Marva Anyanwu [Wendell Green Elementary School]        Surface Tension of Water, continued!
Marva passed around information on Surface Tension obtained from the GSU HyperPhysics websites [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/surten.html and http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/surten2.html].  In particular, there were paragraphs on Surface Tension and Bubbles, Bubble Pressure, Surface Tension of Water, and  Cohesion and Adhesion  She also passed around information from the website (German) Messtechnik GmbH® [http://www.online-tensiometer.com/], concerning Surface Tension Experiments [http://physics.about.com/od/physicsexperiments/a/surfacetension_4.htm], including Water Hill and The Strength of Soap. We continued the study of bubbles from the last SMILE meeting [bc120203.html], and discussed their meaning. We learned that the pressure inside a bubble is slightly greater than outside atmospheric pressure, because of the effect of surface tension to produce a "wall tension".  Also, bubbles assume spherical shapes to minimize that "wall tension". The result also applies when a bubble is surrounded by a liquid, such as in the alveoli of the lungs.  The properties of cell membranes determine the shape of cells inside living organisms, for similar reasons.  Thanks Marva! Quite interesting.

Brenda Daniel  [Fuller Elementary School]         Science Fair Materials + Scavenger Hunt
Brenda passed around an educators MAP and other information obtained from the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago [http://www.msichicago.org/]. Using this information, she led us through two distinct exercises:

• Science Fair Materials
  Brenda shared her experiences in developing a school science fair [Grades K-8].  She passed around information on the following topics, obtained from the  Chicago Student Science Fair [http://www.chicagostudentsciencefair.org/] or the IJAS Science Fair Handbook:
  1. The Scientific Method
  2. How to Do a Science Project
  3. Questions the Judges Might Ask
  4. How to Display a Science Project
  5. Project Ideas
  6. Relevant Illinois Learning Standards
  Robert Albert pointed out that the rigid rules of a Science Fair can actually stifle creative work, in certain cases. Also, he has often had difficulties in obtaining competent judges for school science fairs. How is that recurring problem dealt with?
• Scavenger Hunt at the Museum of Science and Industry
  Brenda passed around a handout: Museum of Science and Industry Treasure Hunt Questions. Students were given that sheet on a field trip to MSI, and were kept engaged in thinking, observing, and looking / searching. Brenda found that these "focus questions" served to make the field trip to MSI more meaningful for the students, and more fun for all involved. Kids find the typical trip to the Museum to be boring --- the kids just run around the place and don't learn anything. The teachers from Brenda's school had visited the Museum ahead of time, and had assembled the following questionnaire:
  MSI Treasure Hunt Questions
  1. What year was the Isaac Webb ship built? (Ground floor)
  2. What is the cargo capacity of the Isaac Webb? (Lower level -- Ships through the ages)
  3. How many orange lockers did you see as you walked into the museum? (Lower level --more lockers are around the corner)
  4. What animals have already been cloned? (Main floor)
  5. How many stomachs does a cow have? (Farm area)
  6. What are the stomachs called? (Farm area)
  7. How many genetically engineered frogs are there in the genetic display {Main floor)
  8. How does HIV disrupt the immune system?
  9. What do the letters in AIDS stand for?
  10. When and where did the first Walgreens™ store open? (Yesterday's main street)
  11. What person from the University of Chicago won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003 (Cultures of creativity)
  12. What two minority women have won the Nobel Prize? (Creating cultures -- 1st floor)
  13. Who was the first female millionaire in Chicago? (Junior Achievement -- National Business Hall of Fame)
  14. Can cloning recreate a person that is dead? (Genetics decoding life)
  15. What happens to a hotdog 25 years after being buried deep in a landfill? (Grainger hall of science)
  16. Why is this museum called the Museum of Science and Industry? (Main floor -- rotunda)
  17. What was the first commercial jet designed and built in the USA? (United 727 -- exhibit)
  18. How much blood is there in a hummingbird's body? (Blood -- balcony exhibit)
  19. In 1992 what female librarian coined the phrase "surfing the internet"? (Net pass exhibit)
  20. What female co-pilot flew around the world with Dick Rutan in 1986 without refueling the plane? (Flight exhibit)
  21. Before buses were invented, how did people travel from one town to another?  (Concord coaches)
  22. What is the name of the space center at MSI?
  23. How long does it take to learn how to fly a plane in the U S Navy? (Navy room)
  24. Approximately how many times does the heart of a person beat in a 70 year life span?
  25. Who developed the solar car?
  26. How much power does it take to operate the solar car?
  27. I am a ship of the Great White Fleet.  What is my name?
  28.            I  can travel at a top speed of ___ knots? 
  29. What was the year of the first flight?
  30. Approximately how many miles of blood vessels are there in an adult human body? (Blood  -- balcony exhibit)

Very thought-provoking! Thanks, Brenda.

Notes taken by Benjamin Stark