Who knew you could have so much fun with scotch tape?

By Liz -
Teaching 8th grade science this year has definately tested my classroom management skills. I am constantly on the lookout for how to grab their attention and keep them engaged in the material. Who knew that all I really needed was scotch tape?? We've been studying elements, atomic structure, and bonding so in order to emphasize the idea of losing/gaining electrons and the attraction of oppositely charged ions to one another we did the following activity:

1) Take two pieces of invisible tape about 4-5 inches (10cm) long and stick them to the table with only about 1/4 of an inch sticking out over the edge (for a tab). Pull them up off of the table, one in each hand, and slowly bring them together facing each other (front-to-front or back-to-back is fine). Do they attract or repel each other? What does this mean about their charges?

2) Tape one piece of invisible tape about 4-5 inches long onto the edge of a table with a 1/4 inch tab. Stick an identical piece of tape on top of the first piece but leave 1/4 inch of it unstuck for a tab. Pull the bottom tape up so that they are still together but no longer on the table. Next pull them apart and then slowly bring the tape pieces together (they should not touch). Do they attract or repel each other?

(Come on, go find some tape and do it yourself!)
The response from the 8th graders was overwhelmingly enthusiastic as they played with their charged pieces:
"Who knew that you could have so much fun with scotch tape?"
"I went home and showed my whole family the scotch tape 'trick'; it was so cool."

You can have more fun with charges at Quarked: Adventures in a Subatomic Universe.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comfort Foods Part 2

By Liz -
This is the second dish I made from the same Real Simple article. I am not a big meatloaf fan, but the pictures looked so delicious and I am always looking for something new to do with ground turkey. This dinner was fantastic!! (Which is good, because it makes a lot for two people!) Turkey Meat Loaf 1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey (I used however much was in the package, closer to 1 pound) 1 yellow onion, chopped 1 bunch fresh spinach, thick stems removed and leaves chopped 1 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped 1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (or your favorite mustard) 1 large egg kosher salt and black pepper 1/4 cup ketchup Several button mushrooms, chopped (leftover from beef stroganoff night; not called for in the original recipe) Note: I only used 1 pound of turkey, and adjusted the amount of onion, spinach, and parsley so that it seemed about right to me. The original recipe only called for the egg white, but I used the whole egg and I think, based on the...
Read more

January Cookbook Exploration

By Liz -
Image
So, I'm off to a great start with my new year resolutions (granted, it is still the first week of January) and for my first cookbook challenge I will be exploring Simple Vegetarian Pleasures by Jeanne Lemlin. Okay, so I know that it is already clear that I love this cookbook (see earlier posts), but truly, I've had it for almost 2 years and have only made 5 recipes from it (Beer Pizza, Black Bean Chili, Orange Almond Cake, Spicy Peanut Noodles, and Nantucket Cranberry Cake). So last night I made Sweet Potato Chili and Flaky Wheat Biscuits for dinner. The chili was really good, but was so similar to the black bean chili recipe that it didn't really need its own recipe. I think in the future that I will play more with the black bean chili recipe and substitute a diced sweet potato for a can of beans from time to time. The flaky wheat biscuits were yummy and easy to make. Overall, both recipes were winners and will be included in future dinner rotations. Flaky Wheat Biscuits 1...
Read more