FanFest at Boston College, 2015

Hi!

SOMETHING NEW!  For the last few months I've been working with BC to add science to games at FanFest.  FanFest began over ten years ago to provide fun things for kids to do before the home football games.  It takes place in the Flynn Recreation Complex (the Rec Plex) and begins three hours before game time, running 2 1/2 hours.  There are several inflatable games, bean toss and other games, and face painting.  Gateway to Science: Sports and Games has offered games with science at four FanFests so far, and on alternating weeks in September, two science professors did special demonstrations for the kids and their parents.  Ruihua He demonstrated superconducting magnetic levitation with frozen liquid nitrogen.  Dunwei Wang used solar/hydrogen-powered miniature race cars for a competition.

WHAT WILL YOU FIND WHEN YOU GET THERE?  We've had hula hooping to help kids learn about torque, the turning force, and string-can telephones for the science of sound.  We've also had activities to help learn about finding your center of gravity as well as your axis of rotation.  We'll be using jump ropes to learn about waves and other things.  And who knows what else?  Come and find out!

On exhibit are several items I've been working on, including stories and how they can be used to learn about simple machines, physics and geometry.  Leaflets on the science of hula hooping and jump roping are available, too.

THE TEAM   My husband Frank has been helping me, as well as Bob Mallon '65 and Joe Nigro '65, both of whom attended the School of Education at BC, where I worked from 1962-65.  I bumped into them at reunion activities in May, and they wanted to help me.  Eileen Leister, a great hula hooper from Quincy, "circulates" and draws people in to our Gateway to Science center (centripetal force?).  Dick Leonard, retired science teacher and permanent sub at Quincy HS, is bringing his recycling game with a sports angle to FanFest for the North Carolina State game. Eileen Heavey, my friend from Milton who also helped at the South Shore Science Fun House in Quincy last April, jumped in at the last minute when we found ourselves operating on a "skeleton crew" basis last week on Halloween. 

Last year Brad Bates, AD, had directed me to Jody Mooradian, Assistant AD, who referred me to Jim Morris, Alumni Association, and Jamie DiLoreto, Athletic Association, who together run FanFest.  Then they directed me to Rebecca Cegledy, the FanFest team member in the Rec Plex who manages things there.  In addition, on game day either Caitriona Taylor or Laurel Carter is there and somehow manage to be several places at once! 

Getting the logistics worked out and developing a routine for setting up is coming along, I'm happy to say.

YOU'RE INVITED!  So please try to come and see this innovative approach to science education.  My goal is for this to become the standard way of introducing kids to physics and geometry concepts the EASY way!  Don't you wish that you learned physics this way?!  I do.  Pain-free and fun!

GETTING THERE   You don't need a game ticket to attend FanFest.  However, to get onto the campus on game day, take the T, the Green Line, to the end, the Boston College stop.  FanFest is about a ten minute walk.

SCHEDULE
Sat. Oct. 31  Virginia Tech   FanFest 9:30-12    Game 12:30
Sat. Nov. 7   North Carolina State, youth & high school football day     FanFest 9:30-12

Hope to see you!
Kathy

STOKED ABOUT PHYSICS website .......... (this post is under construction)

I just found a really good site:  Stoked About Science, authored by physics teacher Mr. Chris Stokes.

http://stokedaboutscience.com 

This is what he says for people who want a science camp:

Don’t have access to a science camp?  Here is a way to stream science camp right into your own living room.  I provide the demos and instructions and you just need to supply the enthusiastic campers and some basic supplies!

 <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/g2nFfjwjPiE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Message to Parents from the National Science Teachers Association

10 Questions Your Kid's Science Teacher 
Wishes You Would Ask

For the same reasons we encourage our children to be active participants in classroom discussions, parents should take advantage of opportunities to talk with teachers. Learn more about science teaching and learning in your child's classroom, whether it's during back-to-school night, teacher conferences, or at another point during the school year.

Science lessons deliver some of the most engaging and exciting activities of your child's day. Children are inherently curious, and high-quality science instruction allows them to channel that energy and wonder into discovering more about the world around them. As they grow older, science learning helps them develop the necessary skills and practices to solve real-world challenges and build important life skills.

The more you know, the more you can support your child's science learning at home. So what should you know about science education at school? Start with these key questions for your child's teacher:

1. How is science taught in your classroom? What methods or activities do you use? Are there sample lessons I can review?
2. What science topics will my child learn and what skills will he/she master by the end of this year? How does this relate to what my child learned last year and what he or she will learn next year? How does it relate to what my child is learning in math, other subjects, or the world in which we live?
3. Do you have access to local informal science opportunities? Will there be field trips to local museums or science centers?
4. Will there be science homework and what will it look like?
5. What types of questions should I ask my child about science on a day-to-day basis?
6. What can I do to support my child's science learning? Are there science projects or activities we can do together at home, or apps, websites, or learning games we could explore?
7. How does the school support education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects? Is STEM incorporated throughout the day and if so, how? Are there after school STEM clubs, programs, or science and engineering fairs that would support my child's learning?
8. How will learning be assessed? Will you use only formal assessments like tests or will children be able to show you what they know through other avenues?
9. What happens if my child doesn't achieve the learning goals of a lesson or unit of study? Can he or she get extra help?
10. What types of science equipment and technology will be used throughout the year?

There are no standard answers to these questions, but a teacher who creates a rich classroom environment for science exploration will be happy to discuss them with you. And while you are having this valuable conversation, look around. These are just some of the signs that the classroom environment supports science learning:

• Space and storage: Science requires "stuff." Whether the shelves are filled with rocks and leaves or hand lenses and measuring instruments, it's important that teachers have the materials nearby to teach science.
• Safety equipment: To explore science in the mode of a scientist, your child will occasionally need eye protection, gloves, soap, and water. There are many experiences that are both simple and safe, but safety criteria must always be in mind.

Whatever the answers are to your questions, a great response to close a conversation would be, "What can I do to help?" Most teachers would be thrilled to know if you have a background in science, technology, engineering, or math, or have time and resources to share.

A strong foundation in STEM will put your child on the road to success in school and beyond.

Bicycle Electrical Power at Arizona Diamondbacks AND MNS Power. Electrical power in a special soccer ball, too.

A.  This is what they're doing at the Arizona Diamondbacks' stadium.  By pedaling you can see how your energy can be converted into electrical energy -- with the right apparatus!  People compete to see how fast they can get the lights to light up.  URL is fastest, takes the least energy; incandescent (traditional lightbulbs) is slowest, takes the most energy.


B.  www.pedalpowergenerator.com is a very good site with videos that show you how to convert your bicycle into a power generator.  MNS Power is the company.

C.  It's being done in places in Africa where they don't have electricity. Similarly, I just found on Facebook that there is a soccer ball called "Socckett."  All the kinetic energy that's generated while playing soccer gets stored inside the ball.  Afterward you plug in an appliance and -- voila!  Light!  Or music!  Or whatever you want.

SCIENCE OF BASKETBALL from sciencebuddies.org

NOTE:    

SCIENCE BUDDIES.ORG is a great place to look for information on different sciences.  

To explore a specific sport, type the name of whatever sport science you want in the Search box at the upper right on the home page.

If you want to learn more about a specific concept, just type e.g., trajectory.

To get started with basketball science, here is an example of what you can find:

 

Basketball Science on the Court   by Kim Mullin

Have a sports-oriented kid? Playing basketball can engage muscle power and brain power! For summertime fun, hit the courts to explore the science behind shooting hoops.

Better Basketball?

Can science help you improve your skills on the court? It might! Sports science projects let you explore the science and physics behind a favorite pastime. Shoot some hoops; score some science points.

Basketball season may be officially over, but it's a safe bet that lots of kids are shooting hoops this summer. With just a ball and a net, kids can engage their muscles, cardio-vascular systems, hand-eye coordination, and agility, all at the same time. Throw in a few friends, and you add teamwork and sportsmanship to the equation. Talk about a powerhouse!

Next time the kids head out to practice their shots, consider this: 

there are scientific principles involved in every shot!   

Trajectory,   force,   gravity,  energy,    motion,    air pressure,   percentage  —  injecting a little bit of science into summertime fun can be as simple as asking the right questions when you are out on the court and then putting a few of those ideas into action. Below you will find some Science Buddies sports science Project Ideas to help you and your kids explore the science behind the game.

• Nothing But Net—The Science of Shooting Hoops:   Doesn't every kid want to improve her shooting percentage?   This Project Idea takes the scientific approach to the question of where your hands should be when taking a shot.   Kids can apply the same ideas to other aspects of the game,   such as whether or not to use backspin,   or which is the best trajectory for the ball.
Under Pressure—Bouncing Ball Dynamics:  If you drop a ball, how high will it bounce?   What happens to the height of the bounce if you release some air from the ball?   What about using different types of balls?     This Project Idea offers a quick and easy way to explore the concept of   air pressure.
• How High Can You Throw a Baseball? A Tennis Ball? A Football?:   Want to know how high you can throw a ball?  There is a mathematical equation for that!  Grab a friend and a stopwatch to test your throwing ability...and have some fun with physics!
Keep Your Brain and Muscles Fit This Summer

Whether you and your kids are on the court, in the swimming pool, or out in nature, summertime is a great time to remember that science is everywhere! Help kids explore new concepts, or let them show you how much they already know about how science fits into the equation. You all might just score an impressive three pointer!

Here is the link for the above to Science Buddies:

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/blog/2013/07/basketball-science-on-the-court.php

SCIENCE OF CHEERLEADING

NOTE:  Today I met a young lady fundraising outside Roxie's for her cheerleading squad.  Since I hadn't included anything in my blog on cheerleading, I thought I'd find something on the subject so that when she looks this up, she'll learn about the science of what she loves, as well as share it with her teammates and coaches. This is an entry that I found while looking it up.  It's from the http://isaacslom.wikispaces.com website, which was developed in 2010 by a high school teacher, and all the entries are student-written.    They're written about many sports, featuring the physics of sports.    I've also included this website  here in this blog  under   "What's Already Out There?"  Here it is!_______________________________________________________________Cheerleading: A force of Motion

By Helana Semborski

There are many people out there who say cheerleading is a sport but it’s not just a sport, it's science.  Cheerleading uses many different parts of science.  It uses friction and grip, force, velocity, mass, air resistance, and way more.     

It also uses Newton’s second law of motion.        

       

How is   Friction related to cheerleading?

Well, if you look at a cheerleader’s shoes, then you notice they have a thick rubber on the bottom. That creates more grip, which in turn creates friction. You need that friction when you’re stunting. A flyer doesn’t want her feet slipping out of the girl’s hands when they are holding her up in the air. Thanks to grip and friction, there is a less of a chance of that happening.

Also you have to make sure you wear ankle socks when cheering. If you don’t, the bases have a harder time gripping the girl's legs. Also a flyer may not put any lotion on or anything that could make her legs and hands slippery, which creates less friction because once again, the bases won’t be able to get as good of a grip on the girl's body.

Cheer shoes

                   Why does   Mass matter in cheerleading?

In cheerleading there are many different stunts. In most of them, it helps if the girl who is the flyer has a small mass.  Then when the girl has a smaller mass, they can get more power in the stunts.

         When stunting, there are many forces moving against you. One of them is: 
Air Force or Air Resistance.
 
When you throw a girl into the air for either a cradle or stunt, there is a lot air force pushing the other way. So when you throw the girl, the bases need to throw hard, and the flyer needs to keep her body straight and her arms on her sides. When the flyer goes up into the air, she tries to push herself with her arms. She tries to push her hands down to help to push against the air force, so she can get more air and get higher up. Most of the time, the higher you go, the better the stunt.

             Once again, stunting depends on    Velocity.

When you throw the flyer up in the air, the girl needs a lot of power to do certain things. Take the Liberty, for example. The bases need to throw the girl at a certain speed and direction. (That’s the definition of velocity.)  If the flyer doesn’t get enough speed or it isn’t in the right direction, there is a good chance the girl will fall or that the stunt won’t look good.

      Newton’s 2nd law of motion is a big part of cheerleading.

      His 2nd law states that  

                Force  =  Mass   times   Acceleration.

When the bases throw a girl, they use a certain amount of force. If they use too much force, the girl could topple. If the bases don’t use enough force, then they might not get the flyer up in the air. If they throw a girl with a smaller mass, there will be more acceleration. If the bases try basing a girl who may have 2 times the weight of a smaller flyer, there might not be as much acceleration, even if they are using the same amount of force. There is a very likely chance that the bases won’t be able to get the girl with the bigger mass up.

           The last thing is    Gravity.

If there isn’t enough force from the bases, the flyer will fall because of gravity. The gravity is pulling down on the flyer at all times. That is why in all stunts there is at least one base to help keep the flyer from falling.

All in all, cheerleading is a sport of science. We need science to do the different things in cheerleading. Otherwise, there would be a lot of cheerleaders with broken bones.

This is the JV girls doing an extension prep.

A Liberty

SCIENCE OF BASKETBALL. A video.

Basketball Fans:

Did you know you can learn about science when you play basketball?  To get started, watch this video to find out what I mean.

Learn about the angle of reflection (or the law of reflection) in basketball.

Learn about the 3rd law of motion:  every action has an equal but opposite reaction.

The University of Utah has prepared this short video to help you understand.

(I hope I did the link correctly!  Please copy and paste the link.)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ESGBLkjiWUk?feature=player_detailpage