• Roller Coaster Project

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  • Geodesic Domes-STEM Project

    Geodesic Domes

    What's the strongest dome you can build out of newspaper?

    You have likely seen the Geodesic dome structures used in Architecture. Spaceship Earth at Disney’s’ Epcot Center in Florida and Biosphere 2 in Tucson, Arizona are two examples. The basic dome or sphere is an efficient shape since it encloses the most volume with the least surface.

    A Geodesic Dome is a sphere shape created from Interlocking triangles to provide maximum structural strength. The Geodesic Dome’s strength is due to the fact that the triangles are very stable shapes. It is very difficult to distort a triangle because compression at one joint is balanced by Tension along the opposite side. The Geodesic Dome design distributes the loads over all different Triangles that comprise it.

    You can build a giant geodesic dome out of newspaper. First, gather some friends or family members to help you.

    What You Will Need
    • many newspapers
    • masking tape
    • measuring tape
    • markers, glitter, beads, and glue for decorating

    Make a Prediction
    Predict how many magazines you think your newspaper dome will be able to support.

    Try It Out
     1. Stack three flat sheets of newspaper together. Starting in one corner, roll the sheets up together as tightly as you can to form a tube. When you reach the other corner, tape the tube to keep it from unrolling. Repeat until you have 65 tubes.
    2. Now cut down the tubes to make 35 "longs" and 30 "shorts." Longs: Cut off both ends of a tube until it is 71 centimeters long. Use this tube as a model to create 34 more longs. Be sure to mark all the longs clearly in some way, such as with colored tape, so you can tell them apart from the shorts. Decorate the tubes if you like. Shorts: Cut off both ends of another tube until it is 66 cm long. Use this tube as a model to create 29 more shorts. Decorate the tubes if you like.
    3. First, tape 10 longs together to make the base of the dome.
    4. Tape a long and a short to each joint. Arrange them so that there are two longs next to each other, followed by two shorts, and so on, as shown.

    5. Tape the tops of two adjacent shorts together to make a triangle. Tape the next two longs together, and so on all the way around.

    6. Connect the tops of these new triangles with a row of shorts. (The dome will start curving inward.)

    7. At each joint where four shorts come together, tape another short sticking straight up. Connect this short to the joints on either side with longs, forming new triangles.
    8. Connect the tops of these new triangles
    with a row of longs.

    9. Finally, add the last five shorts so that they meet at a single point in the center of the dome. (You might need to stand inside the dome to tape them together.) To test your dome's strength, see how many magazines you can load on top.


    Explain It
    How strong is your dome? Did the results surprise you? Why or why not? What was the hardest part about creating the dome?

    Build on It
    How could you make your dome stronger without interrupting the space underneath it? Make a prediction and test it.

    5 Grades at Stake!

    1.       Research, Design and Planning
    2.       Time Management/Performance

    3.       Conclusion and Reflection

    4.       IB application 

    5.       Presentation
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  • Cooking with Chemistry Project

    To observe the differences between Physical and Chemcial Changes what else can be a better lab than Cooking Chemistry Lab.
    You will have food to eat at the end !
     
    Instructions:
     
    1. Research and register your project and group members with your teacher.
    2. After getting your project approved, plan and devide materials and jobs among your group members.
    3. Bring the required supplies, including serving utensils (if not available in class).
    4. Donot bring under or over the required amounts.
    5. You have only one class period to cook, eat and clean after you are done. Manage your time accordingly as no extra time can be provided.

    Cooking with Chemistry

    Cooking with Chemistry is a fun one-day hands-on project. Visit the link: http://www.chymist.com/cooking.html and research on given topics on this page ONLY to select a project for your group.

    Read this first s Safety comes first! Safety with Food Chemistry Experiments

    Butter:

    Candy Making:

    Lollipops

    Caramels Recipes for both vanilla and chocolate caramels.

    Caramel Corn with a method for making microwave popcorn in a plain paper bag

    Gummy Candy Make your own gummy candy. Two variations.

    Pop Rocks Make a fizzy candy.

    Tootsie Rolls Make Tootsie Rolls

    Rock Candy (crystalized sugar) Grow your own edible sugar crystals.

    Reference for the chemistry of candy making:

    Edwards, W. P., The Science of Sugar Confectionery, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, UK, 2000.

    Books for candy making:

    Gehring, Abigail R., Classic Candy, Skyhorse Publishing, New York, NY, 2013.

    Kendrick, Ruth A. and Pauline H. Atkinson, Candymaking, HP Books, 1987.

    Sharrock, Jane, Who Wants Candy, HP Books, New York, 2004.

    Wilbur, Todd, A Treasury of Top Secret Recipes, Plume, 1999.

    Look up specific recipes on the Internet. You will find multiple versions for each recipe. Read comments to help you decide which recipes, or modifications, are most likely to succeed.

    Cheese Making:

    Easy Cheese

    Mozzarella

    Peanut and Nut Butters

    Pickling:

    Zip-Lock Pickles Make barrel-type pickles in a zip-lock bag.

    Quick Pickles Pickles in about an hour using standard cucumbers

    Quick Cabbage Salad (Quick Slaw) in as little as an hour

    Potato Chips:

    Potato chips

     
    Some Reference Books on Chemistry and Cooking

    McGee, Harold, On Food and Cooking, Revised and updated edition, Scribners, 2004

    McGee, Harold, The Curious Cook, Collier Books, 1990

    Grosser, Arthur E., The Cookbook Decoder, Beaufort, 1981

    Corriher, Shirley O., Cookwise, Morrow, 1997

    Corriher, Shirley O., Bakewise, Scribner, 2008

    Rosenthal, Sylvia, and Fran Shinagel, How Cooking Works, Macmillan, 1981

    Coultate, Tom, and Jill Davies, Food, The Definitive Guide, Royal Society of Chemistry, 1994

    Beckett, Stephen T., The Science of Chocolate, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2008

    Clarke, C., The Science of Ice Cream, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2004

    Some TelevisionShows About food

    American Eats focuses on the history of American foods and cooking. It was broadcast on the History Channel in 2006. Topics included Hot Dogs, Pizza, Ice Cream, and more. Episodes are ocasionally shown on the History Channel, some are available on youtube, and on TV.com. Some episodes are available on DVD.

    Food Tech was a series broadcast on the History Channel in 2010. Host Bobby Bognar examined different meals such as Cheeseburger and Fries, Chinese Take-out, Mexican, Southern Fried, and more. Each episode traces the making of the foods that are part of the meals from farm to processing. Episodes are rerun on the History Chanel and can be found on youtube and TV.com.

    Food Factory is the "How Its Made" of food. This show appears on the Food Network in Canada. It shows how favorite foods are made from raw materials to finished products. Usually 3 or 4 foods are shown in each episode.
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  • STEM Project-Pasta Bridge

    Attached please find the instructions for STEM Project-Pasta Bridge.
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  • The Element Baby Book/Adopt an Element

     

      

       The Element Baby Book

    By Ms Bano

    Final Project due date:  ___/___/______      

     

    Introduction

    In this project you will adopt an element from the periodic table.  As a PROUD NEW PARENT of your element, you will create a baby book to remember each stage of your element’s life.  Some parts must be done on the computer and other parts are optional.  If the page says computer next to the requirements, then you must use a computer for that part.

    Requirements:

    ·       Use color

    ·        Be creative

    ·        Be neat

    ·        Spelling and grammar

    ·       Take up the space on the page

    Process

         By completing these tasks you will begin to look at the world with a whole new understanding.  Your duty as “parents” is to gain knowledge about your element and the periodic table. So, let’s get started creating your “Element Baby Book.”

     

     

     Cover Page                              4 points

    ·       Name of the element

    ·       Picture of the element

    ·       Your name

    ·       Decorative cover.

    Page 1 Birth Certificate (computer)                   10 points

    ·       Name (of the element)

    ·       Nickname (symbol)

    ·       Birth date (date element was discovered)

    ·       Birth weight (atomic mass)

    ·       Birth height (atomic number)

    ·       Race (type of element – metal, non-metal, metalloid)

    ·       Doctor (discoverer)

    ·       Gender (state of matter at room temperature)

    ·       Place of birth (country of discovery)

    ·       Personality (boiling point and melting point)

    ·       Include a border around your birth certificate

    Page 2 – Baby Picture                            3 points

    §  Draw/print a picture of a baby

    §  The baby needs to have an Bohr’s diagram on the shirt that would represent them

    §  Be sure to indicate number of protons and neutrons; and show electrons in their Energy Levels/shells.

    Page 3 – Family Photo                        3 points

    ·       Family name (name of the group it belongs to) brothers and sisters (names of the family/group members). 

    ·       Draw all the members like you did on page 2

    ·       Label each brother or sister with their name (element name) and draw their Bohr’s Diagrams on their shirts/bellies.

       Page 4 – When I grow up… (Computer)     2 points each

    ·        Career choices (what your element is used for)

    ·        Picture of career (picture of what element is  used for)

       Page 5 my favorite poem… (Computer)       2 points each

    ·        Create an acrostic poem

    ·        All lines must be in phrases that pertain to  your element

    ·        The element name should be larger than the  font of the poem.

     

    Resources

    1.                                     The periodic table in your binder or book.

    2.                                    Encyclopedias

    3.                                    Books in the Library

    4.                                    Websites (Find through, Google, bing etc):
     

    ·                                                                     Webelements

    ·                                                                     Chemical Elements; Chem4Kids

    ·                                                                    Chemicool; Periodic Table

     

     
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