Static, Lasers, and Magnets.
Electricity and Magnetism The room is dark. Suddenly, 300,000 volts explode through the air… Welcome to Electricity and Magnetism. Far from being separate phenomenon, students learn that they are in fact the same force flowing through and binding everything together. Instructors lead students in using a giant Van de Graff generator, a resonance transformer and over twenty other experiments to discover the principles of static, current, voltage, amperes, conductivity and resistance. They even get a chance to observe superconductive materials cooled down to negative 320 degrees F. Students study elementary electrical engineering on our circuit boards learning about parallel, series and single circuits along with variable resistors and dynamos. By the end of class students will have discovered the workings of everyday devices like televisions and electric guitars and the nuances of power plants and atomic energy.
California Science Standards
4th Grade: 1a-g
8th Grade: 3a
Standards (PDF) | |
| Lights and Lasers The question, “What is light?” never fails to elicit strange stares and awkward silence from students. For all its commonplace uses, light remains an ambiguous and mysterious thing for most of us. In Lights and Lasers, students not only discover the answer to that question, but advance far beyond it, exploring the nature of visible, infra-red, ultraviolet light and even that hidden force that makes things glow in the dark. Our labs include infra-red cameras, spectrum visors, modulated lasers and an entire phosphorescent wall! Students also learn that Light Amplified by Simulated Emission of Radiation isn’t nearly as complex as it sounds. They get to use real lasers and discover how we use them for everything from surgery to entertainment to space exploration. At the end, students can rock out with one of our famous laser parties and explore everything in the lab.
California Science Standards
6th Grade: 4b
7th Grade: 6a-f
Standards (PDF) |
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