Investigating Joints

 How does the knee work? What muscles are used? What forces are involved? How can we measure those forces? Questions and investigations that get the students to think and design experiments, even those who fail are a great learning experience.

Sines and cosecants

 Sin, Cos and Tan are ok, but when we look at Secants and Cosecants the eyes glaze over and wonder what do they really mean. And it is up to me to explain and make it clear and tell the story of these mythical beasts.

Looking at Methane

 A Level Chemistry looking at Methane, its properties, why it is such a potent green house gas and how it can be added to other molecules to sequester the carbon. The @Snatoms help the students quickly try out different ideas.

Building an electric motor from scratch

There is nothing like the feeling of accomplishment when the Westminster motor starts spinning around having assembled it from bits of wire and sticky tape and a couple of magnets. Getting the commutator build correct.

 

Apple, Linux and Windows

 A Level Computing. Apple, Windows or Linux as well as Windows Servers and online platforms The students are given a choice to try out new to them operating systems to help prepare them for the real world

Are these Microscopes any good?

 

Are these digital microscopes any good? I believe yes to get the students into the macro world. They are strong and portable enough to look at mobile screens, clothes fibres, finger prints and insect wings, to excite the students into the small world around us.

Openboard

 

Online Maths teaching works quite well. Using openboard (I have found it better than other paid for versions) on the Wacom and on the Smart board means that information and examples can be freely passed around and it works well in the classroom as well.

Reacting Masses

 I was going over reacting masses and discovered that a student had never seen a crucible or even heated Magnesium Ribbon. This student is about to enter year 11. The teacher doesn't even demo experiments because they are too costly.

Resonance

 Looking at all forms of resonance in A level Physics. Investigating the useful and and harmful effects. Working out ways to stop it and in some cases increase it.

Understanding what a sine is?

 Sine functions used to be easier to comprehend when sine tables were used. Now pressing a button on a calculator doesn't mean anything, so I am using calculator graphs and online calculators to try to show what is going on and improving the students understanding.

The detective game

 Playing the detective game. Trying to identify several unknown substances. Working out the Anion and then choosing the correct order to test for all the cations. Letting the students choose the equipment and decide how to do all the experiments.

Food Tests

Trying out food test on lots of different foods that were available from the students. It was noticeable that there was a lack of fruit.

 

Building a computer

One of the best ways to learn about computers is to spec a computer and then build it. Putting the components together  and then installing an operating system gives a great sense of achievement and reinforces the learning process.

I remember the days...

 I remember the days when we could take the quadrat outside and count the number of daisies or buttercups

Ring Launcher

 The new Ring Launcher arrives, firing a ring vertically a metre into the air. This should be entertaining when having a look at electromagnetic induction. We had fun making the film yesterday.

Virtual Calculators

 When demonstrating using a calculator to the students, there are three options. Using a calculator on a visualizer, having a software version on the board, or using web programs like GeoGebra or Desmos or others. I use them all.

Silver in the light

 Investigating the effect of light on Silver Chloride. Students are amazed how photographs were made using chemicals and plates.

Coulombs law

 

Trying the look at Coulomb’s law, we got a separation of .1m and 12uC and 15uC on the balloons and gave us an idea of the force. We compared electrostatic and gravity - got 10^72

Electrostatic Force

 Measuring the electrostatic force using a charged piece of PVC on a piece of polystyrene and bring a like charged piece near it and seeing the force on the balance

Sensor Update

 Todays the day to update all the sensors, as it is a quiet day. It is a case of charging and updating the wireless @Pascoscientific sensors, Capstone and Sparkvue.

New Computing Language

 A new term, and some A level computing students are learning, a new Language C++ on a new Operating System, Linux, running on a Raspberry Pi 4 which had to be set up, is quite a challenge for the students who have only met windows and python

A level Trig

 Having some fun with sec and cosec in looking at trig functions, to try and understand what they do and how they work. Apart from A level Maths I have found no use for them but they are fun to play with.

Getting to the root of the matter

 Learning skills in science is as important as learning facts. We have been practicing fixing root cells to look at mitosis. What the students have leant is just preparing a slide well doesn't mean it will show the things they want to see.

Titrations

Achieving the end point of a titration is one if the hardest things to do I think in chemistry. It does take lots of practice to do this, so instead of doing this experiment once we did it 20 or so times. Know the students are excellent at doing titrations.

Magnetic Fields

 Comparing the magnetic fields to the electric fields around wires as the A level students learn how electricity really works, in fields not by the drifting of electrons.

Making electric fields

 Take a dash of semolina in some olive oil, then add a few volts from a wimshurst machine into two parallel wires and we have an electric field

Maths - revealing the solution

 Revealing the solution one line at a time to show the students how to solve the problem. Their only complaint that I reveal the answer just after they have done that bit. At least they know they are correct so far

Simple Harmonic Motion

Playing with my favourite topic simple harmonic motion today, using a
@pascoscientific force sensor at the top and a protected ultrasonic motion detector below

 

Mounting a force sensor

 We use a Manfrotto friction arm with a lighting stand adaptor to mount the @pascoscientic  force sensor as it gives a degree of movement both vertically and laterally to get the force sensor in the correct position

More capillary rise

 After a significant amount of searching I managed to find a much better capillary rise apparatus. As usual its more expensive but that is the way of all science equipment.

CBA

 CBA  I just Can't Be Asked to balance equations - Summer revision classes for year 10 students who seemed to have missed lots of year 10 chemistry.