Coulombs Law

Measure the charge on two polystyrene balls with a coulomb meter, then bring them together and measure the change in force on the balance. The students had seen like charges repelling before, but this was the first time they had been able to measure this.

 

Vortex Mixer

 

Dissolving foods in water can be extremely difficult, and then it is hard for the students to get an accurate answer. Using a vortex mixer makes the food easier to dissolve and gives more accurate results.

Explain

 There are many key and command words found in the exam questions for all boards and all subjects. Teaching the students what to do with each keyword is vital to help them get full marks.

Building a working full adder circuit

Creating our own full adder circuit using AND XOR and OR gates to understand how computers work.

 

Life cycle assessments

 Which has the best life cycle assessment?  Do plastic bags or paper do the most environmental damage? The students were horrified that the plastic bag was more environmentally friendly. This sparked a tremendous environmental debate on how to make better paper bags or an alternative.

Wireless Thermometers

 The @pascoscientific thermometers are probably one of the most useful items of kit that we have. Used virtually every day in one experiment or another, they are more unbreakable than the glass analogue ones, and the students can read the values. What is there not to like.

Solving Quadratics

 Solving Quadratics using the formula on paper as a surd and then converting the answer to a decimal in the calculator, using the formula typed into the calculator, or using the polynomial solver. I teach all three and let the students decide the most appropriate to use when needed.