Resources

Here is a collection of resources and ideas that I have developed and collected..
Note that this page is most definately under construction.

Science

Cling Film - how does it work?
Not by static electricity but by a thin film of oil.
If you think about it, if static electricity was the clinging force, if a sheet folded in on itself, it should repel. Also, if you have seen the Van der Graaff generator experiments, the charge would leak and the film unstick itself if you hold the film with one hand and touched a tap with the other - which it does not.

Forces on a Moving Object (Lesson Introduction)
Taken from Osborne & Freyberg's "Learning in Science". Take one juggling ball, at the start of the class just walk around tossing it up into the air. After a short while draw a table on the board (Fig 4.2 in Osborne & Freyberg), or have it prepared (OHT!). Get the students to put hands up as you go through the pictures.
After a short discussion on what is happening to the ball, go through the questions again.
I did this, and of those that got it wrong initially, changed their minds without me having to actually tell them the answer!
Angular Momentum (Demonstration)
How to show angular momentum when you cannot bring bring a handy dandy merry-go-round into the classroom. Required - one metal "kid's" slinky (ie from the 1-2-3 dollar shop). Garden ties (or bits of string), or sellotape.
Say you are a rich teacher with two identical slinkys, bind one slinky so it cannot expand.
Throw bound slinky into the air, putting a bit of a spin on it so it spins end over end. You can get a few rotations on it before you have to catch it.
Throw the loose slinky into the air the same way - you will be lucky to get more than one rotation out of it.
The loose one will spread out with two clumps at each end, slowing it's rotation down. The central part of the slinky will be stretched out.
Try it out - try to spin the loose slinky as fast as possible.

Mountain Folding (Demonstration)
To show how folds happen in rocks. Required - one jumper and two students. Get the students on opposite sides of the jumper and get them to push towards each other - the jumper folds nicely. Used to show how rocks fold and trap oil, gas, and water.
To test for the next time, I will pile several jumpers on top of each other, and see what happens.
Faulting and Earthquakes (Demonstration)
To show faulting in action. Required - two tables and four students. If you have a lab with fixed benches - tough! Put the two table together, and get the students on opposite sides (two on each desk).
Explain that the desks are two great big ginourmous (a scientific technical term) blocks of rock, and the students are the tectonic forces.
First get them to push directly at each other. Nothing happens apart from some pushing and shoving.
Next get them to aim at an angle, the desks should start to slide/jerk past each other. This is faulting in action.
Not tried but maybe worth a go, is to attached sandpaper along the contact edges, and or use oil to change the friction.

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