PASCO – End-of-Year Equipment Care
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We’re excited to announce SPARKvue is now available free of charge on all your devices as a browser-based application.
This new version of our software as a Progressive Web Application (PWA) means you have free access to all the features of SPARKvue from Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers. That’s right: No download fees, subscription fees, or update fees, even for Windows® and Mac®. Plus, the app is always updated to the latest version automatically, so you never have to worry about it.
Access SPARKvue from your Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browser from any device–online or offline–and start collecting data with three simple steps:
SPARKvue (PWA) is designed for use on laptops, computers, and Chromebooks. To download SPARKvue for your iPhone or iPad, download the free SPARKvue app on the App Store. For Android devices, get SPARKvue on Google Play. Skip to the article section, Free Apps for Android and iOS Devices, for links to download SPARKvue to your mobile device.
These free SPARKvue apps provide the complete software install so that the user experience is the same regardless of platform. Updates for these apps are handled via direct notification and installation on your device, including SPARK LX/LXi users.
Android users who do not have access to Google Play may optionally sideload the application by downloading the SPARKvue APK and following this Knowledge Base article. This includes updating SPARKvue on PASCO’s SPARK LXi/LX Dataloggers.
Existing users of SPARKvue on Windows and Mac computers may update to the latest version using the in-app update feature. Simply launch the SPARKvue application and choose “Check for Updates” from the file menu to get started.
A big thank you to everyone who stopped by our booths for this year’s science conference at AESTQ (Quebec), ATA-SC (Alberta), AST (Nova Scotia), OAPT (Ontario) and Catalyst (British Columbia). We were fortunate enough to have this opportunity to meet with some new science educators and reconnect with familiar faces – in person.
We showcased some of PASCO’s best-sellers for biology, chemistry and physics curriculum like the Greenhouse Sense and Control Kit, Smart Carts and their award winning wireless sensors.
Thank you to everyone who entered the draw! Here are our winners:
ATA-SC (Alberta): Michelle Z.
Catalyst (British Columbia): Mikala C.
AST (Nova Scotia): Laura M.
OAPT (Ontario): Ashley M-P, Allison D.
If you have any questions regarding PASCO, please feel free to reach out to pasco@ayva.ca, and one of our product specialists with get in contact with you.
Fire up that printer! Charge those devices! Brew that coffee! It’s back to school season everyone, and we’re sharing our top eight tech tips and resources to help you prep like a pro.
Most PASCO sensors and interfaces don’t require any maintenance, but a quick tune-up before school starts can help prevent surprises during class time.
Relevant Resources |
Knowledge Base: Updating Firmware for Wireless Sensors and Interfaces |
Video: Update the Firmware on a Wireless Sensor (Capstone) |
Video: Pre-lab Prep for Chromebooks (SPARKvue) |
Skip the chaos of in-class software updates by making sure your class devices are running the latest versions of SPARKvue (v4.9.1) or PASCO Capstone™ (v4.6.1) software prior to starting a lab.
SPARKvue |
PASCO Capstone™ |
Whether you use laptops, Chromebooks, or desktop computers, updating to the latest Bluetooth driver helps ensure your PASCO sensors connect reliably to classroom devices.
Check that the sensors you’ll be using this year are in working condition. Replacement parts and consumables, such as electrodes and carbon paper, can be ordered through our website or by calling us at 877-967-2726.
Replacement parts and consumables are listed on the Buying Guide tab of their respective product pages. They can also be found by using the search bar at the top of the website.
Common Consumables | Replacement Parts |
Coin Cell Battery Pack | pH Electrode |
Carbon Paper | Soaker Bottle Replacement pH/ISE (5 Pack) |
Field Mapper Kit | Replacement Cart Axles |
pH Storage Solution | Replacement Jumper Clips (Modular Circuits) |
![]() Video Library From full product guides to bite-size how-tos, the Video Library hosts a variety of media to help you maximize your PASCO solutions. |
![]() Software Help Guides Bookmark these handy software guides for quick access to answers during class time. Each guide is fully searchable, making it easy to find step-by-step solutions for most software questions. |
![]() Knowledge Base The Knowledge Base is a treasure trove of resources for your most specific product questions. It’s consistently updated by our Technical Support team and includes answers to all types of FAQs—both new and old! |
![]() PASCO Technical Support When you need personalized, step-by-step guidance, reach out to Technical Support. Our friendly team members are here to help via chat, email, or phone call during business hours. |
Over the last couple of months, AYVA Educational Solutions has been growing tomato plants from the Let’s Talk Science Tomatosphere project. In this project, you are given two unknown packets of seeds, labeled T and U. One packet of seeds have been to space, while the other has not. The purpose of this experiment is to germinate and grow the tomato plants from both packets, tracking their growth, and hypothesizing which plants are the space seeds! You can guess which ones you think are the space seeds in the survey at the bottom of this post! Submit your hypothesis and you will automatically be entered into a raffle to win a free PASCO Wireless Temperature Sensor! If you would like to find out which seeds have been to space we encourage you to participate in this fantastic program!! Sign up for your own packet of seeds here.
We used PASCO’s ST-2997 Greenhouse Sense and Control Kit to monitor and regulate conditions for optimal growth! By researching the optimal growing conditions for a tomato plant, we adjusted the levels of the greenhouse system to meet those needs.
Using Blockly, we block coded the Greenhouse conditions we desired, programming a 24 hour sunlight and watering cycle, and ensuring the temperature stayed at 23 degrees Celsius at all times. Once the code was exported into the //control.Node, we planted 3 seeds from each packet on the appropriate sides (T or U).
We tracked the growth of our plants from January 20th to March 31st, as they developed, they went from seeds to leafy plants.
After just one week of being inside the Greenhouse, three out of six seeds germinated and sprouted! As a couple more weeks went by, two more seeds sprouted. Unfortunately, one seed (on the T side) did not germinate. Overall totaling three plants on the U side, two on the T side. At this point, we hypothesized which of the seeds had been to space and which had not, and wrote down our predictions to compare to the results later on. You can share your predictions in the survey at the bottom of this post, and find out which seeds were the space seeds!
In the fourth week of growth we decided to name the plants so that they could be more easily identified, charted, and referred to. On the U side, we named the tomato plants Tennessee, Toby, and Tiny Tim. Then on the T side, we named the plants Thiara and Theodore. Tiny Tim was the smallest plant during the beginning of the growth period, while Tennessee was the largest of the seedlings. Thiara also germinated the latest of any of the seeds, excluding the one seed that never sprouted. She quickly caught up to the others though, and in the 4th week she was the 3rd tallest of them.
After 6 weeks of growth, the plants were beginning to falter as they combatted against one another for nutrients and water. To replenish what they lost, we decided to separate the plants. Three of the plants, Tennessee, Tiny Tim and Thiara were moved to their own pots. However, Toby and Theodore remained in the self-regulating greenhouse to continue identical conditions. Within days of separating the plants, they all began to look healthier as they received the nutrients and space that they needed.
Into the ninth week of the experiment, the plants are growing taller and broader. Now that they each have their own space, they are able to thrive. The featured photo on the right shows Tennessee healthy and strong! With no one contesting him for nutrients, he is tall, green and healthy. At this point, they are almost fully mature, and will be entering the flowering stage shortly. This week we decided to reveal the answer to the lingering question we had been wondering for months – which seeds had been to space? Was it Theodore and Thiara (T Side)? Or perhaps did Toby, Tiny Tim and Tennessee (U side) spend some time in space? Find out the answer below!
Shoutout to the PASCO Greenhouse, as this project could not have been as successful without it! The self-regulating greenhouse allowed us to grow the plants healthy and strong -with minimal intervention from us. We were able to germinate 5/6 seeds and maintain the ideal moisture and temperature levels for the plants to grow, even amidst a cold and dark winter with many days out of the office. PASCO’s Greenhouse is the perfect educational kit for your classroom, teaching students several ecological concepts such as photosynthesis, anatomy of plants, and the ways different conditions affect the growth of plants – all with the new focus and importance of coding. You can start the Tomatosphere project yourself, and facilitate it with the Greenhouse Sense and Control Kit as well.
Make sure to answer the survey below to find out which seeds have been to space and for a chance to win a PASCO Wireless Temperature Sensor! We would love to hear what you think, so share your guesses with us, and your reasoning if you have any!
Featured Products:
PASCO ST-2997 Greenhouse Sense and Control Kit
Acceleration and velocity are present everywhere in life, from sports to driving, to walking around. With PASCO’s Wireless Acceleration Altimeter, I decided to see what I can learn from the 7 different data points that it records.
As a hockey player for 18 years, I’ve always wondered how quickly I’m moving on the ice, having never seen myself skate or recorded my speed. I assume of course, that I am right up there with Connor McDavid in terms of speed. I expect the sensor to be able to confirm that for me, while also telling me even more information – my acceleration and velocity in the x, y, and z directions.
The first step in my experiment was to put the sensor into remote data logging mode, so that the altimeter is recording data into its internal storage, instead of needing to be connected to a phone or computer.
When setting up the altimeter, I changed the frequency to 5 Hz, (5 data points per second). The altimeter can record up to 200 Hz but has a limited capacity for how much data it can keep in its internal storage. Once I had put the sensor into remote data logging mode, I used the included Velcro straps to attach it to the back of my shin guard and got ready to step onto the ice.
For the first 9 minutes of the data recording, I am putting all of my equipment on, so the velocity and acceleration are relatively low as I stay within the dressing room. At the 10-minute mark warm-up begins. For these 5 minutes, I’m constantly moving while I’m skating on the ice, so the acceleration is constantly changing and staying at numbers of higher magnitude.
The magnitude of the data is also slightly decreasing during the 5-minute stretch as I slow down and conserve more energy for the game. When comparing the peaks of this stretch to the peaks of acceleration later on, it’s clear that I wasn’t accelerating as much in warm-ups as I would be when I was playing the game.
At the 15-minute mark, the game begins and I’m on the bench for the first shift, but at 18.5 minutes I get on the ice. There are bursts of acceleration as I get up to speed and little sections of coasting until 19 minutes when there’s a stoppage in play and the acceleration goes down and remains relatively constant. When the play resumes my acceleration begins to spike and then fluctuates throughout the natural progression of the game, as I coast at times and race to get the puck at others.
Over the course of the rest of the game, the peaks and valleys of the graph show clearly when I was on the ice accelerating and decelerating, and when I was on the bench, with the little movement just being from sliding across the bench or standing up to cheer on a goal.
In the different peaks in the graph, it can be seen which shifts I accelerated the most, and which I had a bit less energy. On the first shift of the game, my peak acceleration is 32 m/s2, which is high, but not the highest acceleration of the game. On this shift though, there are 60 data points where my acceleration is greater than 15 m/s2.
Because we are recording at 5 Hz, we can take that to mean that there are 12 seconds in which my acceleration is greater than 15 m/s2. This is not all in one 12-second stretch though, it’s spread out throughout the shift in groupings or bursts of acceleration. By comparison, the shift with the next highest amount of data points over 15 m/s2 is my 4th shift, in which there are 50 such points, or approximately 10 seconds. This 2-second difference is evidence to point towards my fatigue, as the number of such data points decreased more as the game went on, with the final full-length shift containing only 34 of these points (6.8 seconds).
The highest acceleration recorded is 34 m/s2, and that is on the 5th shift of the game. It would seem abnormal that my highest acceleration would be on the 5th shift, as I am already more tired at this point. There is context to explain the abnormality though – on the 5th shift we broke out on a 2-on-1 and I had to accelerate as fast as I could to free myself up to receive the pass and score a goal.
Overall it was a very interesting and insightful experience looking into the data surrounding my skating and gameplay. While I don’t think my acceleration is quite up to par with Connor McDavid, I can say I’m satisfied with my results and happy that the data logging had ended by the time I ended up in the penalty box.
With the Acceleration Altimeter, there are so many cool and interesting ways to record and examine data, and I got a fascinating look at just one of the possibilities by taking it with me during my hockey game. Additionally, there are other data points that weren’t useful for my experience, with angular velocity, altitude, and acceleration in the z direction – playing hockey on a flat sheet of ice somewhat limits how much vertical movement can be performed. I’m excited to dig deeper into the data and for other possibilities and opportunities in the future to learn more, using PASCO’s wireless sensors.
Featured Products:
Senior Physics students traveled to the local curling rink to explore friction, momentum and collisions. Students were asked to design two different experiments to find the coefficient of friction between the curling rock and the ice (for both pebbled and swept ice). Another goal of the lab was to determine whether a collision between two curling rocks was an elastic collision.
Life has been very interesting for the past 18 months. Did I say interesting? I meant challenging. With a global pandemic in force, how does education adapt? In my area, students had several months of online only learning, followed by online four days a week, then 3 days a week. Some students had full-time school, but they did only 2 classes a day. One class for the entire morning and one in the afternoon. New classes roughly every 10 weeks. How do you teach under these conditions? How do you teach science under these conditions? How do students learn under these conditions?
This blog won’t focus on that though. We are back at full time regular school (albeit with masks) for the first time since March of 2019. The focus is how do we reengage students? How do we bring back that sense of wonder and amazement of the world around them? For me, the answer is almost always the same; do hands on work. Experimentation is science and that is where the magic happens.
Once the dust settled of courses being filled, I knew I need students doing lab work. I couldn’t wait too long. It didn’t need to be anything complicated or deep, I just needed them to be hooked. Enter my PASCO Spark, the MatchGraph app and some Smart Carts.
Just bringing out the equipment got the students excited. “What are those?” I heard more than once. “Do we get to use them?” We did a quick run through and started on the first graph. The energy in the room was off the charts. There was so much buzz; arguments on who could do it better, what were they doing right, what were they doing wrong. This is what a classroom should be and such a simple way to get it.
Soon students were mastering the first linear graph and were looking very proud of themselves. I then told them there were more graphs. Deflation, curiosity and excited sped across their faces (at least their eyes) and they quickly started trying them. Carts were flying across the tabletops. 45 minutes passed in a blink and when I told them class was coming to an end and the equipment needed to be put away there were actual groans. They wanted to keep going! More than one student asked if we were going to use the equipment again. My answer was simple: tomorrow.
The students are hooked. They are excited to be learning. All it took was a little bit of learning play with my Smart carts and PASCO MatchGraph.
One of the hardest things about teaching online during this pandemic has been ensuring student engagement. When my physics class moved online, I knew I wanted to somehow continue the lab component but wasn’t quite sure how… until I learned about shared sessions in SPARKvue.
Without a doubt, remote labs were not going to be as hands-on as they were in person, but students should still have the opportunity to engage in the other practical applications of labs like making observations and analyzing data. A shared session in SPARKvue allows students to see data being collected in real time as if they were doing experiments themselves. I recently used this feature for a circuit lab in my Physics class.
I set up a circuit using the modular circuits and pointed a webcam on it so the students could see the circuit I was building and manipulating. I then started a shared session on SPARKvue and the students all joined in to see the voltage and current readings. As I made changes to the circuits, I had students write various predictions in the chat of our meeting room. The ability to predict and then see what actually happens in real time reflects what my students would do if they were engaging with this lab in person.
Doing this lab remotely not only allowed the students to predict, observe, and analyze; it actually opened up an avenue for more enriched discussions due to it’s collaborative nature and engaging the entire class at the same time. When the data didn’t exactly match a prediction, I could point to aspects of the circuit through the webcam and connect what we were seeing to the data being shown.
The ability to predict, observe, and analyze is one of the key features of any science lab. By pairing a data collection program like SPARKvue with a webcam and the modular circuits kit (or other PASCO sensors), students can observe how data is being collected and engage in the process of scientific exploration of the concepts they would otherwise only see written on a page. SPARKvue is changing not only the physical classroom but also the virtual classroom into a more engaging, thought-provoking, and dynamic environment for learning.
How to start a shared session in SPARKvue:
Projectiles is a major concept in every physics class, but finding a lab activity to demonstrate this concept can be quite difficult. I have tried a number of ideas in the past, such as rolling balls off tables, firing nerf guns (that seem to never shoot consistently), launcher-building competitions, and so many more. While these activities were okay, they were all limited in terms of measurable variables. The projectile problems I give my students often have some sort of initial “launch” velocity, proves to be the hardest thing to measure in a practical setting.
With the Wireless Smart Gate, this is no longer an issue. The Smart Gate will seamlessly measure the speed of any object that passes through it. Now when my students roll a ball off a table, the ball travels through a Smart Gate first giving them the speed at which the ball leaves the table. Before the Smart Gates, students would have to predict the speed of the ball based on the ball’s range, but they never had a value to compare their predictions with. The Smart Gate allowed for a comparison and when students compared their values, they were amazed at how a value calculated on paper translated into a real-world measurement.
Angled launches remained a stumbling block for me. Rolling a ball through a Smart Gate is easy but launching one through? Pasco has angled projectile launchers available to purchase, but I thought I would build my own to see how feasible it would be to have my students eventually build the same. I wanted a product that would launch a ball through the smart gate at various angles so that students could see how the launch angle and speed affects ball flight.
The following pictures are of the finished product. The ball is loaded in the top of the pvc pipe where it rests on a bolt. The bolt is attached to two springs so that when it is drawn back and released, the ball is launched. The video shows the launcher in action. You can see how, as the ball moves through the smart gate, the Smart Gate automatically records the velocity of the ball. The dual beam technology in the new Smart Gate allows for different sized balls to be used, as the velocity is based on the time difference between the two beams. The old photogates only had one beam and you had to calibrate the sensor to the specific size of the object moving through the beam.
Being able to instantly measure the velocity of a projectile before it flies through the air is extremely valuable in the application of this concept. While there are things I would do differently in the construction of the launchers, students were able to see how the different velocities and angles affect the range of the projectile. Once again, students predictions matched measured values closely and they were again amazed at the ability to see this difficult concept in action.
I have taught grade 9 applied science, science and technology, grade 10 applied, regular and enriched science, grade 11 chemistry and physics for 33 years at Westwood Senior High School in Hudson Québec. I discovered the PASCO equipment in 2019 and it completely changed my life. I love to discover, produce experiments and share discoveries. I am looking forward to work with your team.
Having graduated with a major in Computer Science and minors in Physics and Mathematics, I began my teaching career at Killarney Collegiate Institute in Killarney, Manitoba in 2009. While teaching Physics there, I decided to invest in PASCO products and approached the Killarney Foundation with a proposal about funding the Physics lab with the SPARK Science Learning System and sensors. While there I also started a tremendously successful new course that gave students the ability to explore their interests in science and consisted of students completing one project a month, two of which were to be hands-on experiments, two of which were to be research based, and the final being up to the student.
In 2011 I moved back to Brandon, Manitoba and started working at the school I had graduated from, Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School. In 2018 I finally had the opportunity to once again teach Physics and have been working hard to build the program. Being in the vocational school for the region has led to many opportunities to collaborate with our Electronics, Design Drafting, Welding, and Photography departments on highly engaging inter-disciplinary projects. I believe very strongly in showing students what Physics can look like and build lots of demonstrations and experiments for my classes to use, including a Reuben’s tube, an electromagnetic ring launcher, and Schlieren optics setup, just to name a few that have become fan favourites among the students in our building. At the end of my first year teaching Physics at Crocus Plains I applied for CERN’s International High School Teacher Programme and became the first Canadian selected through direct entry in the 21 years of the program. This incredible opportunity gave me the opportunity to learn from scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider and from CERN’s educational outreach team at the S’Cool Lab. Following this, I returned to Canada and began working with the Perimeter Institute, becoming part of their Teacher Network.
These experiences and being part of professional development workshops with the AAPT and the Canadian Light Source (CLS) this summer has given me the opportunity to speak to many Physics educators around the world to gain new insights into how my classroom evolves. As I work to build our program, I am exploring new ideas that see students take an active role in their learning, more inter-disciplinary work with departments in our school, the development of a STEM For Girls program in our building, and organizing participation in challenges from the ESA, the Students on the Beamline program from CLS, and our local science fair.
Though I graduated with a BEd qualified to teach English and Social Studies, it just wasn’t meant to be. My first job was teaching technology courses at a local high school, a far cry from the English and Social Studies job I had envisioned myself in. I was lucky enough to stay in that position for over ten years, teaching various technology courses in grades 10-12, while also obtaining a Master of Education in Technology Integration and a Master of Education in Online Instructional Media.
You will notice what is absent from my bio is any background in science. In fact, I took the minimum amount of required science courses to graduate high school. Three years ago I switched roles and currently work as a Technology Integration Leader; supporting teachers with integrating technology into their pedagogy in connection with the provincial outcomes. All of our schools have PASCO sensors at some level (mostly grades 4-12) and I made it my professional goal to not only learn how to use them, but to find ways to make them more approachable for teachers with no formal science background (like me!). Having no background or training in science has allowed me to experience a renewed love of Science, making it easier for me to support teachers in learning how to use PASCO sensors in their classrooms. I wholeheartedly believe that if more teachers could see just how easy they are to use, the more they will use them in the classroom and I’ve made it my goal to do exactly that.
I enjoy coming up with out-of-the-box ways of using the sensors, including finding curriculum connections within subjects outside of the typical science realm. I have found that hands on activities with immediate feedback, which PASCO sensors provide, help students and teachers see the benefits of technology in the classroom and will help more students foster a love of science and STEAM learning.