Designing an Experiment

We ended the week by designing our own experiment.  Students did one and two handeded catches, closed their eyes, hopped on one foot and changed the distance.  All were careful to change only one variable, and keep the other variables constant. 

Continuing to look at experimental design, we are examining independent, dependent and constant variables.   Tomorrow we will be designing our own experiment based on our Data Toss experiment. 

 We tried to keep all of the variables constant.  Our independent variable was a one-handed or two-handed catch.  

Did Sam get hit in the face?
 

What other variables would you like to explore?

Can You Feel the Difference?

This week we are looking at variables and data as we study the nervous system. 

What is the smallest distance at which you can feel two points on the palm of your hand?

What variables do we have to consider?

Medicine Clinical Trials

This week we modeled a clinical trial.  Some students received a new "medicine" for their headache, and others received a placebo.   A few students experienced side effects, but did recover quickly.  

 

 

 

 

Did Devonte get the placebo or medicine?

Do you think you would participate in a real clinical trial?   Why or why not?

Google Glass

I just had a conversation with Andrew Vanden Heuvel, the first teacher to try out Google Glass.   He has been using them since last spring.  He teaches high school science online, and the glasses help him to make videos of real world science.    You can see some of his videos on STEMbite.  This is a picture of Mr. Vanden Heuvel at the Hadron Collider in Switzerland, teaching a physics lesson.

Although Google Glass cannot be purchased yet, do you have any ideas of how they might be used in the classroom?   Would it help you to understand science?   Let me know, and I will send the idea to him.  

Scientific Methods and Pellagra

In our unit on Studying Science Scientifically, we are studying how scientists study humans.  This video introduced us to  how Dr. Goldberger studied the disease of Pellagra.

 

Pellagra © 2008, © 1998 WGBH Educational Foundation

 

 

What do you think about Dr. Goldberger experimenting on people?   Should he experiment on himself?   Can you find more details on his experimentation with Pellagra? 

 

LADEE Launch

LADEE, NASA's newest Moon mission, will be launched from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 11:27 tonight.  You should be able to see it from parts of Stamford.  You need to look towards the south/southwest.   From Stamford, it will be low on the horizon, about 10 degrees.  (Hold your arm out straight, about one fist high).  Here is a link from the Stamford Advocate and official information from the Minotaur Rocket site. This will be the first flight for the Minotaur V rocket.   LADEE, or Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, will be studying the Moon's atmosphere.  It should be cloud free tonight, both here and in Virginia, so you should be able to see it.
On another note, the International Space Station will be flying over Stamford next week, ask me about good viewing times.

Update: It was a nice clear night for the launch, and I was able to see the rocket move across the sky from my town park.   Was anyone else able to see it?

Update: Did anyone see the viral shot of the frog caught in the launch?  How about a trade-off statement?

Saving Fred

Our first activity was "Saving Fred".  The class showed great teamwork in determining how to save Fred, and then worked to write a reproducible procedure.  In all cases Fred was saved, and we realized how important it was to include good directions and even written diagrams in our procedures.

 

Welcome to Scofield Science, 2013-2014

I am looking forward to a wonderful school year.   As you can see, I am adding to a blog that I started three years ago.   I intend to use this blog to post weekly classroom events, share current science news, and have students share their ideas about science.   Let me know how you feel about what is happening with science. 
   Students responding to posts should only use their first names or initials, parents should also respond in a similar fashion, and not use last names. You may identify yourself as Jackie's mom so we know it is a prent response.   All posts will be previewed by me before they are posted.
   Let me know what you think!