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Month: January 2017

Rethinking Science: Five Reasons Why Science Probes Are More Affordable Than Ever Before

Five Reasons Why Science Probes Are More Affordable Than Ever Before

  1. PASCO’s new range of wireless sensors do not require an interface to connect to a computer. Interfaces have traditionally ranged in price from several hundred to over a thousand dollars!
  2. PASCO now offers a free SPARKvue app that can be easily downloaded onto iPads, iPhones, Chromebooks and Android devices.
  3. Wireless sensors and the Sparkvue software require minimal training costs. The sensors are remarkably easy to use and the SPARKvue software is very intuitive. To help you get started AYVA and PASCO provide no charge, toll-free teacher support as well as a library of short instructional ‘How to’ videos.
  4. A wide range of free activities can be downloaded at no charge from the PASCO website. The growing list of available activities support all subjects and grade levels
  5. No need to buy designated computers. PASCO’s wireless sensors are also compatible with low cost tablets and Chromebooks (as well as students’ phones). The Sparkvue software provides the same functionality and experience on all platforms!

Did you know that the low cost, single channel wireless Airlink molds to your existing PASport sensors to make them wireless? This means you can enjoy many of the cost saving benefits of wireless sensors with your current inventory of ‘wired’ sensors.

High-Impact, Low-Cost Demos: 5 Demos under $500

Bicycle Gyroscope

Conservation of angular momentum.
Your students will literally become part of the demonstration. Featuring cushioned handgrips, a pull cord with handle, and weighing only 6 pounds, the Gyroscope is very to use. Can be used with any rotatable office chair; however, for best performance it’s best to also get the PASCO Rotating Chair and Gyroscope Mass Set.

Compression Igniter

Untitled-1

Catching Fire!
This demonstration is guaranteed to impress your students. By quickly pressing the piston down, the tightly sealed chamber will experience an increase in pressure and temperature well beyond the point to ignite a piece of paper.

Resonance Air Column with Speaker

resonance_air_column

This demo will definitely ‘resonate’ with your students.
This low cost resonance tube works remarkably well. The molded piston head reflects sounds very efficiently and when positioned at a node will produce a very loud resonance

Use with the supplied speaker or a tuning fork
8 Adjustable rings to mark nodes
Can be used with or without a sound sensor

Thermoelectric Converter

thermo_electric_converter

Demonstrate the first law of Thermodynamics.
Your students should know that you can heat water with electricity, but will be amazed to learn that you can use hot water to produce electrical energy. The Converter extracts electrical energy through a temperature differential by having one of its legs placed in a cup of cold water and the other leg in cup of hot water.

A series of semiconductor thermoelectric cells convert thermal energy into electrical energy
The process can be reversed by passing a current through the converter

Rotational Inertia Set

rotational_inertia_set

Rock and Roll! Compare rotational inertias with spheres and balls of different radius.
Your students will discover that the speed on an object rolling down a ramp is determined by the shape and distribution of its mass. They’ll be surprised to discover that the mass of the object and its radius does not affect the outcome.

Wireless Sensor Contest Winner

Stephen_Jacobs

Stephen Jacobs of St Francis Xavier Secondary School in Mississauga dropped by AYVA’s offices last Friday to pick up the class set of wireless temperature sensors that he won in our recent contest and to share with us some of the experiments in which he is going to use the sensors.

Please stay turned to our blog for a guest post by Stephen!

We are always looking for educators to contribute to our blog. If you have something to share please contact us here: /contact.html

Augmented Education – Bringing Real and Virtual Learning Together

Are you an educator who wants to use new technologies in their classroom to inspire, motivate and engage students? If yes, we would like to introduce a must read book for you: Augmented Education – Bringing Real and Virtual Learning Together by Kieron Sheehy, Rebecca Ferguson and Gill Clough.

Technology is rapidly developing and is changing the world as we know it. Teachers are now excited by the implications of new technology to create better learning experiences and transform learning contexts. Augmented Education is based on research and interviews with practitioners. From primary school to higher education, the book presents practical examples for educators on new uses, conceptions and developments of learning.

The book defines augmented learning as ‘use of electronic devices to extend learner’s interaction with and perception of their current environment to include and bring to life different times, spaces, characters and possibilities’. The authors look deep into augmenting learning in the “real world” by use of “virtual technology” and, vice versa, using the “physical world” to augment learning in “virtual environments”. Readers will learn how this mash up of the real and virtual can translate into new learning possibilities, tools and environments. In the end, the book presents interesting predictions on how augmented learning will develop in the future.

You can find out more about the book here: http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137342812#aboutBook.

index

The Reason for Seasons

Students often have the misconception that the distance from the sun is the main factor for the change in season. If that were the case, then the Northern and Southern Hemispheres would have the same seasons at the same time of the year, when in fact they are opposite.

Enlighten your students by modeling the movement of the Earth with some simple items. The setup pictured below includes a lamp to model the sun, a globe, a Wireless Light Sensor adhered to the globe with Velcro, and a meter stick to address those pesky misconceptions.

1

First we can look at the January in the Norther Hemisphere. Students should note the latitude and measure the light intensity using SPARKvue.

2

Then adhere the Wireless Light Sensor to the Southern Hemisphere at the same latitude as before, but well below the equator to measure the light intensity there.

3

The “brighter” students in the class will notice that tilt of the Earth has greatly affected the angle of the sensor relative to the lamp. Does the angle of incidence also affect the intensity of the light? The debate may be intense, but let students create a hypothesis before they collect data, then check the data to find out!

4

With the Earth is at this angle, there is a lot more light coming into the Southern Hemisphere. The amount of light that hits the an area on surface of the Earth is called insolation. The tilt of the Earth affects the solar insolation which is the reason we need insulation for the winter in the norther hemisphere while the Southern Hemisphere experiences summer. For students who assumed the seasons were based on the distance from the sun, this is truly a light bulb moment!

What is happening when the Earth is half-way around its orbit? No need to wait six months, we can fast forward to July simply by moving the globe to the other side of the lamp. Use the meter stick to make sure the globe is equidistant from the “sun” and affix the Wireless Light Sensor to the Northern Hemisphere.

5

The tit of the Earth hasn’t changed, but now the Northern Hemisphere is pointing more directly toward the lamp. Next we can move the sensor to the southern hemisphere to see if it is still as dazzling as before.

6

We can illuminate the effect by once again checking the data.

7

The light intensities have flipped from the previous run as the angle of incidence has changed. Now the Northern Hemisphere basks in the sun, while the Southern Hemisphere needs some insulation due to a lack of insolation.

Using SPARKvue software we can get a year in review by comparing the data.

8

Throughout this brilliant activity, student should see that the amount of light hitting the Earth’s surface at different parts of the year is based on the tilt of the Earth about its axis, not the distance from the sun. Hopefully, this activity has shed some light on the true reason for the seasons.

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What Educators Say About Working With Us

  • A big thanks for all the help and support you provided – I want to take some time to say a big thanks for all the help and support you provided me to select the best equipment in order to make the best possible use of the funds available. It is really exceptional that you happily connected with me multiple times even during the weekend and was always motivated to help. Please accept my big thanks for this.

    Gurpreet Sidhu | Physics Instructor | University College of North | The Pas, MB

  • Wireless Spectrometer Big Hit With Students – PASCO’s wireless spectrometer has been utilized very well by our earth science and physical science teachers. It’s an excellent piece of equipment and we have very much enjoyed its addition to enriching our classroom. It definitely brings students to a higher level of understanding wave interaction at a molecular level.

    Matt Tumbach | Secondary Instructional Technology Leader | Tommy Douglas Collegiate | Saskatoon, SK

  • Excellent Smart Cart – I thought the cart was excellent. The quick sampling rate for force will be very useful for momentum and collision labs we do. I’m recommending we include this in our order for next school year.

    Reed Jeffrey | Science Department Head | Upper Canada College | Toronto ON

  • Your lab equipment is of the highest quality and technical support is always there to help. During the 25 years we have used a wide array of lab equipment including computer interfacing. Your Pasco line has a high profile in our lab and will continue to do so far into the future.

    Bob Chin | Lab Technician | Kwantlen Polytechnic University | Surrey, BC

  • Datalogging Activities are Cross-Curricular

    Throughout the province of Nova Scotia, PASCO’s probeware technology has been merged with the rollout of the new P-6 curriculum. We chose a number of sensors for use with our project-based activities. Both the functionality and mobility of PASCO’s dataloggers enable students to collect authentic, real-world data, test their hypotheses and build knowledge.

    Mark Richards | Technology Integration Consultant | Annapolis Valley R.S.B. | Nova Scotia

  • We have a large number of PASCO wireless spectrometers and love how they have improved the learning experience for our students.

    Shawn McFadden | Technical Specialist | Ryerson University | Toronto, Ontario

  • During distance learning due to COVID-19 school shut down, I was given a short window to collect what I could from my classroom to teach online. The PASCO wireless sensors and Smart Carts were my top priority to collect to implement distance learning. By sharing experimental data with students via SPARKVue, the sensors were pivotal in creating an online experience that still allowed students to grow with their lab skills. It was easy to record videos of the data collection and share the data with my students. They did a phenomenal job examining and interpreting the data.


    Michelle Brosseau | Physics Teacher | Ursuline College Chatham | Chatham, Ontario

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