Winter STEM Challenges: snow, force, and balancing challenges

By: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator, Community Development & STEM, Pickaway County

snow flake project

This January students explored a variety of science and engineering principles. First, they learned more about the science of color and why snow is generally white in color, as well as engaged in hands-on activities that looked at gravity and contact and non-contact forces as well as shared in group discussions on how these forces can impact engineering and construction designs.

Why is snow white?

This is a timely winter question for our young STEMist. Having a “white” blanketed landscape is a common picturesque image conjured up during the winter months – it supports many winter activities such as sledding, snowman building, and backyard snow fort construction.

class lecture

Why is snow white?

This is a timely winter question for our young STEMist. Having a “white” blanketed landscape is a common picturesque image conjured up during the winter months – it supports many winter activities such as sledding, snowman building, and backyard snow fort construction.

The students had some probing discussions and watched a short video from our favorite online science teacher, Doug Peltz, in his ‘Mystery Doug’ video science series. The students learned that color is determined by visible light and the particular particles of objects themselves.

Photo source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color

The world is made up of many different objects that have many different combinations of atoms and molecules which vibrate at different frequencies that our eyes see as different colors. Snow is no different, it’s a collection of vibrating particles, but the way snow is made gives its particles a layering effect to consider when thinking about the answer.

Sounds complicated? First, the students considered what snow is made of – frozen water – and that water is clear, all things considered, so something happens when water freezes. Snow is made up of many different tiny pieces of ice particles and ice is not transparent or clear, it’s actually translucent. This is because ice particles are layered on top each other, and therefore, light can’t pass straight through, but is redirected in many different directions. The students took a snow making take home project to emphasize the layering translucent effect that creates a white snowflake ornament.

Photo source: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/introduction-minerals-and-rocks-under-the-microscope/content-section-0

Light is scattered and bounces off the ice crystals in the snow. The reflected light includes all the colors, which, together, looks white. In some unusual situation depending on the surrounding light sources and frequencies of objects, snow can take a hint of yellow or purplish glow color from its normal bright white color.

Moving from color science to physics and force 

What is a force?

Force is an agent which accelerates a body. The students learned a force is a push or a pull of one object on another object, but both objects have to be interacting with each other.

Image source: http://learntogethersim.blogspot.com/2017/07/what-is-force.html

Gravity is a pulling force that acts between two things (such as a person’s body and the mass of the earth) but its effect depends on the mass and distance between the objects being pulled together. It was also fascinating for the students to learn that force doesn’t produce motion necessarily, but rather adds acceleration. Additionally, all objects have a center of mass or a center of gravity that impacts movement in accordance to the laws of physics. We decided to challenge the students further by having them consider objects and people launched into outer space with the forces of physics at play.

The students applied some new physics concepts and experimented with hands-on forces and center of gravity challenges in STEM Club; forces of frictional, normal, and tension force challenges. Here’s a short video that highlights a few of our STEM Challenges.

 

 

 

 

The Science of Concrete, and Why it Matters!

By: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator, Community Development & STEM, Pickaway County

The Science of Concrete

Concrete is a composite material made from a mixture of cement, water, aggregates (such as sand or gravel), and admixtures (chemical additives). When cement comes into contact with water, it undergoes a chemical reaction called hydration, which forms a hardened paste that binds the aggregates together.

The Concrete Mixing Process

The process of mixing concrete involves combining the ingredients in the correct proportions and mixing them until a uniform consistency is achieved. The mixing process can be done manually or using a machine.

Making Concrete Stepping Stones

To make concrete stepping stones, you will need:

  • Concrete mix
  • Water
  • A mold to shape the stepping stone
  • A release agent to prevent the concrete from sticking to the mold

  • Optional: decorative aggregates, such as small rocks or shells, to add texture and visual interest

Basic process for making concrete stepping stones:

  • Prepare the mold: Before pouring in the concrete mixture, make sure the mold is clean and dry. Apply a release agent to prevent the concrete from sticking to the mold.

  • Mix the concrete: Follow the instructions on the concrete mix package to combine the correct proportions of mix and water. Mix until a uniform consistency is achieved.
  • Add decorative aggregates (optional): If desired, add small rocks, shells, or other decorative aggregates to the concrete mixture for added texture and visual interest.
  • Pour the concrete mixture into the mold: Pour the mixed concrete into the prepared mold, making sure to fill it to the top.
  • Vibrate the mold (optional): If you have a vibrating tool, such as a vibrating plate or a tamping tool, use it to vibrate the mold and eliminate any air bubbles in the concrete. If not, tap side of mold with firm finger tips for two to three minutes.
  • Allow the concrete to set: Let the concrete set and harden in the mold. This can take anywhere from a few hours to overnight, depending on the temperature and humidity.
  • Remove the stepping stone from the mold: Once the concrete has hardened, remove the stepping stone from the mold. If necessary, use a release agent to help release the stone from the mold.
  • Seal the stepping stone (optional): To protect the stepping stone from the elements and extend its lifespan, apply a concrete sealer according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

  • Seal the stepping stone (optional): To protect the stepping stone from the elements and extend its lifespan, apply a concrete sealer according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

 

Halloween Circuit Cards

By: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator, Community Development & STEM, Pickaway County

Why Understanding Simple Circuits is Important?

Basic circuit knowledge is important for many different disciplines, including engineering, physics, chemistry, and mathematics. It’s also useful knowledge around this time of year when you may need to repair a string of old holiday lights. Understanding and building simple circuits show us important concepts learned in school that can describe useful real-world systems, like devices we use every day, cell phones, light switches, Chromebooks, cars, etc.

The electric charge that flows through your house is called your electric circuit. This carries useful energy through your house that you can transform into other forms of energy to do various tasks. The US standard household circuit has an effective voltage that takes 120 volts. Volts represent the energy per unit charge. We discussed these basic building blocks of simple circuits in STEM Club this month. Our hands-on simple circuit design challenge uses 3-volt lithium batteries. Before jumping into our design challenges we’ll cover a few basic circuitry concepts and energy principles.

For the program presentation, click here.

Conservation of Energy, First Law of Thermodynamics

The conservation of energy principle was discovered and published by Julius Robert von Mayer in 1842. Mayer was a German physician, chemist, and physicist and one of the founders of thermodynamics. However, there were many others working in the field that made significant contributions, such as James Prescott Joule, Hermann von Helmholtz,  Alessandro Volta, and Benjamin Thomson.

The principle of conservation of energy is an effective tool in solving problems and understanding how different forms of energy directly impact our lives. There are also benefits to this principle. These include recycling of materials, lower energy costs for consumers, less pollution due to a reduction in the use of fossil fuels, and less harm to animals and the environment. We watched a short video, from Two Minute Classroom, that explained the basic concepts of how energy transforms itself into other forms and never truly disappears or is destroyed.

Below are 10 common types of energy:

Image source: https://www.thoughtco.com/main-energy-forms-and-examples-609254

Atoms and Electrons

Students learned the basic concepts of atoms and electrons, because, without the flow of electrons, we have no electric circuit to work with. They also learned the chemistry of a battery and how chemical reactions occur inside the battery that causes an imbalance or a build-up of electrons (-) on one side of the battery over the other, hence why one side or one terminal of the battery is negative (-) and the other positive (+). We also introduced the basic materials for our hands-on design challenges and explain how a battery works.

Screenshot from our virtual simple circuit presentation.

How a Battery Works

Batteries are important to everyday life. Batteries are essential to most electrical devices. They exist in our cars, cell phones, laptops, and other electronic appliances, and serve as critical backup sources of electricity in telecommunications, public transportation, and medical devices. A battery is essentially a container full of chemicals that produce electrons (-). Inside the battery itself, a chemical reaction produces electrons.

The battery is a device that stores chemical energy and converts it to electrical energy. The chemical reactions in a battery involve the flow of electrons from one material (electrode) to another, through an external circuit. The flow of electrons provides an electric current that can be used to do work. In our case, students use copper tape to build a paper circuit to create light energy with an LED. Below depicts the inner wors of a battery.

Screenshot of how a battery works from our virtual simple circuit presentation.

The students learned that a battery has three main parts: an anode (-), a cathode (+), and the electrolyte that separates the two terminal ends of the battery. We discussed the chemical reaction happening inside the battery that causes electrons (-) to build up on one side of the battery causing one end to be negatively charged (-) and the other end positively charged (+). This buildup causes an imbalance of electrons (-), that want to travel to the other side of the battery, but can’t move freely until a conductive circuit is completely looped for the electrons to travel through; in our case, the conduit is copper tape.

When a circuit is complete, or a loop created, the electrons will flow through the conductive paths racing to reach the other side of the battery terminal. When the electrons flow through the loop, the chemical energy inside the battery is transformed into electrical energy running through the circuit. When all electrons (-) make it to the other side, the battery stops working. All of the electric energy was transformed into other forms of energy.

Electrical energy allows us to do work by transforming energy into other forms. We use LEDs in our paper circuit design challenge because it’s a simple way to show how electric energy is transformed or converted into light energy. We could replace the LED with a simple motor and the motor would convert electrical energy into kinetic.

Screenshot of simple circuit components and electricity concepts from our virtual simple circuit presentation.

Image source: https://diotlabs.daraghbyrne.me/docs/controlling-outputs-motors/diodes/

A motor does not have a diode, therefore current can flow in either direction, and depending on how the motor is connected to the battery will decide what direction the motor turns left/right, or moves forwards/backward.

Image source: https://www.robotroom.com/DPDT-Bidirectional-Motor-Switch.html

 

Supply List

  • LED
  • Conductive copper tape
  • Plain card stock, or templates printed on card stock
  • 3-V coin cell battery
  • Tape (not included)
  • Binder Clip

Other useful items: multicolor/print card stock, glue sticks, scissors, pencils, and markers. Once you start learning the basics of paper circuit design you can explore more crafty designs to create circuit cards for all occasions and topics.

Inside the Flashlight: a hand-on simple circuit build challenge

By: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator

Homemade LED Flashlight

Homemade LED Flashlight

This year’s STEM Club started by welcoming guest educators Dr. Betty Lise Anderson and her college student STEM mentors from OSU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). Dr. Anderson runs a popular ECE outreach program that helps K-12 students, and their teachers explore electrical and computer engineering concepts with a variety of hands-on electrical projects.

Dr. Anderson leading a simple circuit LED Flashlight build lesson.

Dr. Anderson, OSU ECE, leading a simple circuit LED Flashlight build lesson.

Her program is specifically designed to encourage students toward STEM fields and to specifically increase the number of women and minorities in engineering. The program won Ohio State’s top university-wide Outreach Award.

Students building their LED Flashlights

Students building their LED Flashlights

Dr. Anderson led elementary students in exploring new electrical components concepts and how to read an electrical schematic. Students then were better able to understand how these components work together to create a circuit. After a brief learning lesson the students engaged in building a LED flashlight (take home project).

Judy Walley supporting students in their LED Flashlight build challenge.

Judy Walley, Teays Valley High School Chemistry Teacher, supporting students in their LED Flashlight build challenge.

The challenge involved basic materials, an cardboard box, copper wire, a battery, a resister, a LED (light omitting diode), and a switch.

Inside the Flash Light

Teays Valley High School Student Mentor

High school mentors helping elementary students through their challenge and support them in their learning careers.

Pictured above are two Teays Valley High School mentors helping elementary students through their challenge and support them in their learning careers; Kalya Marks (left center) and Taylor Strawswer (right).

The program also involves over a dozen high school mentor students that assist with club activities while themselves gaining both soft and technical skills, leadership, community service, and college/career exploration opportunities.

Student showing off LED Flashlight completed project.

Student showing off completed LED Flashlight project. High school mentor, Kayla Marks, pictured above with elementary students.

Elementary STEM Club: Lottery Application NOW CLOSED for 2024-25

OSU Extension Pickaway County and Teays Valley School District have partnered to bring an after-school elementary-wide STEM Club. The club meetings are held approximately one to two times per month from 3:30-5:00 p.m. The educators rotate through the four elementary buildings each month. Application deadline: Friday, August 30, 2024!

Participation will be limited to 25 students per building, and open to 4th and 5th graders. Acceptance in the after-school program will be an application-based lottery. There will be a $30 fee for the year, only pay after you receive email acceptance into the program. (Financial hardship waivers are available.)

Visit our STEM Club blog https://u.osu.edu/tvstemclub/. This website will have club highlights, activity summaries, and access to the STEM Club calendar for your student’s STEM Club meetings.

The goal of the program is to promote and spark STEM interests in each of the elementary schools. This program is considered an extension of the school day. Participants will be engaged in hands-on STEM activities and learn about careers in STEM. A hand full of high school student-mentors join our club meetings to assist with club activities and gain hard and soft skills.

Students who may enjoy STEM clubs are those who enjoy being challenged and who are interested in:

  • the fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering, math)
  • the process of learning, asking questions and problem-solving
  • helping people and making a difference in the world

If your child is interested in participating in the lottery visit the STEM Club Blog site for information and complete the application. THE LAST THREE QUESTIONS are to be answered by the interested elementary student.

Applications must be submitted online by the end of the school day, Friday, September 8th. NO LATE APPLICATIONS BECAUSE IT IS A LOTTERY! Notification of acceptance/non-acceptance will be sent by email. This is how we primarily communicate with parents throughout the year as well as posting to STEM Club Blog, u.osu.edu/tvstemclub/.

Tentative Club Dates per Building:

(STEM Club meeting dates are subject to change. In the event of school cancellation, the club will be canceled, NOT rescheduled.)

Heart Health and Wearable Tech

By: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator

In STEM Club, we stress the importance of multidisciplinary learning and problem-solving by allowing students to engage in hands-on STEM challenges. Remember, it takes more than one subject to solve real-world problems. It’s also important to stress a lifelong learning mode where the body and mind are working together. A healthy active mind requires a healthy active body; the two systems work and support each other.

Click on the presentation link below to rewatch the Heart and Circulatory videos watched during STEM Club, https://prezi.com/p/2gqjunmwk9mg/?present=1.

This unit focused on heart health, the circulatory system, the respiratory system, and how wearable tech helps people monitor their heart health, activity levels, and sleep cycles to contribute to a higher quality of life and well-being.

Students learn about the heart, the circulation system, and the respiratory system.

Heart Health

The heart is at the center of our blood delivery system and is therefore central to life and how our body works. The students learned about the anatomy of the heart, a muscle that beats 100,000 times per day in our chests’.

The heart pumps 5-6 quarts of blood each minute through 60,000 miles of blood vessels in our body. If we laid those blood vessels end to end, we could wrap them around Earth two and a half times. That is an incredible factoid to appreciate and hopefully cause the students to want to learn more about our complex human anatomy. Because of our body’s complexity, the students learn that we study the body by its systems. This STEM unit introduced two systems, the circulatory and the respiratory systems, and explained how they work together with the heart.

Source: http://www.sciencebook.dkonline.com/48.html

Wearable Technology

The second half of this unit focused on how wearable tech helps people monitor their heart health, activity levels, and sleep cycles. Wearable technology is a tool to help people maintain an active lifestyle by monitoring their body functions.

Click on the presentation link to review the interactive presentation that was presented during club time. It includes helpful reminders on how to use the smartwatches and pair devices to mobile devices using an App, https://prezi.com/view/8akYElau9Dnfcy90g1pF/.

Our young STEMist learned that physical fitness matters. Our body and brain need a mix of activity and mind challenges to stay healthy. Teens need at least 60 minutes of daily activity, whereas adults can get away with 150 minutes/week! Wearable technology is growing and becoming a popular accessory for all ages. It’s estimated that in 2023 almost 35% of people in the U.S. will be wearing some form of wearable technology.

The unit brokedown wearable technology and allowed students to see and understand all the working components. The students also learned how to calculate their resting heartbeat by hand.

Each student received a smartwatch to measure their heartbeats per minute (BPM) and blood pressure through a green LED pulse sensor. The smartwatch’s tracking features include steps, distance, calories, heart rate, blood pressure, and sleep monitoring, and the ability to be paired with an App for a mobile device for additional data and tracking analysis of heart health. The students were each given a smartwatch to have and continue exploring and using.

Finally, the students engaged in different physical fitness challenges while monitoring their BPMs. Students can also pair their smartwatches with a mobile device to look at their daily, weekly, or monthly activity.  their data to a computer using free downloadable software to continue investigating their physical activity results.

Again refer to the STEM Club presentation on wearable technology for reminders on how to use smartwatches given to each student.

Learning to Code Through Connected Toys: Sphero & Texas Instruments

By: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator

Student started their New Year’s applying what they learned about binary code, algorithms, and computer programming to code connected toys and TI-Rovers through an array of challenges and obstacles. Take a minute and watch the program highlight video above.

DAY 1

Rachel Gorsuch, a Math and Data Science Teacher at Teays Valley High School and T3 Regional Instructor for Texas Instruments, visited our program to challenge students to solve open-ended problems by programming the TI-Innovator Rover, a robotic vehicle, through a maze.

Graphing calculators can open new channels for inquiry, exploration and connection as students use the built-in TI-Basic coding language or Python (on equipped handhelds) to program the TI-Innovator components. Students program rovers to put math and science in motion, adding a physical dimension to verbal, symbolic and graphic representations.

DAY 2

Students coded connected drones from Spheros, a robotics company, best known for its programmable robots and connected toys. Students coded both, Sphero RVRs and Sphero Bolt, customizable robots that can be programmed and controlled using various platforms like Scratch, Sphero Edu App, Raspberry Pi, or Arduino.

Our program used Sphero EDU free app available in both Google Play or the App Store. Sphero EDU allows users to program using block code or text.

Sphero is designed to be educational, allowing users to learn about robotics, coding, and electronics in a hands-on way. The Sphero RVR is equipped with various sensors, motors, and expansion ports, making it suitable for a wide range of projects and applications.

You can typically buy Sphero products, including Sphero RVRs, from various retailers both online and in physical stores. Some popular places to purchase Sphero robots include:

  1. Official Sphero website: The official Sphero website often offers a wide range of products directly from the manufacturer.
  2. Online retailers: Websites like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target often carry Sphero products in their inventory.
  3. Specialty robotics or educational stores: Some specialty stores focus on robotics, STEM education, or educational toys, and they may carry Sphero products.
  4. Electronics stores: Stores like Apple Stores, Fry’s Electronics, or Micro Center might have Sphero products available for purchase.

Be Creative, Keep Coding.

Benefits to Learning to Sew with an e-Sewing Circuit Challenge

By: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator

Click and watch the e-Sewing circuit program highlight video.

Benefits to Kids Learning How to Sew

Teaching children how to sew infuses many essential life skills such as problem-solving, hand-eye coordination, and patience. Sewing encourages people to use their individuality and creativity. It also can be very relaxing and provide a healthy outlet for stress and anxiety relief. Depending on the projects, sewing can expose students to different cultures or historical periods by having them learn different traditional sewing methods, technologies, styles, or pattern-making.

e-Sewing Circuit Projects

Last month the students learned how to sew while simultaneously applying their electrical skills practiced earlier in this program in a hands-on e-Sewing circuit project. Electric sewing (aka e-Sewing) projects are a great way to engage and teach students several different skills at once, including electronics, circuitry, sewing, digital fabrication, collaboration, problem-solving, coding, coordination, math, and creativity.

sewing tool box

An example of a sewing toolbox, of common tools sewers use and techniques the students learned, such as how to use a needle threader.

Sewing techniques used in the unit.

Students learned different stitching techniques, particularly the “running stitch” in their e-Sewing project. They also practiced how to thread a needle using a needle threader tool and different methods to sewing buttons.

Students practice various sewing techniques: threading a needle, sewing buttons, and a running stitch.

Future Career Exploration

Even though sewing may be thought of as being an “old-fashioned” skill, it is certainly not outdated or irrelevant. Sewing has a long history and has been a part of humanity for thousands of years and will continue to offer valuable applied skills. Sewing has evolved along the way and embraces new technologies and advances.

Combining sewing and electronics can expose students to an array of potential careers in fields, such as E-textiles, fashion technology, interactive art, product design, prototyping and invention, soft robotics, textile engineering, or wearable electronics. It broadens their understanding of the diverse applications of STEM in the real world.

Textile Technology for Soft Robotic and Autonomous Garments. Image source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/cms/asset/d2ae9cfa-b8b8-481b-b649-8a1983bbf481/adfm202008278-fig-0004-m.jpg

Success! Students show off their completed sewing projects.

Color Science, Abstract Art, and a C.S.I. Chromatography Lab Challenge

By: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator

Enjoy the program highlight video above. This past November students engaged in several hands-on activities that allowed them to learn more about chemistry by adding a little color to it.

Chemistry of Milk and Soap Molecules 

First students experimented in a rainbow milk activity where they learned first hand about how cow’s milk and soap molecules interact with each other by add food coloring to the mix to visual the reaction.

milk chemistry poster

https://i0.wp.com/www.compoundchem.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/The-chemistry-of-milk-v2.png?ssl=1

Cow’s milk contains water, fat globules, proteins, minerals, and vitamins that are spread throughout the liquid. Of this composition, fats and proteins are very sensitive to changes in the milk solution they comprise. Whereas detergent, such as dish soap is made up of anionic, non-ionic, and amphoteric surfactants.

soap chemistry poster

https://i0.wp.com/www.compoundchem.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/The-chemistry-of-a-dishwasher.png?ssl=1

Sufactants help with wetting, degreasing, and foaming in the washing processes, where as non-ionic surfactants improve the functional properties of liquids, so they act as surfactant auxiliaries.

https://melscience.com/BE-en/chemistry/experiments/colors-v2_milk/

What happens chemically with the soap molecules and the fats in the milk?

The soap’s polar, or hydrophilic (water-loving), end dissolves in water, and its hydrophobic (water-fearing) end attaches to a fat globule in the milk. The molecules of fat bend, roll, twist, and contort in all directions as the soap molecules race around to join up with the fat molecules.

 

experimenting with milk and soap

Student adding soap molecules to milk sample.

What does the term hydrophilic mean?

Well let’s break it down. The  prefix “hydro” means water and the suffix “philic” means loving. Thus hydrophilic means water-loving. A hydrophilic molecule is a molecule that can mix and interact with water.

water loving diagram

To observed this chemical interaction, we added food coloring drops into the milk, dipped a tooth pick or q-tip into dish soap and poked it into the milk and chemistry was witnessed before their very eyes.

The opposite of hydrophilic is hydrophobic, substances that repel water, “hydros” for water and “phobos” for fear.

More Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions: Creating Abstract Art by Applying Chemistry

 

abstract art

Student created abstract art by applied chemistry.

To continue reinforcing this concept of molecular play, students were lead through another chemistry experiment were they made abstract art with shaving cream, food coloring, and paper.

Soap is an interesting molecule because it has both hydrophilic and hydrophobic components, or what we call amphipathic, depicted in the image above. A soap molecule looks a bit like a snake, in which the head is polar and hydrophilic and the tail is non-polar and hydrophobic.

soap molecule diagram

https://www.themacbath.com/blog/2016/6/27/back-to-basics-what-is-soap

Shaving is a foam that is comprised of soap and air. Food color is a dye that was dissolved in water, and is therefore hydrophilic. Students added a few drops of food coloring into a tray of shaving cream. The food coloring can only interact with the hydrophilic head of the soap molecules and thus has limited mobility.

The students take advantage of this limited mobility characteristic of the shaving cream’s chemistry and take a tooth pick and swirl the drops of food coloring for a few seconds. They then take a sheet of paper and place it on top of their shaving cream and add a little pressure.

Paper is composed of cellulose with is comprised of polar hydroxyl (or oxygen and hydrogen) that make paper very hydrophilic. The food coloring which is also very hydrophilic, can spread very easily across the paper to stamp a distinct pattern from the shaving cream to the paper; similar to a printing press, but her used for abstract art printing.

Chromatography C.S.I. Lab

The students started the last experiment, by learning how science terms can be broken down and be very informative by just understanding how terminology is used. For example, the club activity used Chromatography,  chromat/o means “color” and –graphy means “the process of recording,” therefore chromatography is “the process of recording color.” The break down of science terms can be very specific and informative to learning.Just like photography is “the process of recording a light” which was the original science process behind how traditional photographs were developed.

Or take Instagram, the social media company, used a terminology naming approach to describe their social media site. Insta- means “instant” or quickly produced. Gram means “to record,” so Instagram means “to record instantly.”

Students preparing to start the C.S.I. Chromatography lab experiment.

Now back to the student run C.S.I. Lab experiment, students began lab technicians that analyzed evidence in theft case of, Who done it? The were given six different pens found in possession of six suspects and a ransom letter left by person who stole a Christmas tree.Students analyzed the evidence by studying the black ink in six different pens vs. the black ink sample found on the ransom letter. The students already were clued into what Chromatography was because they learned to how to breakdown the term. They were involved in “the process of recording color,” more specifically by separating components of the black ink samples, into two phases, stationary to mobile phases, and then compare the results against the black ink sample of the ransom letter.

Students adding black ink samples of six pens to the chromatography paper.

Chromatography paper is a powerful analytical tool. Students added the six ink samples to the paper. They allowed the paper to slowly absorb water, which in turn took the station ink sample and the ink sample and allowed it to move through the fibers of the paper into its mobile phase. This process separated the ink substance which is a low-molecular-mass and move it between its stationary phase and mobile phase.

chromatography results

Student C.S.I. lab sample comparison of ransom letter and six black ink samples collected.

The results were very conclusive and turned over to the Pickaway County’s Sheriffs Department to further inform their investigation of who stole the Christmas tree case.

Exploratory Stations: simple circuits, magnets, and Makey Makeys builds

By: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator

The short program highlights videos of the simple circuits, electrical stations, and Makey Makey exploration stations.

This month students built on their electricity skills introduced in September to better understand how electricity and magnetism are related, as well as learned about other forces that can accelerate a body, or how the center of gravity is a pulling force that acts upon two things.

A student proudly shows off their center of gravity project.

Center of Gravity

We explored balancing basics and the center of gravity. Students learned that if they support the center of gravity, the object will balance and be stable. If an object is not supported directly below its centre of gravity then the object will be unstable and topple over. Any object is more stable when the center of gravity is near the center of the base of support. Wobbler toys are another example of using physics, torque, and the center of gravity to keep toddlers entertained for hours. (1)

gravity: center-of-gravity - Students

Students had an opportunity to look at several types of balancing objects and understand how each object’s mass was distributed and how stable its center of gravity was. For example, they were able to interact with objects with different bases and structural shapes and see firsthand that a smaller base is less stable than an object with a larger base. A triangular pyramid shape is much more stable sitting on its broad base than on its point, which in turn can also serve as a resting point to balance another object because of its stability and take advantage of the upper object’s center of gravity.

A balancing toy utilizes the concepts of stability and low center of gravity. By having two heavyweights on the two sides, the toy will make the object very stable. The students learned about stable systems and how they return to their state of initial rest after disruption or being disturbed. (2)

After class-led activities, students broke into groups and rotated through simple circuits, magnets, electromagnets, Makey Makey interactive installations, and origami-making stations.

Simple Closed Loop Circuit

Electrical devices surround us every day – calculators, space heaters, remote controls, lights, cell phones, drones, electric vehicles. Students started with the voltage source such as a battery that is required to close the circuit and operate the device. As the students moved to the different stations they engaged in the science and engineering practice of making observations as they used batteries, wires, small light bulbs, and light bulb holders to explore the phenomenon of electricity and learn the difference between open and closed circuits. They also engaged in concepts of electric current, energy transfer, and electromagnets, and how circuits can be used with circuit boards and code to make more advanced electrical systems and work.

Examples of some of the simple closed-loop circuit stations and electromagnetic exploration stations.

Makey Makey Circuit Board Stations (using coding)

Makey Makey is a circuit board that you plug into your computer and in some ways acts like a keyboard. Each metal pad that you see on the Makey Makey is a conductive touchpad. The touchpad can be connected to other things in a circuit to invent and try out different design concepts. Alligator clips and a USB cable can be connected to the circuit board to complete closed-loop electrical signals to send the computer either by a keyboard stroke, or sensory touch that closes the loop. In the Makey Makey stations, depicted below, students interacted and explored a coded electrical guitar, an electrical keyboard, and an interactive educational poster on butterflies. Makey Makeys are powerful tools for youth to use for prototype electrical ideas for more advanced designs and projects.

Pictures Makey Makey coded projects that used Scratch and a Makey Makey circuit poster-coded program that the educator prerecorded sound bits and GIF images into for the circuit to play when closed.

Engineering Connection

Electrical engineers design the circuits and batteries that are in the devices and appliances that we use every day. Circuits can be found in music players, computers, video games, appliances, microwaves, phones, televisions, cameras, medical equipment, vehicles, and many more products. Engineers take seriously the responsibility of designing circuits that work dependably and safely. While new devices are constantly being developed around the world, engineers strive to create safer, more efficient products that ultimately help improve people’s lives.

1 Balance basics. Science World. (2022, June 9). https://www.scienceworld.ca/resource/balance-baseics/#:~:text=If%20you%20support%20the%20centre,of%20the%20base%20of%20support.

2 Evantoh. (2023, October 20). Evan’s space. Evan’s Space. https://evantoh23.wordpress.com/