I did a series of demonstrations yesterday involving soda cans and stuck the video of it on youtube.
I wanted it to be just one video but it went well over ten minutes (15 to be precise) so I had to split it in two.
It was fun though.
One of the problems with this sort of thing is that students will either have seen everything before in lessons, or will probably have seen me prepare them, so sometimes they need a little encouragement when it comes to showing their appreciation 🙂
Today we did a fun class on microwaving anything we could get out hands on.
The simple lightbulb was by far the most impressive.
I’ll try it again after midterm and hopefully video it.
I was browsing the award-winning St. Colomba’s College English Department blog (see blogroll on the right) and came across the school’s excellent Science Site.
This in turn led to a link to their Transition Year Nanotechnology competition project, which consisted of a fictional website of a hospital set in 2027, detailing the role of nanotechnology in their treatment centres.
Wonderful stuff, deserved more publicity (or did that pass me by?).
SCC appear to be setting the standard in relation to incorporation of ICT in schools, and are giving a presentation at the CESI conference this Friday. Looking forward to it.
Watch as a baby buffalo is caught in the jaws of four lions, then acts as the rope in a tug of war between the lions and some crocs, and finally gets rescued by her extended family.
Simply amazing
Was I the only one rooting for the lions?
I say that a baby lion is cuter than a baby buffalo and on that faultless logic I won’t sleep tonight for worrying about what happened to the lions.
They have to eat too you know.
There are of course some who would suggest that animals getting eaten alive is the sort of thing that goes on every day when Disney isn’t around.
We have a name for these nasty people – we call them scientists.
In an ideal world they are responsible for seperating fact from that which we wish to be true.
Here endeth my sermon.
Go in peace.
🙂
You’re in a car going forward at 100 km/hr. You’re finished with your (glass) bottle of lucozade and naturally you just want to get rid of it by throwing it out the window. But you’re not a complete muppet; you would prefer if the bottle didn’t actully break upon impact.
So in what direction and at what speed should you throw the bottle?
Hint: Scroll forward to 3 minutes 50 seconds of this cool, cool video (unfortunately this site doesn’t seem to accept video embedding from this site).
Now I know that videos are no substitution for the real thing, but I think in this instance we can make an exception.
Here’s another nice idea for generating electricity; ideal for Scifest or Young Scientist project if only to investigate its feasability.
“The students’ test case . . . was a prototype stool that exploits the passive act of sitting to generate power. The weight of the body on the seat causes a flywheel to spin, which powers a dynamo that, in turn, lights four LEDs.
“People tended to be delighted by sitting on the stool and would get up and down repeatedly,” recalls Graham.
The Crowd Farm is not intended for home use. According to Graham and Jusczyk, a single human step can only power two 60W light bulbs for one flickering second. But get a crowd in motion, multiply that single step by 28,527 steps, for example, and the result is enough energy to power a moving train for one second. “
I’m not tech guru, and I’m still at the bottom of a very steep learning curve when it comes to incorporating ICT into my lessons, but I can’t help feeling a little dismayed whenever I hear people who should know better warn about the dangers of internet usage to the point where you imagine they would prefer if the damn thing had never been invented.
So it was nice to come across details of a video competetion from the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner
“This competition should get entrants thinking about their privacy by considering :·Advantages / disadvantages of the growing use of technology as a means to recording personal information including the use of Biometrics·The security that CCTV brings Vs possible invasion of privacy·Use of RFID (radio frequency identification tags) on products ·Social networking and the electronic footprints we leave behind·Are we evolving into a ‘Big Brother’ environment as depicted in George Orwells ‘1984’?
·What is the line between legitimate gathering of information and a surveillance society? “
Maybe I’m biased but it seems to be slanted slightly towards the “Beware the hooded monster” side of the argument.
It’s not going to change public opinion or anything, but it’s a nice start, particulary if it engages students. Nice prizes too.
Nice idea.
Publicise an interesting and topical lecture/talk/discussion with a particular science slant, host it in an informal setting and encourage the public to attend and contribute free of charge.
“Cafe Scientifique is a forum for debating science issues, not a shop window for science. We are committed to promoting public engagement with science and to making science accountable.” From The Alchemist Cafe Dublin
Or join their mailing list to get notified of upcoming events (usually monthly).
Why Ozymandias?
Obviously it’s one of my favourite poems. I am always reminded of the final scene from Planet of the Apes where Taylor comes across the upper half of the Statue of Liberty buried in the sand.
You maniacs! You blew it up! Damn you! Goddamn you all to hell!
No matter how important I think I am,
No matter how important we think this civilisation is,
No matter how important we think the human species is,
No matter how important we think the planet Earth is,
In the grand scheme of things we are only here for a very short time.
Let’s make the most of it.
The central theme of Ozymandias is mankind’s hubris. In fourteen short lines, Shelley condenses the history of not only Ozymandias’ rise, peak, and fall, but also that of an entire civilization. Without directly stating it, Shelley shows that all works of humankind – including power structures and governments -eventually must pass into history, no matter how permanent they may seem at the apex of their influence. Ozymandias’ short-sighted pride seems amusing at first – until the reader realizes that the lessons conveyed are equally applicable today. All things must pass. From Wikipedia
I like this website for poetry because it includes readers’ comments which are educational in themselves. I’m sure there are other such sites out there – if you know of any you would recommend please let us know.
Think for Yourself 