Capstone includes a very powerful video analysis feature which can be used for comprehensive analysis of moving objects as well as to improve understanding. Short video clips from your smartphone can be easily imported and analysed with a range of tools. The movement of objects with a high contrast to a uniform background can be automatically tracked by the software.
A ball will be thrown in a parabolic arc and various tools will be used to analyze the motion. Note that the vertical and horizontal axes have been marked and a distance of 4.00 m has been measured. This will enable the software to translate from pixels to m:
As part of the analysis, the position of the ball in each frame is marked and the result is as shown below:
It is now possible to have the software generate various graphs such as position vs time and velocity vs time.
A graph of vertical position vs time is as shown below:
A graph of horizontal position vs time yields the following:
A graph of the vertical component of velocity vs time yields the following result:
Capstone also includes tools that improve understanding. For example, in the screen below, the vertical and horizontal components of velocity are shown for the ball as it flies through the air.
To make the display less cluttered and less confusing it is possible to mark the vectors at an interval other than every frame. Below the vectors are shown every third frame:
It is also possible to have a single vertical vector and a single horizontal vector appear and move with the ball as it goes through the air.
It is also possible to show the acceleration vector as shown below:
The fact that a few vectors do not point directly down is likely due to minor errors made when marking the position of the ball in various frames with a mouse.
With SPARKvue it is possible for teachers to collect data and steam the data to students in real time via a student device also running SPARKvue. This is possible if each device has SPARKvue loaded on it and is connected to WiFi – even if the devices are located many kms apart. So a teacher could schedule a zoom session with his/her students. Students could use a computer for this activity. The teacher could then carry out an activity on another device loaded with SPARKvue and stream this to students who would have a second device such as a tablet, chromebook or smart phone to receive the data. After using the zoom platform for some preliminary discussion the teacher could then turn control of the data over to each individual student and this student could then use all of the tools available to him/her in SPARKvue to carry out the analysis.
Has it been difficult for you to plan lessons for your students that would result in meaningful learning as they tackled them at home?
SPARKvue data collection software can be a great help here for several reasons:
SPARKvue will run on a great variety of devices including smart phones, tablets, chromebooks, and computers. It is free for all of these devices except for computers, for which a license must be purchased.
The appearance and function of SPARKvue software is virtually identical ascross platforms.
An activity planned and carried out and saved on one device such as a tablet can be opened in another device such as a chromebook.
All of Pasco’s sensors can be used with any of these devices
Unlike the software of some of our competitors, it is possible to generate a number of pages in SPARKvue (actually there is no limit). This makes it possible to use a number of the displays available in SPARKvue such as a digital picture, a video clip, a graph, a table, a meter, a digital display, an assessment, a text box, and blockly coding.
A teacher could design and carry out an activity where most of the analysis is left for the student to complete. For example the sequence of pages could look as follows:
The opening page is a title page and gives a brief description of the task to be completed
Page 2 shows a digital photograph of the setup to be used
Page 3 contains a short video clip in which the teacher gives a brief explanation or where a specific technique is demonstrated – eg how to connect a pressure sensor to a syringe (for a Boyle’s Law activity).
Page 4 is a text box which informs students that a data run has been collected by the teacher and the following pages will instruct them how to analyze the results. For example on page 5 the page is split into two parts with the larger part on the left. Students are asked to generate a graph of the data. On the right side there are a number of questions which students must answer by analyzing the graph. This means that the students will have to know how to use the analysis tools found as part of the graph display.
On page 6 students could find another split page. Suppose a motion sensor was used to collect data. On the left side students could be asked to plot a graph of kinetic energy vs time. This means they would have to know how to use the calculator in SPARKvue. On the right side of the page there could be a number of questions relating to this graph.
SPARKvue can collect data from more than one sensor at a time. For example, an activity could be carried out in which the pH and temperature of a sample of orange juice is measured when AlkaSeltzer is added. Students could be asked to generate a graph showing both the temperature and pH of the juice as the reaction proceeds and then be asked a series of questions on this reaction.
As can be seen from the examples above SPARKvue can be used to carry out extensive analysis of collected data.
Wireless Smart Cart, Wireless Spectrometer, and Wireless Weather Sensor
We are pleased to announce that PASCO has been awarded three “Best of Show” awards! More than two thousand science and STEM educators participated in the first Science Educators’ Best of Show™ Awards by casting their votes for products that they felt impacted science learning. We are honored to have our products recognized in a competition designed by science educators for science educators. You can check out the winners below!
Category: Best New Technology Innovation for STEM
Winner: PASCO’s Wireless Smart Cart and Accessories When physics educators combine the PASCO Wireless Smart Cart with the available accessories, they have a complete platform for demonstrating some of the toughest topics in mechanics. The Smart Cart’s ease of use and extensive capabilities allow students to perform their mechanics labs to a high degree of accuracy and repeatability. With sensors for position, velocity, acceleration, force, and rotation, the Wireless Smart Cart relays live data to help students test their understanding of mechanics in real time.
“The wireless nature of the PASCO Wireless Smart Cart and Accessories is a definite improvement [over traditional systems]. The removal of wires needed to connect to an external interface makes data more accurate and opens up opportunity for more innovative experimentation. The accessories for the carts also are very innovative and extend the scope of investigation.”
— Science Educators’ Best of Show Judge
Category: Best Tried & True Technology Teaching and Learning: Chemistry
Winner: The Wireless Spectrometer and Spectrometry software With measurements for emission spectra, intensity, absorbance, transmittance, and fluorescence, the Wireless Spectrometer is surely more powerful than its size suggests. Its visual, user-centered design makes it easy for educators and leaners of all levels to integrate spectrometry into their learning. The key is PASCO’s Spectrometry software, which allows students to quickly generate standard curves, make comparisons, and analyze their results using its visual absorbance display. When combined, the Wireless Spectrometer and Spectrometry software provide educators with a classroom-friendly spectrometry solution that can be applied to a wide variety of chemistry topics.
“This device provides advanced analysis potential of spectrum analysis for chemistry, environmental and physics classes that is quite rare for high school classes to experience. The data collection is quick and thorough with excellent software for analysis on many devices. Use of this device and software will enhance learning in many science courses.”
— Science Educators’ Best of Show Judge
Category: Best Tried & True Technology Teaching and Learning: Environmental Science Winner: The Wireless Weather Sensor and SPARKvue software
With more than nineteen different measurements, including GPS, the Wireless Weather Sensor supports real-world environmental investigations that relate phenomena to data collection and analysis within SPARKvue. Together, the Wireless Weather Sensor and weather features within SPARKvue create a coherent solution for performing both long-term and short-term environmental inquiry at any science level. The Weather Dashboard within SPARKvue intuitively displays live and logged data, while SPARKvue’s ArcView GIS mapping integration supports geospatial investigations and analysis.
“This sensor would provide extra opportunities for data collection in environmental science. It does offer a variety of options for experimental situations-19 in all. Experiments can be of short duration or long term. The weather vane is mentioned as an extra device to enhance data collection.”
Similar to many scientific concepts, spectroscopy developed as a result of the cumulative work of many scientists over many decades. Generally, Sir Isaac Newton is credited with the discovery of spectroscopy, but his work wouldn’t have been possible without the discoveries made by others before him. Newton’s optics experiments, which were conducted from 1666 to 1672, were built on foundations created by Athanasius Kircher (1646), Jan Marek Marci (1648), Robert Boyle (1664), and Francesco Maria Grimaldi (1665). In his theoretical explanation, “Optics,” Newton described prism experiments that split white light into colored components, which he named the “spectrum.” Newton’s prism experiments were pivotal in the discovery of spectroscopy, but the first spectrometer wasn’t created until 1802 when William Hyde Wollaston improved upon Newton’s model.
William Hyde Wollaston’s spectrometer included a lens that focused the Sun’s spectrum on a screen. He quickly noticed that the spectrum was missing sections of color. Even more troublesome, the gaps were inconsistent. Wollaston claimed these lines to be natural boundaries between the colors, but this hypothesis was later corrected by Joseph von Fraunhofer in 1815.
Joseph von Fraunhofer’s experiments replaced Newton’s prism with a diffraction grating to serve as the source of wavelength dispersion. Based on the theories of light interference developed by François Arago, Augustin-Jean Fresnel, and Thomas Young, Fraunhofer’s experiments featured an improved spectral resolution and demonstrated the effect of light passing through a single rectangular slit, two slits, and multiple, closely spaced slits. Fraunhofer’s experiments allowed him to quantify the dispersed wavelengths created by his diffraction grating. Today, the dark bands Fraunhofer observed and their specific wavelengths are still referred to as Fraunhofer lines.
Throughout the mid 1800’s, scientists began to make important connections between emission spectra and absorption and emission lines. Among these scientists were Swedish physicist Anders Jonas Ångström, George Stokes, David Atler, and William Thomson (Kelvin). In the 1860’s, Bunsen and Kirchhoff discovered that Fraunhofer lines correspond to emission spectral lines observed in laboratory light sources. Using systematic observations and detailed spectral examinations, they became the first to establish links between chemical elements and their unique spectral patterns.
It took many decades and more than a dozen scientists for spectroscopy to be well understood, and most modern models weren’t developed until the 1900’s. Today, there are physicists, biologists, and chemists using spectroscopy in their day-to-day lives. For more information, visit our in-depth guide, What is Spectroscopy? or check out our other blog post, “What is the Difference Between Spectroscopy and Microscopy?”
Sheridan College (Davis Campus) conducted their 3rd annual Skills Competition on March 4th, 2020, a day dedicated to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of the students from various programs within the Faculty of Applied Science and Technology. Previously, professors selected their top students to compete in the Skills Ontario competition but with Sheridan’s new Skills Trade Centre, a more engaging way to select the students was brought forward.
Participants choose one stream and put their skill and knowledge to the test while engaging in a friendly competition with their peers. Some of the various streams included electrical engineering, information technology, precision machining, computer engineering, media management, web design, and welding.
AYVA was proud to be a sponsor for this years’ event. It was an honour to be able to witness the extraordinary projects presented by the students.
At the end the competitions, students and sponsors were gathered together for the presentation of the awards.
First, second and third place medals (which are made by the skills trade facility!) are awarded to the students.
Congratulations to all the winners and participants in this year’s competition!
We high school physics teachers tend to associate the right-hand rules with electromagnetism. As a student, my first encounter with a right-hand rule was when I was introduced to the magnetic field produced by the electric current in a long, straight wire: if you point the thumb of your right hand in the direction of the conventional current and imagine grasping the wire with your hand, your fingers wrap around the wire in a way that is analogous to the magnetic field that circulates around the wire.
I only later discovered that this same rule can be applied to rotational quantities such as angular velocity and angular momentum. The topic of rotation has become more important in AP physics when the program was updated from the older Physics B program. Strictly speaking, AP Physics 1 does not include the use of the right hand rule for rotation, but I have found that introducing it actually helps solidify student understanding of angular vectors.
Describing the direction of rotation as being clockwise or counterclockwise is helpful only if all parties involved have a common point of view, which is ideally along the axis of rotation. As with left and right, clockwise and counterclockwise depend on your point of view. This is why it is often preferable to describe translational motion in terms of north, south, east, west, up, and down, or with respect to a defined x-y-z coordinate system; directions can be communicated unambiguously, provided that everybody uses the same coordinate system.
It is precisely for this reason that the right hand rule can (and should) be used for rotational motion. Consider the hands of an analog clock. Assuming that the clock is a typical one, it will have hands that turn “clockwise” when viewed from the “usual” point of view, but if the clock had a transparent back and you were to view it from the back you would see the hands turning “counterclockwise!” The observed direction of rotation (clockwise or counterclockwise) depends on the observer’s point of view.
Instead of using clockwise and counterclockwise, we can describe the direction of rotation with a right hand rule: if you curl the fingers of your right hand around with the direction of the rotational motion, your thumb will point in the direction of rotation, which will be along the axis of rotation. Applying this to the above we find that when viewing a clock from the front, the rotation of the hands is three dimensionally into the clock (away from the observer), and when viewing a clock from the back side, the rotation of the hands is three dimensionally out of the clock (toward the observer). If two people view a transparent clock at the same time but one observes it from the front while the other observes it from the back (i.e. the clock is between the two people who are facing each other), they will disagree on which way the hands turn (clockwise or counterclockwise) but will agree on this direction if both use the right hand rule convention to describe the direction of the rotational motion – both observers will agree that it is directed toward the person viewing the back side of the clock.
When first learning about the right hand rule, students are often initially confused, with many students failing to grasp why such a rule is even useful in the first place. Before introducing the right hand rule I like to begin by holding an object such as a meter stick while standing at the front of the classroom. I then rotate the meter stick through its center so that the students claim that it is rotating “clockwise” when asked. Being careful to keep the rotational motion as constant as possible, I then walk to the back of the room. It’s important that the students see that at no point did I stop the rotation of the meter stick – it is still turning the same way as before, and yet at some point each student finds that they must turn around in order to continue to see it. Many students are astonished to see that the meter stick is now rotating counter clockwise from their (now reversed) point of view. This helps establish the need for a better way to describe rotation.
I then introduce the right hand rule and go through a couple of examples. Traditionally, this would have been the end of it, but last year I was able to take advantage of my newly acquired PASCO Smart Cart, which has a wireless 3-axis gyroscope (i.e. rotational sensor). The coordinate system is fixed with respect to the cart, and is printed on the cart itself, but I like to make this more visible by attaching cardboard cutout vectors onto the cart which make the axes more visible to the students while I hold the cart up for them to see. I then set up a projected display of the angular velocity of the cart along each axis simultaneously. I then ask the students how I must turn the cart in order to get a desired rotation of my choosing (i.e. ±x, ±y, and ±z).
I really like how the carts, along with the live display of the 3 angular velocity components make the admittedly abstract right hand rule so much more concrete. Seeing the display agree with our predictions makes it so much more real and is much, much better than me merely saying “trust me.” I have found that introducing and using this right hand rule with rotation has made using this same rule much more natural when using it to later relate the direction of current flow and the magnetic field.
In logging mode, wireless sensors collect data to their onboard memory for hours, days, weeks or even months at a time without needing to be connected to a computer, tablet, Chromebook or smartphone.
When the experiment concludes, simply connect the sensor to a device running PASCO software and download all the measurements it recorded.
How much does a windshield screen affect the temperature inside a car on a hot day? Using Wireless Temperature Sensors in logging mode makes it easy to find out.
Set up remote logging
Collect data directly on a Wireless Sensor instead of a computer or mobile device.
Open SPARKvue or click then select Start New Experiment.
Click Remote Logging:
Turn on the sensor then click the sensor which matches the device ID.
Configure remote logging for each sensor:
Select a sensor to configure from the Sensor menu.
Toggle Sensor Enabled to Off if you don’t want to log data with this sensor.
Set the Sample Rate using the left and right arrows. Toggle Common Sample Rate to Off to set different sample rates for each sensor.
Tip: The configuration window indicates the amount of time that the sensor can log data below the sample rate. To increase the logging time:
Decrease the sample rate.
Disable unused sensors.
Optional: Toggle Sensor Button Deferred Logging to On to start data logging by pressing the power button on the sensor.
Click OK.
Data logging begins immediately after you click OK or press the power button on the sensor (if you selected Sensor Button Deferred Logging). The Bluetooth status light blinks yellow and green until data logging begins. When the sensor starts logging data, the Bluetooth status light blinks yellow.
Click OK and close SPARKvue. To stop data logging, turn off the sensor or connect it to SPARKvue to download the data.
Download remotely logged data
Download data remotely logged on a Wireless Sensor for data analysis. You can download the data to multiple devices as long as data isn’t deleted from the sensor after downloading it.
Open SPARKvue or click then select Start New Experiment.
Click Remote Logging .
Turn on the sensor or press the power button if the sensor is currently logging.
Note: The sensor doesn’t appear in Wireless Devices when the Bluetooth status light blinks yellow. Press the power button to make the sensor appear.
Tip: Connect the sensor using USB, if available, to download data at a faster rate.
Select the sensor under Sensors with data.
In the Logged Data window, select Download Data.
Select a method to download the data:
Templates
Use this method to download the data into a new file.
In the Select Measurements for Templates panel, select up to three measurements to display.
In the Templates panel, select a template or a Quick Start Experiment to display the selected measurements.
Quick Start Experiments
Use this method to download the data to a new Quick Start Experiment file. Names of Quick Start Experiments appear if available for the connected sensor.
Select a Quick Start Experiment from the list, if available.
Add to existing experiment
Use this method to download the data to an existing experiment file.
Click Open PASCO Experiment or Open Saved Experiment.
Reposted from the NSTA Blog, original article can be found here.
The PASCO Wireless Spectrometer
Simply put, constructivism is a theory of knowledge that argues that humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their experiences and their ideas. So it follows that nothing is can be more constructivist than exploring the theoretical with real-time tools that measure the invisible. And the PASCO Wireless Spectrometeris just such a tool.
One of the most amazing things about the PASCO Wireless Spectrometer is that it does exactly what you would want it to do; show you the invisible with ease, simplicity, and leave behind a useful digital paper trail of graphs and charts. Although the main purpose of the PASCO Wireless Spectrometer was “specifically designed for introductory spectroscopy experiments” it actually goes farther than that. Much farther. Much much farther!
This trio of teachers, two from China and one from Mongolia have limited English speaking skills, but instantly understood the iPad app and PASCO Wireless Spectrometer. Seems that light is also a universal language.
The physics and electronics behind the PASCO Wireless Spectrometer are straight forward. The output is clear and obvious. And the mobility aspect is unprecedented. In other words, it does what it should how it should. Amazing enough on its own, but in true paradigm shifting fashion the PASCO Wireless Spectrometer presents the invisible world of visible light in the magical cartoon chart we’ve seen only in static textbooks for most of our lives. It’s as if the dinosaur skeletons in dusty museums suddenly came alive and reacted to the world.
Visible light, or the light our human eyes sense and convert to electrical impulses to our brains, only encompass a tiny fraction of the electromagnetic spectrum. Wavelengths between 390-700 nanometers, or from the short blue/violet waves to the longer orange/red ones with green and yellow in the middle. Infrared waves are just a little too long for us to see, and ultraviolet ones are a little too short. Even longer are radio waves, and even shorter are x-rays. The PASCO Wireless Spectrometer has a range of 380 to 950 nanometers meaning it can “see” a little into the ultraviolet and a lot into the infrared.
An ultraviolet light spikes the graph just outside the shortest wavelength we can see with our eyes.
Where this all comes together is that when the PASCO Wireless Spectrometer and various light sources are manipulated with our hands, the extended visible spectrum becomes something we can explore with the same cognitive dexterity as the microscope affords us in biology. When used in the classroom for demonstrations and explorations, the PASCO Wireless Spectrometer literally lets “humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their experiences and their ideas.” So yes, the PASCO Wireless Spectrometer is the epitome of constructivist theory into educational practice.
Isaac Newton
Although Isaac Newton is credited with discovering the inner workings of visible light back in the latter 1600s, the basic concept behind a rainbow was suggested by Roger Bacon 400 years earlier who in turn drew upon the works of Claudius Ptolemy a millennium before, and even Aristotle another 300 years before that.
Roger Bacon
Claudius Ptolemy
Aristotle
As a quick digression here, the Newtonian physics behind the PASCO Wireless Spectrometer has roots much more than five times deeper into the past than Mr. Newton’s distance in time is from us right now. Sorry to go all Einstein on you, but the individual colors of visible light that Newton coaxed out of sunlight with only a glass triangle, and then reassembled with nothing more than a companion prism was like yesterday. Yet the attempts to explain the phenomena were first floated last week.
And now to think that within the palm of a student’s hand and the screen of their iPad is a gift of knowledge as great as the discovery itself. A stretch? Perhaps, but unless a scientific concept can be truly understood to the point one can make personal meaning out of the discovery, memorized facts are little more than coins used to buy grades.
Technically speaking, the PASCO Wireless Spectrometer is a battery operated spectrometer that uses Bluetooth wireless or a USB wire in order to communicate with a computing device running the necessary software. With its own built-in LED-boosted tungsten light source and three nanometer resolution, the PASCO Wireless Spectrometer provides an exceptional tool for traditional experimentation with pl
enty of room left over to inspect rarely explored specimens of light scattered throughout our lives.
The operation of PASCO’s unassuming black brick puts the power of spectrometry into the hands of grade school students and Ph.D. candidates alike. While maybe not the most durable block in the scientific toy box, the PASCO Wireless Spectrometer does offer a level of simplicity (when desired) as easy to use as glass prism and sunlight. Of course you can do much more with the PASCO Wireless Spectrometer, but you don’t have to in order to get your money’s worth. This spectrometer does so much so well so easily that it literally rewrites lesson plans just by walking into the classroom.
On a higher level, the PASCO Wireless Spectrometer can be used in chemical experiments of intensity, absorbance, transmittance and fluorescence all while using a device that, according to PASCO, has light pass through the solution and a diffraction grating and then a CCD array detects the light for collection and analysis. Sounds simple enough just like a digital prism should. Except this one gives about nine hours of service per battery charge.
In the off chance that the battery fails, it is user-replaceable. in the off chance the light burns out, it is user-replaceable. And in the likely chance that liquid from a cuvette spills into the holder, a drain hole limits the damage, and cleaning the holder is user-serviceable with a cotton swab and deionized water.
A portable studio light is used to provide a background of predictable photons in order to explore the absorbance properties of various types of matter including sunglasses, polarizers, fabric, and theater lighting filters.
The PASCO Wireless Spectrometer must interface with a computer or tablet. Both Mac and Windows are supported as is iOS and Android.
You can download the Spectrometer user guide here.
PASCO also suggests using the Wireless Spectrometer for the following popular labs:
Absorbance and transmittance spectra
Beer’s Law: concentration and absorbance
Kinetics
Fluorescence
Photosynthesis with DPIP
Absorption spectra of plant pigments
Concentration of proteins in solution
Rate of enzyme-catalyzed reactions
Growth of cell cultures
Light intensity across the visible spectrum
Emission spectra of light sources
Match known spectra with references
And PASCO also provides several sample labs for plug-and-play directly into the chemistry classroom. But the really exciting plug-and-play option is the accessory fiber optic probe. With no more effort than sliding a faux cuvette into the receiving slot on the spectrometer, a meter-long fiber cord moves a directional sensor out into the wild where it can capture photons from all kinds critters. Some of my favorite animals include UV lights, filtered lightbulbs, various school lighting sources, sunlight though sunglasses, polarizers, and pretty much any LED flashlight I can find, especially the really good ones.
Although the screen output from the PASCO Wireless Spectrometer’s software is a graphical representation of a physical property, it takes almost no mental gymnastics to understand the changes to the graph once your mind is oriented to the display. The color-coded background and gesture-ready scaling provides an exceptionally smooth relationship with the data to the point all the hardware and software disappear leaving only the experiment and the results. And in my book, that kind of invisibility is the true measure of success with a teaching product.
When teaching the next generation about the important discoveries of the past generations, we have an obligation to use the most powerful educational tools possible. The PASCO Wireless Spectrometer is truly 100% pure constructivism-in-a-box. It turns experiences and ideas into personal meaning. Battery included and no wires necessary.
This entry was posted in NSTA Recommends: Technology, Science 2.0 and tagged Spectrometer, wireless.
CAPSTONE 2.0 is out now! Free Upgrade for Capstone 1.x users!
Updated with new tools! Designed specifically to collect, display and analyze data in physics and engineering labs.
Features for Capstone 2.0!
Blockly Coding
Helps Students Develop Computational Thinking Skills
Physics educators want more experimental control and programming access to all PASCO interfaces and sensors. Students need tools to develop creative programing and problem solving skills in science. Blockly coding has been built into Capstone 2, giving teachers and students the tools they need to develop these skills.
With PASCO Capstone In Your Lab:
Apply coding concepts to your labs
Create new sampling conditions
Design Sense and Control experiments
Create whatever experiment you or your students can dream up!
Trials Table – Coming in 2020!
You never take only one run in science. You take multiple runs and calculate averages. Next, you vary a parameter while holding the other constant; again, taking more runs and calculating averages. Most software data tables don’t actually allow this to be done easily.
The Capstone Trials Table was created for how data is collected in the science lab and allows for the kind of analysis students need to perform.
Organize your data to easily define physical relationships
Track variables
Average runs
Plot derived values
Using the simple pendulum lab as an example, students will time a simple pendulum under various conditions. They will vary the mass, length, and starting angle. The Capstone Trials Table allows you to vary and keep track of experimental parameters between trials and runs taken in each trial. You can also keep track of statistics for averaged runs and experimental error.
Real-world Science
Scientists always take multiple runs and calculate averages. Next, they vary a parameter while holding the others constant; again, taking more runs and calculating averages. Most software data tables don’t support this and require data export and processing… until Capstone 2.
The Capstone Trials Table was created to reflect how data is collected in science labs. It supports the analysis students need to develop critical thinking skills and interpret the data.
With Capstone students can:
Organize data to easily define variable relationships
Track multiple variables
Average runs within a trial group
Plot derived values (such as an average of runs vs. a group parameter)
For example, in the Simple Pendulum lab, students time a pendulum under different conditions by varying the mass, length, and starting angle. The Capstone Trials Table allows you to manipulate variables and track experimental data between trials and runs. You can also keep track of statistics for averaged runs and experimental error.
Graph Pop-Up Tools
Now, whenever tools are activated, the most common actions will be easily accessible on the graph. The pop-up tools allow for easy access to tool features and options.
Circuits Emulation
Reinforce circuit concepts and tackle student misconceptions using circuit visualization. Combine real-world circuits with simulations, animation, and live measurements. Drag components from the components list, then rotate them and connect pieces together by drawing wires.
With the Circuits Emulation tool in Capstone 2, you can:
Construct and modify circuits
Show conventional current and electron flow animation
Animate circuits with live sensor data
Drag components out from the components list. Rotate components and connect pieces together by drawing wires.
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.
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.
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Marie Claude Dupuis
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.
Christopher Sarkonak
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.
Meaghan Boudreau
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.
Michelle Brosseau
I have been teaching since 2009 at my alma mater, Ursuline College Chatham. I studied Mathematics and Physics at the University of Windsor. I will have completed my Professional Master’s of Education through Queen’s University in 2019. My early teaching years had me teaching Math, Science and Physics, which has evolved into teaching mostly Physics in recent years. Some of my favourite topics are Astronomy, Optics and Nuclear Physics. I’ve crossed off many activities from my “Physics Teacher Bucket List”, most notably bungee jumping, skydiving, and driving a tank.
Project-based learning, inquiry-based research and experiments, Understanding by Design, and Critical Thinking are the frameworks I use for planning my courses. I love being able to use PASCO’s sensors to enhance the learning of my students, and make it even more quantitative.
I live in Chatham, Ontario with my husband and two sons.