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Popsicle Phase Change

Phase changes are an important part of chemistry and physical science curriculum — and Freeze Pops are an important part of everyone’s summer. What better way to take the edge off the summer heat than combining the two to make a cool activity that addresses changing states of matter?

In the science lab, temperature measurements will help crystalize students’ thoughts around freezing and connect the phase change with particle motion.

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To set up this cool experiment, you’ll need to get a base line temperature change of pure water as well as the temperature change of the Freeze Pop. First, pour some water into a plastic container and add a Wireless Temperature Sensor. Next, we’ll open two Freeze Pops (that haven’t been frozen), pour the contents into another plastic container and add a second Wireless Temperature Sensor. Now you can use SPARKvue’s remote logging capabilities and put everything in the freezer. And if you really want to sweeten the inquiry, add some additional Freeze Pops as a tasty post-experiment treat!

The Wireless Temperature Sensor can remotely log data for days, but we’ll only needed a few hours. After letting the samples set overnight, it was time to check the results.

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The samples look frozen. Let’s check SPARKvue to see if the data is just as solid.

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I started by checking out the water. No brain freeze here— that’s just cool data.

The students will notice that the temperature dropped to 0oC, and stayed there before dropping again to the temperature of the freezer. But what’s so special about 0oC and why the plateau?

The students may know that this is the freezing point of water. But they may not realize that the water sample can’t get below the freezing point until the entire sample is frozen. This is where particle illustrations become important.

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As the water molecules cool, they slow down into a regularly repeating pattern forming a solid. But why the plateau? As long as there are some faster, freely-moving water molecules in the sample, there will be an equilibrium between the liquid water and the ice keeping the temperature constant. Once all of the water molecules are moving slow enough to be frozen and in the solid state, then the temperature can begin to drop again.

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Is the same thing happening with the Freeze Pop? It’s a good thing we have hours worth of data to find out!

This sample, which is not pure water, froze at a temperature that is lower than zero. The freezing point is depressed— but you shouldn’t be. This always happens with a solution. The other particles in the sample (sugar and dyes mostly) get in the way of the solid-liquid water equilibrium and lower the Freeze Pop freezing point.

Students may also note that there is not a flat plateau during freezing. As the water freezes out, the sample gets more concentrated with the “other” particles, depressing the freezing point even more. The freezing slope isn’t steep enough for sledding, but it is definitely noticeable. Once the entire sample is frozen, the temperature decrease is more dramatic.

The concept of freezing point depression is important and it has real practical applications— from making Freeze Pops and ice cream, to car antifreeze and melting ice in the winter.

Now your students can not only understand freezing, but they can explore factors that would affect freezing point depression. I am sure this would open up the lab to 31 flavors of ice cream inquiry!

Temperature misconceptions? Shake it off.

Most students understand that things get warmer as temperature goes up, but it is in the science lab that we have an opportunity to really help them understand what temperature means. One of the core ideas in Physical Science is that temperature is actually a measure of the kinetic energy of the particles of the matter. But when you’ve only thought about temperature as being hot or cold, this is an especially difficult concept because the “particles of matter” are hard to visualize.

One way to bring this concept into focus is to model the sub-microscopic world with something that the students can physically manipulate. We’ll shake things up in the lab by  modeling molecules with some craft beads.

Temperature

To measure the temperature, I used a Wireless Temperature Sensor and SPARKvue software. After placing sensor into an empty jar with the beads, I just needed to add some energy. Next step… just shake that jar thing. With a wireless sensor this is easy—just put the lid on and shake it up

Temperature Graph

I imagine that an entire class of student shaking these beads could be quite a cacophony. These engaged students would definitely see (and hear) the motion of the particles inside their sample of matter. You may need to reign them in a bit and remind them that they should “shake it, don’t break it.”

We know the dancing around turned up the heat in your class, but did all of this movement affect the temperature in the jar? Let’s take a closer look at the data.

One way to bring this concept into focus is to model the sub-microscopic world with something that the students can physically manipulate. We’ll shake things up in the lab by  modeling molecules with some craft beads.

They say fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake, but the data doesn’t lie. While the temperature increase was small, we can clearly see that the sensor did measure a steady increase in the temperature.

Now that they have the basic idea of temperature, you can have the students tune their own own investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.

While the students are devising plans (and of course competing to see who can change the temperature the most), you can rest assured that they are understanding disciplinary core ideas and incorporating engineering practices and cross cutting concepts.

AST 2016 – Nova Scotia goes with PASCO!

AYVA was proud to participate in the annual Nova Scotia Association of Science Teachers science conference (AST) again this year. The conference offered a broad range of sessions pertaining to the many disciplines of K-12 science. This is a particularly exciting year for science students in Nova Scotia since the Department of Education & Early Childhood Development provided nearly 300 local elementary schools with SPARKvue software and PASCO sensors for hands-on, inquiry-based learning.

Three PASCO workshops were offered over the course of the conference, enabling teachers to become acquainted with their new datalogging technology which pairs seamlessly with the Chromebooks and iPads. Probeware allows students to collect, manipulate and analyze data from various sources to support observations and help make inferences and conclusions about the world around them. Participants were able to observe how true open-ended inquiry becomes much easier when real world data is collected in a timely fashion. Teachers had a chance to demo the new line of wireless sensors and were given several streamlined curriculum activities to take back to their classrooms. Many instructors stopped at the AYVA booth to ask about the new equipment and to talk about the new materials that were sent out to grades 4-6 this year. Our special thanks go to all the attending teachers and our amazing team of presenters: Wes Leblanc (Chemistry Teacher, HRSB), Mark Richards (Consultant of Technology Integration-AVRSB) and Nancy Chisholm (IT Consultant).

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Durham DSB – PASCO PD Session

Professional Development is a career-long endeavor and AYVA Educational is always happy to help. Quentin Dus and Jason Peng represented PASCO Scientific at the Durham District School Board on Friday October 7. The two hosted several information sessions to help teachers at the board familiarize themselves with PASCO’s newest wireless sensors. The sessions also engaged teachers with demonstrations and hands-on experience where teachers had a chance to perform the Ice and Road Salt Experiment using PASCO’s Wireless Temperature Sensor and SparkVue software.

Quentin and Jason also demonstrated the Smart Cart and performed the Alka-Seltzer in Fruit Juice Experiment with the PASCO Wireless pH and Temperature sensors. As always, the teachers successfully predicted the results for pH and temperature changes (we even tried throwing them a curve-ball with this endothermic reaction!). Among the most engaging demonstrations was a simple pressure activity where we had volunteers capture as much air as possible in a clear garbage bag. Then, the volunteers squeezed the bag and we were able to visualize the pressure change using the PASCO Wireless Pressure Sensor and SparkVue software. This simple activity is a fun example of thinking outside the box to implement some creative ways to take advantage of PASCO’s wireless sensors.

We would like to thank Beth at Pickering High School for organizing the successful event! It was a pleasure to meet all the teachers.

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The first week of the Nova Scotia Training road show was a great success!

Facilitated by veteran PASCO trainer Glenn Starkey, the grade 4 to 6 teachers – representing over 20 schools per session – had an engaging time investigating temperature changes in water and reflective properties of light, as well as learning how to collect measurements with their own weather station. Helping to support Glenn at each session were Craig Ecclestone from AYVA Educational Solutions, and Eric Therrien and Christine Christensen from the Nova Scotia Department of Education.

Over the course of the week, eight separate 3-hour hands-on training sessions were conducted, with representatives from nearly half of the elementary schools across the province. The training was based on the Airlink, the general science sensor and the weather anemometer. The post training feedback was overwhelmingly positive with many teachers commenting that it was the best professional development they ever had to promote scientific inquiry.

Teachers at the Strait regional district school board were surprised and intrigued to discover that contrary to their predictions, a standing cup of water will almost always be lower than the surrounding air.
Teachers at the Strait Regional District School Board were surprised and intrigued to discover that contrary to their predictions, the temperature of a standing cup of water will almost always be lower than the surrounding air.
Reaching towards the ceiling a participant at the Halifax regional district school board investigates variations in light levels throughout the room.
Reaching towards the ceiling, a participant at the Halifax Regional District School Board investigates variations in light levels throughout the room.
With Glenn Starkey at the front of the class a teacher at the Strait regional district school board contemplates the effect of a drop of water on the probe's measurement of temperature.
With Glenn Starkey at the front of the class, a teacher at the Strait Regional District School Board contemplates the effect of a drop of water on the probe’s measurement of temperature.

PASCO Scientific Wins the ‘ISTE 2016 Best of Show Award!’

banner-composite_sized_4On August third, PASCO Scientific won Teach & Learnings  ‘International Society for Technology in Education 2016 Best of Show Award’ for their cutting edge wireless sensors. These sensors connect directly to computers, tablets, smart phones and Chromebooks which provide the freedom and flexibility without compromise for a lower price.

You can read the complete article here or find out more about PASCO’s range of wireless sensors here.

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IB Conference of the Americas

IB Conference of Americas
Pictured above: Dianne Beveridge, President of AYVA Educational Solutions, Craig Ecclestone, PASCO Product Specialist at AYVA and Humberto Medina, Export Manager for the Americas,PASCO Scientific

The IB Conference of the Americas, organized by the International Baccalaureate Organization, was held July 14-17 at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto. PASCO, together with AYVA, was proud to showcase their new wireless sensors and dataloggers – a key requirement in the IB curriculum where students are encouraged to make connections between their studies and the real world. It was a fabulous professional development opportunity for coordinators, teachers, district and school board representatives to promote best practices and to develop ideas to foster inquiry-based learning. We too enjoyed the inspiring featured speakers and breakout presenters.

STEM Learning Must Go Beyond Memorizing Facts and Theories

Read Steven Korte’s article ‘STEM Learning Must Go Beyond Memorizing Facts and Theories‘ recently posted in ‘The Edvocate‘.  In this article, Steven Korte – PASCO Scientific’s CEO – offers 9 points to consider when a school or district implements a STEM program.

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Access the full article here: http://www.theedadvocate.org/stem-learning-must-go-beyond-memorizing-facts-theories/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=email_this&utm_source=email

PASCO Wireless Sensors & SPARKVue – Changing the Way Teachers Teach Science

Capture“For science teachers who are looking to change their classroom practices and give their students more hands on experience, you need to consider using the latest wireless temperature sensors from PASCO. Using the PASCO Wireless Sensor technology will change the way you teach ….”

Read the entire review blog by Brian Friedlander from Assistive Tek LLC here: http://assistivetek.blogspot.com/2016/06/pasco-scientific-wireless-sensors.html


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  • 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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