGHT EYE:

Line with 2 or more mistakes ____________ vision ____________________

DON’T MAKE ANY CONCLUSIONS ABOUT YOUR VISION WITHOUT SEEING AN

OPHTHALMOLOGIST – AN EYE DOCTOR.



Station

B Can you see what you see?

Sense(s)

Organ(s)

9. Hold the pencil with a circular pattern attached to it vertically. Ask your partner to spin it as

fast as possible. Look at the rotating pattern. Record your observations below. Illustrate, if

necessary, for description.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

10. Your teacher will have the Ishihara Color Blindness Plates available for you to examine (either

on line or printed out). Record what you see on the plates. If you see a number, record what

number it is and its color. If you see lines, record how many of them you see, their color and

shape. If you are not seeing any particular shape, put an “X” in the space. Do not change your

answers.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

PLEASE DON’T MAKE ANY CONCLUSIONS ABOUT YOUR VISION WITHOUT SEEING AN

OPHTHALMOLOGIST – AN EYE DOCTOR.



Station

C What was that?!

Sense(s)

Organ(s)

11. Stand in the center of the circle on the

floor

12. Cover your eyes with your eye cover

13. Ask your partner to stand on the circle

perimeter in one of the 4 locations

14. When you are ready, ask you partner to

say your name using their inside voice.

You must indicate where your partner is

standing by pointing only. Your partner

will record (IN YOUR BOOK) whether or

not you correctly identified the location

from where the sound was coming.

FRONT BACK RIGHT LEFT

15. Repeat for your partner

PLEASE DON’T MAKE ANY CONCLUSIONS ABOUT YOUR HEARING WITHOUT SEEING AN

OTOLARYNGOLOGIST – AN EAR, NOSE AND THROAT DOCTOR.

Front

Left

Back

Right



*PLEASE INFORM YOUR TEACHER IF YOU HAVE AN ALLERGY TO ANY FOODS OR SUBSTANCES.

16. Close your eyes (or cover with your eye cover)

17. Your partner will place a stirrer with a substance on the tip of your tongue. Then discard

(throw out) the stirrer without dipping it back into the cup.

18. Pay attention to what you are tasting.

19. Tell your partner whether you are tasting something sweet, sour, salty or bitter.

20. Your partner will record your response (IN YOUR BOOK) in the table below.

Substance A

Substance B

Substance C

Substance D

21. Check the answers with your teacher when the entire class finished testing.

Station

D* How sweet it is….

Sense(s)

Organ(s)




22. Place 5 jelly beans on your chart below.

23. Describe each jelly bean in the second column.

24. Pinch your nose closed with fingers so that no air is coming in through it

25. Put one (only one) Jelly Belly in your mouth and chew for 10 seconds

26. Without opening your nose, take a note of what you are tasting

27. Record what flavor you think the jelly bean is

Jelly

number

What are you

seeing?

What will it

taste like?

What does it taste like

(while your nose is closed)?

Jelly Belly

flavor

1

2

3

4

5

Station

E* JELLY BEANS!!!!!

Sense(s)

Organ(s)



Station

F* Pewwwww!

Sense(s)

Organ(s)



29. Your partner will bring a cup with different substances close to your nose. Say what you think

you are smelling. You can describe the smell if you do not recognize the substance. Your

partner will record your answer (IN YOUR BOOK).

30. Repeat for all cups

31. Your teacher will reveal the identity of the substances once every group has finished testing.

Record if you identified the substance correctly.

Substance A

Substance B

Substance C

Substance D

Substance E

Substance F

Substance G

Substance H

Substance I



Station

G* Can you count to two?

Sense(s)

Organ(s)

DO NOT PLAY AROUND WITH SHARP, POINTY OBJECTS!

32. Prepare the testing devices (see picture). Record the distance between the points of the

skewers in the last two devices.

a. one skewer: _______ mm apart

b. two skewers taped on opposite sides of a pencil: _______ mm apart

c. two skewers taped with two pencils in between: _______ mm apart

POSSIBLE DESIGN FOR TOUCH POINT RECOGNITION DEVICES

33. In this activity, your partner will lightly touch your skin on different locations on your body.

Before proceeding, discuss with your partner and cross out (in your book) the locations where

you do not want to feel the skewers

34. One at a time, cover your eyes with your eyes cover

35. Ask your partner to touch each agreed on location at a time with each of the three devices

you prepared, mixing up the order. Do not try to guess. Just say what you are feeling.

36. After each touch, tell your partner if you are feeling one or two points.



37. Your partner will record your answer (IN YOUR BOOK) and if you identified the number of

points correctly.

Body part

1 point 2 points ___ mm apart 2 points ___ mm apart

What did you

feel X / √

What did you

feel X / √

What did you

feel X / √

Forearm

Thumb

Palm

Upper arm

Back of hand

Upper lip

Cheek

Back of neck

Ankle

38. Record any reflections on this activity. What did you notice about the ability of the different

portions of your skin to distinguish between one and two points? Did the distance between

the points affect how well you were able to detect the number of points?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



Station

H Hot or cold?

Sense(s)

Organ(s)


40. Place your hands on the table in front of you

41. Your teacher will wipe your hands twice

42. Each time determine whether you feel cold or warm

43. Your teacher will tell you whether you identified the temperature correctly

COLD WARM

Station

I Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel….

Sense(s)

Organ(s)

COMPLETE THIS STATION ONLY UNDER YOUR TEACHER’S SUPERVISION, ONE AT A TIME AND

IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH GETTING SLIGHTLY DIZZY.

44. Cover your eyes

45. Spin in one place 5‐6 times in the same direction

46. Uncover your eyes and write down what you feel once you are comfortable

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

47. Repeat with your eyes uncovered

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



Station

J* Catch me if you can!

Sense(s)

Organ(s)

In this activity you are testing your reaction speed. Perform the trials one person at a time.

48. Ask your partner to stand on a chair and hold the meter stick up by the upper tip, so that

100cm mark is facing up

49. Stand at two arms lengths away from your partner. Start with your dominant arm. Record

which arm you are testing Left or Right. Extend your arm perpendicularly (at 90‐degree angle)

to your body. Open your hand around the meter stick, but not touching it. Ask your partner

to adjust the height of the meter stick so that the 20cm mark is just above your index finger

50. When you are ready, your partner will let go of the meter stick

51. You need to catch the stick without bending your arm as fast as you can

52. Record the centimeter mark that is just above your index finger when you caught the stick

53. Record the results on the whole class table

R or L Trial

1

Trial

2

Trial

3

Trial

4

Trial

5

Improved or

not? Average

Dominant arm

Non‐dominant

arm



INTRODUCTIONS TO THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

What organ in your body do you think is

responsible for receiving and processing all the

senses and telling your body how to respond?

How is it that what you are feeling (seeing,

tasting, smelling, etc.) makes you respond? Do

you respond differently to different things you

are sensing? What makes you respond? How

does it work? Who or what is in charge?

The most important organ in our body is our

brain. It controls the functions of all the other organs, its development is reflected in our

behavior, our emotions, and damage to our brain is irreparable, at least for now. The brain does

that by sending and receiving messages on the highway of the spinal cord. The brain and the

spinal cord together make up the central nervous system.

Even though it is so powerful, our brain relies on our senses to provide it with the information to

which it then generates a response. Because, believe it or not, our brain, by itself, cannot feel

anything, not even pain! (Headache? That’s actually the tissue that covers the brain that hurts,

not the brain itself.) Our senses, as you found out are very many. Each one generates a different

response in different people. Whereas one person might like the taste of sour patch, another

might prefer the taste of coffee. One person might enjoy a scary movie, while another might not

like that type of stimulus. The way we respond to different stimuli (things that engage our senses)

depends on our development, experiences and genetics. The stimuli coming into our body from

outside are called external stimuli. When you have a stomach ache or when your muscles hurt

after strenuous exercise, you experience internal stimuli. Our brain must respond to these as



well. Many of the internal

stimuli we don’t even think

about. Those are hunger,

being sleepy, fear, love,

anxiety, etc. All of these are

triggered by our body going

through its daily routine and

experiences in its

surroundings.

Our sensory system is a part of

the peripheral nervous

system.

Our brain is able to collect the

information and respond to it because every part of our body is connected to it with neurons.

Neurons are very special types of cells that are able to receive, transmit and send messages, like

wires in a machine. Also, like wires, neurons create a network in our bodies. Different types of

neurons are responsible for different messages and different connections.

GENERAL STRUCTURE OF A NEURON.

BruceBlaus ‐ Own work, CC BY 3.0,

There are small and large neurons, long and short, simple and incredibly complex. The brain is

actually a collection of 100 billions of neurons, extremely well organized and interconnected in

just the right way. When that right way gets disrupted, the body fails to function properly. Again,

like wires, neurons pass the signals from one to another at special connections. In the case of



neurons, those connections are called synapses.

Synapses are essential in message transmission. Each neuron receives a message from other

neurons at multiple synapses. It then moves the message through its cell body to the synapse

where it is going to send the message on to another neuron. Each message has a specific

destination. Every sensory organ we talked about already contains many sensory neurons that

respond to the external stimuli specific to them. The messages that originate in sensory neurons

then travel through the spinal cord and to the brain through multiple neurons and the brain then

responds by sending a message of its own. Most commonly, the brain sends two main messages

to respond to external stimuli. One is a message carried by motor neurons. Motor neurons are

very long and convey the messages very quickly. They are responsible for moving a body part.

For example, if the brain receives a message that says you are smelling something foul, your brain

will send a message for you to move away from the smell, cover your nose and loudly announce

that you are not pleased. The other message the brain sends will initiate a formation of memory

that will remind you every time you smell the same thing that you’ve experienced it before.

There is one type of message that allows you to respond without waiting for the brain to respond.

Because sometimes, no matter how fast the brain’s networks are, waiting for the brain takes too

long. These messages are usually ones that signal that your body is in danger. For example, if you

touch something really hot, your hand jerks away way before you say “ouch!”. This is because

there are reflex centers in your spinal cord that connect your sensory neurons almost directly

(with just one neuron away) to motor neurons. These motor neurons are the ones responsible

for what we know as the jerk reflex. In general, we call reflexes any movement reaction that is

not controlled by the brain.

In this activity you will pick a part of the nervous system that interests you, research it and create

a model. You will then demonstrate and discuss this particular part of the nervous system to the

rest of the class. Remember, that you will be the expert on the part of the nervous system you

picked. You will be responsible to teach your classmates about its importance, structure and

function. If you have time, research what happens when this system malfunctions.

VOCABULARY

Brain

Spinal cord

Neurons

Synapses

Stimulus (stimuli)

Response

Internal stimulus

External stimulus

Central nervous system

Peripheral nervous system

Motor neurons

Sensory neurons

Reflexes



MATERIALS

As you are planning your model and building it, record the materials you are using to create it.

Record the material, and how much of it you are using (use the Notes section if you need more

space). Some materials may be provided by your teacher. Some materials you should plan on

brining from home. Focus on using recycled materials. Avoid using single use plastics as much as

possible. Recycle the materials at the end of your project.

Material (size) Quantity

Scissors 1‐2

Glue or other adhesive available As needed

MODELING THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

1. Sketch your design in the space below. As you are sketching, think:

a. of materials you might need to create each portion of the model. Create a preliminary list of materials on the side of your sketch.



b. What part of the nervous system are you designing?

c. Is your model going to represent an organ or a set of neurons?

d. What is the organ or set of neurons you are designing responsible for carrying out?

e. Think of what the implication of damage to this organ or set of neurons would be. What would be the outcome? How can it be addressed? Is there technology available that fixes the damage to this particular system?

2. In your group (or on your own, if you are working independently), decide what materials you

might want to use to build your model. Test the materials for durability, flexibility, and how

well they are able to adhere where necessary with the adhesives that are available for you to

use. Build your model. As you are building, add the materials to the materials table, along

with the amounts you are using.



3. When your model is complete. Create a drawing of it below or on a larger piece of paper. Be

ready to demonstrate your model and discuss what each part represents, to what part of the

nervous system it belongs, what is its function, etc.


4. Think of what senses you use on a daily basis to get yourself ready for school. List at least 5

with the sensory organs you use to experience them.



5. Think of people who are deficient or lack a particular sense. What would someone need to

do if one of the senses was not functioning properly or was absent altogether? Choose one

sense and write a paragraph about how life would be different without that sense and what

adaptations an individual would have to go through to go through daily tasks.

6. Think about how your sense of sight can affect your perception by any other sense. Write

down an example.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

7. Think about how your sense of hearing can affect your perception by any other sense. Write

down an example.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



8. What do you think smells (odors) are?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

9. How do you think smells (odors) get to the cilia in our nose?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

10. Were you able to tell the flavor of the jelly bean with your nose closed? Why do you think

that is?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11. How many different tastes can our tongue distinguish? ______________________________

12. How many different scents can our noses distinguish? ______________________________

13. Why do you think our sense of taste needs to depend on both sensing tastes and smells?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

14. Why does food seem tasteless when you have a cold?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



15. Think about how your sense of taste can affect your perception by any other sense. Write

down an example.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

16. Think about how your sense of smell can affect your perception by any other sense. Write

down an example.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

17. In what situations is balance extremely important? Why? How would impaired sense of

balance affect an individual in these situations?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

18. Think about how your sense of balance can affect your perception by any other sense. Write

down an example.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 35. Habitat Design and Population Density


MODULE 35. HABITAT DESIGN AND POPULATION DENSITY


INTRODUCTION

In this lab you will observe and learn about a live creature that lives closer to you than you might

think. You might have seen these “bugs” on the ground near your home or you might have heard

about them from friends. You might also remember cartoons you watched when you were little

that illustrate their most distinct feature. They are generally called roly polies for one simple

reason – they roll up into a ball when scared or threatened. And guess what! They are not bugs

at all! In general, we call bugs anything that crawls, but specifically bugs are insects. Roly polies

or pill bugs do crawl in small spaces, but they are not insects at all. In fact, they are very closely

related to marine (water dwelling) creatures called crustaceans that use gills to breathe and have

hard shells on their bodies for protection. Two other crustaceans with which you are most likely

familiar are lobsters and shrimp.

Look at the pictures below and find similarities and differences in the appearances of these

creatures. As you look at the pictures and when you get a chance to observe the live roly polies

in this lab, notice the features that prove their belonging to the class of crustaceans and the

features that mistakenly group them with insects.

ROLY POLY SHRIMP ANT

Roly polies live almost on every continent but have their origins in Europe. Because of their wide

distribution they are what we call a cosmopolitan species. Even though they can live in nearly any

climate, they do have their requirement for survival. Pill bugs prefer to be active in the dark. They

also prefer moist, but not very wet soil. They feed on decaying (another word for rotting) flesh of

fruit, vegetables and other plant material. Based on those requirements, try to imagine where

you would and would not see these creatures.

On a sunny day, if you find a spot under a tree that is watered regularly and is covered by a

boulder. If you lift the boulder just a bit, you will find that the soil is teaming with life. Among the

insects and worms, you are also likely to see some roly polies. In this activity, you will find out

what possible factors will affect where these creatures are more or less likely to be found, based

on how you change the environment of their habitat.



VOCABULARY

Insect

Crustacean

Arthropod

Legs

Antennae

Terrestrial

Marine

Nocturnal

Population density

Cosmopolitan species

Habitat

MATERIALS

As you are working on designing and building the habitat, add the materials you are using and

their amounts in the available spaces in the materials table.


Food containers (8oz) 3‐6

Scissors 1 pair


Various materials to differentiate from the original habitat As needed

Pill bugs in a container with soil 10‐30

Craft stick 1

Water As needed

Timer 1

Laboratory materials to create the habitat (pipettes,

cotton balls, glue, etc.)

As needed



PART I: GETTING TO KNOW THE PILL BUGS

1. Your teacher will provide you with a text to read, which will allow you to collect information about the pill bugs. In the space below, write down 10 facts about these organisms that you find while reading the article.

2. Discuss the facts you found with the class. Add any facts you missed. Your teacher will also give you additional facts that were not included in the text you read. Add them to your list.

3. In the space below or on a separate sheet of paper, create a cartoon to illustrate one of the facts you listed above.



4. Share the cartoon you drew with your neighbor. Could they guess which fact you illustrated?

5. Your teacher will provide your group with one or two pill bugs to observe in a clear container

filled with soil. In the space below, create a list of things you notice about these crustaceans

as you observe them. Note the following features: movements, interactions with each other

(if have more than one), interactions with its environment, etc.

6. Using a craft stick, carefully transfer one pill bug into an empty clear container. Do not handle

pill bugs with your hands. Close the container and tape the lid so that it does not fall off when

you are observing the organism. Draw a pill bug from the top, from the bottom and from the

side when it is not rolled up. If your pill bug rolls up, draw it rolled up as well. Be as specific

and precise as possible in your illustrations. As you observe the pill bugs in the clear container,

add notable features to the list above: color, size (in centimeters), number of body parts,

antennae, legs, eyes, segments of thorax, notable appendages, etc. Use additional paper, if

necessary.



PART II: DESIGN AND BUILD A PILL BUG HABITAT

In this part you will test different environments pill bugs prefer over others. Remember that it is

your responsibility to design environments that are not meant to hurt or damage the pill bugs.

When building the habitat with different environments, remember to not leave any tape

exposed, as pill bugs will get stuck on the glue of the tape. Also remember that pill bugs will

escape through holes you leave in your structure, so make sure to cover all openings.

7. Individually, write down 2‐4 ideas for variations in environments you would like to test with your group. Keep in mind that the materials for your design need to be readily available in your class or home.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Before you begin to design the habitat, decide with your group which variables you will keep constant and which variables you will change. Keep in mind that for your data to be reliable, you need to test environments which change only across one modality, such as smell, amount of light, temperature, acidity, salinity, etc.

Discuss the following questions in a group to better inform your design:

8. Which variable will you change? _________________________________________________

9. Which variable will remain the same? ____________________________________________

10. How many pill bugs will you test? ________________________________________________

11. Where will you animals originate? _______________________________________________

12. What data are you going to collect? ______________________________________________

13. How long will your trial last? ____________________________________________________

14. How many trials will you be able to run? ___________________________________________



15. In the space below, write down ideas your classmates and you have for the different

environments of your habitat:

16. In the space below, draw a design for the habitat you are going to build for the pill bugs. Label

where each variable will go. Where will your control environment be?



17. Write down the hypothesis for your upcoming experiment. Which environment do you think

the Pill Pugs will choose and why? Base your hypothesis on the information you collected

during your reading and observations.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

TESTING

Before proceeding to test, answer the following questions:

18. What modality are you testing? _________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

19. What variable are you testing? __________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

20. How many variations of one variable are you testing? ________________________________

21. How many test runs are you going to have? ________________________________________

22. How long is each test run? ______________________________________________________

23. Will you have time to re‐design and re‐test your habitat? If not, what is the reason?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

24. Where are you going to dispose of your test subjects when your experiment is complete?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



25. In the space below, create a table to record the results of your test. Remember to account

for the number of environments you designed and the number of trials you will run.

When you receive the container with your test subjects from the teacher, make sure to disturb

them as little as possible. Handle the bugs with care when transferring them into your testing

habitat. Make sure to place the pill bugs into the control container to begin the test run. Avoid

touching the bugs and the habitat during the test run.

26. Why do you think it is important to avoid touching the pill bugs during the test?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



27. Why is it important to place the bugs in the control container at the start of the test?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

28. Write down how many pill bugs you receive to test your habitat: _______________________

29. Run the test. Observe and record what you see in the Notes section.

30. In the space below, create a bar graph to reflect how many pill bugs you found in each of the

environments you created in your pill bug habitat. If you were able to do multiple test runs,

include them in the graph.



31. Discuss the results of your test with the rest of the class. Record your observations of the results reported by the other groups in the space below.

32. In the space below, record and describe what you think you could improve in the design of your habitat. Draw a diagram if necessary.




ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AFTER READING THE TEXT PROVIDED TO YOU BY

THE TEACHER.

33. Why was the organism you observed given names such as roly poly and pill bug?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

34. What does nocturnal mean? What behavior do nocturnal animals exhibit during the night and during the day? What other nocturnal animals do you know?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

35. What is the difference between a pill bug and a sowbug?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

36. What is a marsupial? What other marsupials do you know?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

37. What do you think the following terms mean:

a. Thorax _______________________________________________________________

b. Abdomen _______________________________________________________________

c. Uropods. _______________________________________________________________



38. How many thoracic segments and how many pairs of legs do newborn pill bugs have?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

39. Define molting, based on what you read.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

40. What does a newborn pill bug generate (grow) as a result of the first molt? Second?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

41. What do you think the word “brood” mean?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

42. Will a pill bug survive better in a desert or in a forest? Explain your reasoning.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

43. Do you think pill bugs will prefer soil with drops of orange juice or baking soda dissolved in water sprinkled over it? Explain your thinking.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



44. If you have a vegetable garden in your backyard, which vegetables could you find damaged if there is a pill bug infestation? How could you prevent such an infestation?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

ONCE YOU HAVE BUILT AND TESTED YOUR HABITAT, REVIEWED THE RESULTS OF

TESTING FROM OTHER GROUPS AND DECIDED WHAT YOU WOULD HAVE LIKED TO

CHANGE ABOUT YOUR DESIGN, ANSWER THE FOLLWING QUESTIONS.

45. What was the preferred environment in your test? How do you know?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

46. Which environment was least preferred by pill bugs in your test? How do you know?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

47. How could you make your test more reliable? Give at least 3 ways and explain each.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



48. If you were making a terrarium (living space for small land animals) for pill bugs, what would you use as materials to create an optimal environment for your house guests? What conditions and materials should you avoid? Base your answer on the observations you made with your group and what you learned from observations made by other groups.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

49. Based on what you read and experienced, what factors do you think make up a habitat of a particular species?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

50. What are the requirements for a healthy habitat for roly polies?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



AFTER YOUR TEACHER DISCUSSES POPULATION DENSITY WITH YOU, ANSWER THE

FOLLOWING QUESTIONS.

51. Calculate population density in each one of the environments you created at the start of the test and at the end of the test. Make sure to include the units.

52. How could your calculations inform your decision to create a natural environment for roly polies?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

53. If you were creating an outdoor habitat for roly polies which condition or conditions would you choose to create it such that it would have the largest population density of roly polies. Base your answer on the observations your group made, and also on the information you collected from your reading and the observations made by other groups. How would this habitat be different from an indoor terrarium?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



NOTES

Module 36. Gravity, relatively


MODULE 36. GRAVITY, RELATIVELY


INTRODUCTION

Sir Isaac Newton was a brilliant

mathematician and physicist who was the

first person to theorize that force of gravity

is the reason why planets move around stars

in described orbits instead of randomly

through space. He also worked out the laws

of Physics that govern why, how, how much

and where things move – the law we know

as the Three Laws of Motion.

You also are most likely familiar with the

man on this picture, the fact that he was

born on Pi day and that his Theory of Relativity revolutionized mathematics and physics.

However, even though you know very well what gravity is, you probably don’t know what the

Theory of Relativity is and why it is so important.

In this module, you will discover the basics of Einstein’s theory and why it is at odds with

Newton’s theory of gravity! Now, don’t panic! Apples and other fruit will still fall down. You are

not about to float out to space just because Newton was wrong in some of his theories. His laws

of motion are still laws! His theory about gravity, although describes what happens on Earth

rather well…. Seems to have some holes. With that said, since his theories are just that… theories,

they can and were amended by Einstein to be more precise and to apply to all of Universe, rather

than to just us Earthlings.



1. Discuss in class and write down the definitions for the following important scientific terms:

a. Hypothesis ‐ _____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

b. Theory ‐ _________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

c. Scientific Law ‐ ____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

2. What, of those three, comes first? Second? Third?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

3. What is the difference between a theory and a law:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

BERESHEET SELFIE WITH PLANET EARTH FIRST EVER PICTURE OF A BLACK HOLE

https://phys.org/ https://www.independent.co.uk/



You might have heard in the news lately these three headlines:

LIGO detects gravitational waves from two distant black holes colliding! (2015)

Israel sends a lunar lander! (2019)

First picture of a black hole is compiled by scientists. (2019)

Even if these discoveries and observations might seem far away and not important for your life

on Earth, our scientists and politicians spend a significant amount of money and time on finding

out how things work in space. The reason for this is that our planet, whether we want or not,

whether we are aware of it or not, is affected by what happens out there in space. For that

reason, space exploration continues, and we will hear more and more discoveries made in our

lifetime.

VOCABULARY

Hypothesis

Theory

Scientific law

Space

Star

Planet

Moon

Orbit

Gravity

Spacetime

Escape velocity

MATERIALS

Write down the materials your teacher used to create the Gravity table:

Material (size) Quantity per class

Materials for Escape velocity demonstration:


magnet 1‐2

Ball bearings or bb’s 5‐10

Cardstock paper sheet 1

Plastic lid 1





4. As you observe the demonstrations, record your observations with text and pictures in the

space below.


BOTTLE DROP

5. What causes the water to leak out of the bottle?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

6. What causes the bottle to fall when you let it go?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



7. Why is the water not leaking out of the bottle when it is falling?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

8. With what speed are you moving when you are sitting still on an airplane?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

9. How is your speed on the plane relates to water in a leaky bottle?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

ESCAPE VELOCITY TROUGH

10. As the ball rolls through the trough, what is making it speed up?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11. As the ball rolls through the trough, what is making it slow down?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



12. Why does the ball stick to the magnet?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

13. Why is a ball that moves fast able to escape the pull of the magnet?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

14. Which energy is allowing the ball to escape?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

15. Amount of which energy is increased when the end of the trough is lifted?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

MIRROR, MIRROR… LENSING

16. What do you see in the mirror?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



17. Is what happens to light from the effects of gravitational lensing the same as what mirrors do

to light? Explain your thinking.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

GRAVITY TABLE

18. Is spacetime made of actual fabric?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

19. What does the fabric of the gravity table represent?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

20. What do the marbles represent?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

21. What mass does the object have to be to have an effect on spacetime? Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



22. In a two‐object system, which has an effect on the other: the larger or the smaller of the two

objects?

___________________________________________________________________________

23. What does the large sphere in the center represent?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

24. What does an object with mass do to the fabric of spacetime?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

25. Is light affected by spacetime warping?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

26. Write a paragraph relating the speed of a marble to the path it is going to take around the

large central sphere.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

27. Is what happens to planets and moons moving in various directions a theory or law? Explain

your thinking.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



28. Why do moons orbit their planets?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

29. What does the string stretched from one side of the table to the other represent?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

30. Will we observe a distant star in the same or different location in the sky whether the sun is

in the sky (during an eclipse) versus at night? Explain your thinking.

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31. Which path is less complicated and costly for a space shuttle to take: a straight line from Earth

to the Moon or a figure 8? Why?

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BLACK HOLES.

32. What are black holes?

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NOTES

CIJE‐Tech MS Grade... · Coordinator of Middle School Curriculum Katherine Owuor, Ph.D....

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