Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Toys For Science Teachers

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the in-my-day-we-didn't-have-"science" dept.

Science teachers from around the U.S. get together to discuss curricula and of course to be pitched by purveyors of classroom goodies. Gary points to this "photographic tour of this past weekend's convention. Palm demonstrated a science module and software that turns a Palm computer into a data logging and graphing machine. 33 color photos in all!" I'd like one of those USB-connected Intel microscopes, and a large barrel of LEDs ...

3 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. Nifty toys but... by Thalia · · Score: 5
    Although all of these toys are very cool (some cooler than others, I'll admit), very few school districts will spring for more science toys. In fact, science teachers spend on the order of $400/year on toys/classroom equipment, and such.

    Given the local advocacy of science teachers, you should put your money where your mouth is, and donate school supplies to teachers. What the heck, search for science teachers, and give them only science toys! The site is TrueGift a charity that simply takes gift lists from teachers are tries to find donors to provide the basic necessities.

    Thalia

  2. Re:The Discovery Store by SydBarrett · · Score: 3

    The Discovery Store is cool, but is way overpriced for most stuff. What you really want is American Science and Surplus:

    www.sciplus.com

    They also have lots of cheap toys, usally much cheaper than places like Archie McPhee, including a complete collection of slime and glow-in-the-dark toys.

  3. Cheap Experiments by skwang · · Score: 3

    While this convention shows off the newest and coolest gadgets, education budgets are shrinking. I for one would rather see people develop inexpensive experiments for high schools that would allow students to learn science for a smaller price tag; it's win/win (except for the people who sell the cool gadgets...)

    (story)

    The other night my friend presented a neat toy he constructed, basically a Laser pen imbedded in a old Nintendo Zapper Light Gun. The trigger switch would trigger the laser. After playing with it for a while, someone suggested that we measure the wavelength of the light. Usually this lab is done with a diffraction grating. The laser beam is shined through the grating to produce a pattern on the wall. By measuring the pattern, the distance to the wall, and the width of the slits one can determine the wavelength of the laser beam. Usually, high schools have expensive He-Ne lasers and manufactured diffraction gratings; we had none of those things. It dawned on us that the opposite of a diffraction grating gives the opposite pattern against the wall. Since you get a interference pattern from a single narrow slit (see a physics text on why), we took the opposite of a single slit: a long, thin item. We eventually settled on a single staple and a .5 mm piece of (mechanical) pencil lead.

    The result was the wavelength of the laser pen was about 750nm +/- 120nm. We suspect the laser pen is a cheap He-Ne laser with a (defined) wavelength of 632nm.

    (/story)

    The point is that we preformed a simple experiment with a significant amount of scientific value for about $20 ($15 for the laser; staples, pencil lead, ruler, etc. are all "free"). For a high school, this kind of experiment would be much more rewarding to the students that plugging things into calculators or Palm and churning out results. A science department could spend a minimal amount of money on laser pens (the $15 ones are good enough) and perform what my friends and I did. Rulers, pencil lead, and clamps are all equipment the school should already have.

    As education budgets shrink, the experiment like the one above is a good example of what science can be done without a lot of money or without a lot of toys.