Join one of Canada’s best-known science journalists on November 22nd when the host of CBC’s Quirks & Quarks….http://thevic.ca/item/quirks-and-quarks

For more info about Bob McDonald’s CBC Radio show, visit here: http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/host/.  Bob’s Book is entitled:

 Measuring the Earth with a Stick: Science as I’ve seen it:

http://www.kidsbooks.ca/The-Quirks-&-Quarks-Guide-to-Space/Product.aspx?ProductID=121009&DeptID=0

http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/books/

His book, which was short-listed for the Canadian Science Writers Association Book Award, is a collection of essays reflecting on his 25 years as a science journalist.  Bob also hosted and wrote a children’s TV science series, Heads Up!, which ran for 3 seasons on TVO and the Knowledge Network. In addition, he is Chairman of the Board for Geospace Planetarium.  Here is Bob’s Science Blog:  http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/host/

For info on Our Awesome Science Learning Lesson Plans, Games and Activities, feel free to visit here:

http://www.science-lessons.ca/lesson-plans/index.html

http://www.science-lessons.ca/games/brain.html

www.butterflybooks.ca

]]> http://www.science-lessons.ca/scientist-bob-mcdonald-victoria-bc-november-22nd/feed/ 0 http://www.science-lessons.ca/growing-crystals/ http://www.science-lessons.ca/growing-crystals/#respond Tue, 03 Sep 2013 00:23:34 +0000 http://www.science-lessons.ca/blog/?p=1694 A crystal is a special type of solid where the particles are arranged in an orderly and repeating pattern. When solids are dissolved in water, they form a solution, like when salt and water mix. As particles dissolve in water, the particles of the solid separate and distribute evenly throughout the mixture. Sometimes two dissolved particles move closer to each other and begin to attract, causing them to stick together. Over time more and more particles attach to the growing solid and “drop out of the solution”. The solid formed is a special compound called a crystal.

In this activity students will explore how crystals are made.

Materials:

Measuring cups (1/2 cup)
Tablespoons
Alum (spice can be found at grocery store)

Instructions:

1. Add ½ cup of hot water to 2 ½ tablespoons of alum.
2. Crystals will form within 30 minutes.
3. Want bigger crystals add more alum to the water.

How It Works:

When the alum and water mix, the alum begins to accumulate in clusters and as the warm water evaporates, it leaves the lumped crystals behind. The alum forms not just a solid, but a solid with a repeating pattern, making a crystal.

Discussion Questions to Ask:

• How did were the crystals made?
• What characteristics do the crystals have?

There are many places where crystals grow in nature, like ice crystals are often formed in the winter, in colder climates as the liquid molecules freeze. Also in caverns, there are stalagmites and stalactites that are crystals of calcium carbonate. When teaching concepts like crystals, young students may become bored as the formation of the crystal may take longer than one class period. To keep the students’ attention, incorporate crystals-related activities in other areas, i.e. math (counting or matching crystals), art, geography (where do crystals form in nature), even in physical education (students can pretend to be frozen crystals and play tag). It is best to start this activity and others that take more than one day on a Friday, that way when the students return on Monday the process is complete. For other science teaching tips related to crystals, visit: http://bit.ly/10l3FXy

And for other Fun Learning Science Games, we invite you to visit here:

http://www.science-lessons.ca/games/ocean.html

http://www.science-lessons.ca/games/space.html

http://www.science-lessons.ca/games/brain.html

 http://www.literature-enrichment.com/

The following is a very cool animation video clip demonstrating the geometrics of the Schumann Resonance of Mother Earth:  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Schumann_resonance_animation.ogv.  By way of transverse and longitudinal waves, Tesla researched ways to transmit wireless power and energy over long distances. He transmitted extremely low frequencies through the ground, and between the Earth’s surface and the Kennelly-Heaviside layer. By this path, he received patents on wireless transmitters that developed standing waves. Through his math experiments, he discovered that the resonant frequency of the Earth was approximately 8 Hertz.

In 1952–1954 Schumann and scientist H. L. König, attempted to measure the resonant frequencies. These researchers confirmed in mid-century, that the resonant frequency of the Earth’s cavity was indeed in this range and later named the Schumann resonance.  Since then, there has been an increasing interest in SRF in many fields of study.

For tracking weather patterns across the globe, observations of Schumann resonances document record keeping of lightning activity. The Earth’s climate and Her connection with lightning activity also show global temperature and water vapor in the upper troposphere. Scientists speculate that extraterrestrial lightning (i.e. lightning on other planets) is also observed by the Schumann resonance signatures. The Schumann resonance is also used in study of the lower ionosphere for exploration on celestial stars. Within our Solar System, there are five candidates for Schumann resonance detection besides the Earth: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and its moon Titan.  The latest usage of observing Schumann patterns have been in predicting potential earthquakes.

According to metaphysician and scientist, Gregg Braden, the Schumann Resonance Frequency of Mother Earth has been steadily rising and will continue to until the end of 2012.  www.2012.com.au/SchumannResonance.html.

The SRF’s occur at several frequencies between 6 and 50 cycles per second; specifically 7.8, 14, 20, 26, 33, 39 and 45 Hertz, with a daily variation of about +/- 0.5 Hertz. As long as the properties of Earth’s electromagnetic cavity remains relatively the same, these frequencies remain the same.  Braden says that “time” appears to speed up as we approach what he calls Zero Point Phenomenon. For example, one 24 hour day seems not 24 hours, but rather about 16 hours or less.

Schumann Resonance is also known as The Heart Beat of Mother Earth.  It has been 7.8 cycles for thousands of years, but has been rising since 1980. Presently it is about 12 / 13 cycles. It stops at 13 cycles and is speculated to come to a complete stop on December 21, 2012, the end of what is known also, of the Mayan Calendar, and the mark of the beginning of a new cycle of consciousness on Mother Earth.

For fun Affordable Learning Games  Teaching Elementary Science in and outdoors of the classroom visit here:  http://www.science-lessons.ca/games/weather3.html

http://www.science-lessons.ca/games/weatherbingo4.html

http://www.science-lessons.ca/games/weather8.htm.http://www.science-lessons.ca/games/planetsbingo.html

1. Which Galaxy do we live in on Earth?

Milky Way Galaxy

2. Is our Sun considered to be a Star or a Planet?

A Star

3. When did a human being first set foot on the Moon?

1969

4. What planet is known for being Red even though its faux tv fiction inhabitants are considered to be Green?

Mars

5. What planet has the hottest temperatures of 500 degrees Celsius?  Is it red Mars?

Venus

6. What is the name of Nasa’s most popular telescope?

The Hubble

7. How old is our Solar System?

4.6 billion years old

8. How long does it take for Light from the Sun to reach our Earth?

8 minutes

9. A Solar Eclipse occurs when the “what” is between the Sun and the Earth?

The Moon

10. Comets are made of dust particles, rock particles and what?

Ice

11. The hazey glow and tail around Haley’s Comet are known as a what?

A Coma

12. The surface of Venus rages with active what?

Volcanoes

13. Scientists estimate that the extinction of dinosaurs on planet Earth was caused by what?

An Asteroid

14. How many planets does our Solar System have?

8

15. What in our Solar System used to be, but is no longer, considered to be a planet by Nasa?

Pluto

16. Who was the first human being first set foot on the Moon?

Neil Armstrong

17.  The Earth’s ocean tides are caused largely by the Moon’s pull of what?

Gravity

18. What races around Saturn at a rate of 800 km per hour?

Wind; Storm Wind

19. If you were on Jupiter, you would weight 2 and half times the weight than when you are on Earth because of the what?

Magnetic Field

20. What planet has the worst stormy weather of all the planets?

Neptune

Then try one of our Fun Games for Learning more about the Solar System:

http://www.science-lessons.ca/games/space.html

An extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, is a planet outside the Solar System.  Extrasolar planets became an object of scientific inquiry in the nineteenth century. Many astronomers supposed that they existed, but there was no way of knowing how common they were or how similar they might be to the planets of our solar system.  The first confirmed detection was made in 1992, arising interest in the possibility of extraterrestrial life.  Most of the discovered extrasolar planets lie within 300 light years of the Solar System. Regardless of the precise number of stars with planets, the total number of exoplanets must be very large. Since our own Milky Way Galaxy has at least 200 billion stars, it must also contain billions of planets – if not hundreds of billions.

Precise measurements using the Kepler space telescope have shown that the planet, named Kepler 10b, has a diameter 1.4 times that of Earth, and a mass 4.6 times higher.  Measurements of Kepler techniques using astero-seismology showed that the parent star was about eight billion years old – a grandparent among stars of its type.  Kepler techniques are similar to the study of earthquakes on the Earth.  In addition to the size of the host star, the details of the planet’s and star’s “dance” with each other, and the planet’s radius, the density of the planet can be calculated.  Geoffrey Marcy University of California Berkeley marked this as “among the most profound scientific discoveries in human history.”

Since January 11 of this year (2011), astronomers announced confirmation of 518 such planets  –  with hundreds others awaiting for confirmation pending further investigation.  Most are giant planets thought to resemble Jupiter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12158028

Kepler Mission

The Kepler Mission is a NASA space observatory designed to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars.  It was launched on 7 May 2009.  The mission spacecraft is named in honor of 17^th C astronomer Johannes Kepler.

http://www.kepler.nasa.gov/news/nasakeplernews/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=94

Most exoplanets cannot be seen directly through telescopes because bright light from the stars that they orbit drowns them out.  Instead, astronomers use a variety of indirect techniques to find them. One method is to look for tiny wobbles in stars’ positions caused by their gravitational interactions with orbiting planets.

Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630) was a key mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, in 17th century scientific revolution.  He is best known for his laws of planetary motion, later developed by later astronomers.  Kepler lived in an era when there was no clear distinction between astronomy and astrology, but there was a strong division between astronomy (a branch of mathematics within the liberal arts) and physics (a branch of natural philosophy).

Kepler also weaved religious reasoning into his work, motivated by the religious conviction that God had created the world according to an “intelligible plan that is accessible through the natural light of reason.”  Kepler described his new astronomy as “celestial physics”.  (Ref: Wikipedia: Johannes Kepler; Exoplanet, Exosolar)

For one of our Fun Learning games on the Solar System and Teaching Space:

http://www.science-lessons.ca/games/space.html

http://www.science-lessons.ca/games/planetsbingo.html

The first part of this science lesson is making a solar system using candies for planets. It doesn’t show you the true size difference but it does bring out some of the main characteristics.  The second part is about the fantasy of living somewhere within it!

Part 1:  Creating The Solar System

You can either draw your orbits on black construction paper, or a paper plate.

Sun – Butterscotch

Mercury – Orange Jujube

Venus – Nestle’s Sno Caps;

Earth – Blue Skittle;

Mars – Red Skittle;

Asteroid Belt – Candy Sprinkles;

Jupiter – Peppermint with Red Hot stuck on top;

Saturn – Lemon Drop with Twizzler wrapped around;

Uranus – Green Jujube;

Neptune – Aqua Skittle;

Pluto – Tart ‘n’ Tiny;

Sweet Tarts and Mini-M&Ms are also possibilities.  Be creative!

You can also give each student a planet and let them guess how far they would be from the sun.  Start by giving where Pluto is so they have an idea of the area; then have them measure the correct amount.

Using the web link called Exploratorium is a fun converter that can make your solar system any size:

http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system/index.html

Part 2:  Planet Postcard

Students choose their planet of preference to be from, pretend they live there, and they write to a friend describing their planet.  Some specs to write about could be the temperature, humidity index, colors of the terrain, craters, life forms.  Then instruct them to make a planet tourism advertisement where persuade people to come to their planet and visit!

Here is one of our fun games about the Solar System:

http://www.science-lessons.ca/games/space.html

Because of its rarity, it has been cut and divided to be shared amongst museums and researchers around the world.  It is now helping researchers find out more about the universe in a different time/space, the formation of minerals inside asteroids, and minerals that may match to its makeup inside the Earth.

Meteorites have been found on the Moon, on Mars, and in places where they have landed on Earth, and generally range in size from marbles to basketballs, though some are very large.  A meteorite is made by nature, originating from outer space, before it falls to and collides with the Earth’s surface, sometimes leaving a crater.  As it travels through space, atmospheric pressure causes it to heat up until it forms a fireball emitting light sparks.  In this state, it is often referred to as a shooting or falling star that if you see with the naked eye from Earth when looking up into the sky, you can make a wish upon it during its flight.  Falling meteorites have reported to cause damage to people, livestock and land, so better to wish upon it fast, and then step out of the way!

For more information on meteorites and the pallasite chunk being researched this week at the Royal Ontario Museum, you can visit these websites:

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/07/21/rom-meteorite-pallasite-saskatchewan.html

For short video:

http://www.cbc.ca/video/player.html?category=News&zone=technology&site=cbc.technology.ca&clipid=1549385557

And for a fun learning game for the solar system, you can go here:

http://www.science-lessons.ca/games/space.html

…The JPL computer model suggests that the length of the Earth day may have been shortened by 1.26 millionths of a second.  The change in the length of the day came as a result of the shift in the Earth’s axis that occurred because of the quake. The Earth’s figure axis, the imaginary line about which its mass is balanced, shifted by 2.7 milliseconds of arc, or about eight centimetres.

In the few decades since space exploration began, probes have reached the far regions of the solar system. The solar system is the group of celestial bodies, including Earth that orbits around the Milky Way galaxy. Some hundred billion stars can be found in the universe while more than 1,000 comets have been observed regularly through telescopes.
To give this topic a little twist, here are tips to have students “get it.”