Lasers online

 Teaching all about reflection and refraction online. In the lab, we can work in a darkened room with a light source, Online, we have to use the laser in a Wave Tank using Fluorescein dye to help the green laser show up so the students can see the path of the beam of light.

Competition in plants Experiment

Comparing the growth rate of cress seeds sown 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 in a petri dish. Each day, we looked at and compared the heights of the tallest plant as they germinated and grew.. Conclusion: the best cress for eating was in the 256 as they were the tallest. Healthy eating, too.

Other things being equal, does the presence of other plants from the same species affect the growth of individual plants in a predictable fashion?

Starting Procedure:

1. Obtain a set of six petri dishes Put an inch or two of tape on each pot as a label and label each petri dish with the number and type of seeds to be planted in each plus something to identify them as yours. Use pencil as the pots will be sprayed regularly with water and left in sunlight. Ink can fade and wash away but the pencil marks should persist.
2. Fill each petri dish with cotton wool.  
3. Plant either 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 seeds in each petri dish Do your best to space them evenly over the dish
4. The plants will be watered and tended for the next several days.
5. Once the plants have germinated measure their growth at the same time each day.

Try another experiment using the same number of seeds but this time half are mustard seeds and the other half are cress. Make sure to mix them.

How do the results compare?

Normalisation

 Normalisation seems like a black art to many students, but getting the data to 3NF becomes quite easy using a stock, order and customer table. Real-world examples which many on to use in jobs in the future.

Westminster motor

 A very successful Westminster motor build with it rotating at high speed. Sometimes it just works like this. Other times, it is a struggle. Getting the commutator right is the skill and a small amount of sticky tape.

Alkali Metals Reactions

The Alkali metals are always a good start to Chemistry comparing their hardness, how fast they oxidise when exposed to air and of course their reactions with water. Lots of fun and lots of science Why are the metals stored under oil and why are they double stoppered?

 

Determining G

We went to determine G using a Lego ball drop experiment - 8.8 m/s2 and then via the @pascoscientific picket fence and lightgate. 9.81 m/s2 spot on on the second go.

 

Planning ahead

 I had a look at the new Blackmagic Camera coming out in October. I think it will be ideal for in front of the organ, so we will need a wide-angle lens for this so I decided to try out the Olympus 14-42 Lens