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SCIENCE ACTIVITY BOOKS
Personal Science Laboratory Motion Experiments
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Recommended grade level:
7-8+.
This annotated teacher's guide on Light Experiments, part of the Personal Science Laboratory series,is designed to help teachers run and teach 8 microcomputer-based investigations that explore light. The investigations use special photometric and radiometric light probes, interfaced with a personal computer, that allow students to enter measurements or data directly into the software--PSL Excelerator--linked to the experiment. Topics covered include specular and diffuse reflection, angle of incidence, the relationship between light intensity and distance, polarization, the relationship between scattering and polarization, and light absorption by colored materials.
Among the investigations, students measure and compare light reflected from a planar mirror, a white surface, and a black surface. They also compare the reflective properties of planar, concave, and convex mirrors, and use a light probe and polarizing film to test the light passing through a box filled with soapy liquid to determine whether the light is polarized. In other experiments they use polarized light to distinguish between "left-handed" and "right-handed" chemicals, and measure how the intensity of transmitted light varies as the concentration of dye in a liquid increases.
Students complete the experiments by logging onto a computer, selecting an experiment, following a series of prompts or directions, entering data from the activities or having the probes directly transmit the information, and completing follow-up activities. The computer program also organizes student-generated experimental data into charts, graphs, and tables. The guide contains teaching notes and an introduction to Personal Science Laboratory hardware and software.
Prices:
Teacher's guide, $44. Student-version master, $226. PSL hardware, $520. (Contact publisher/supplier for complete price and ordering information.)
Publisher/supplier:
Team Labs.
Materials:
Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or from Team Labs.
