CAMBRIDGE SCIENCE FESTIVAL 2014 -- Science Carnival Sat., April 19

Mark your calendars for this year's Cambridge Science Festival  2014 which is   Friday, April 18, to Sunday April 27.  Below is one of their offerings,     the Science Carnival.  This is only a selected list of what you'll find there, mostly physics-related.  Check out their website to find out about ALL their offerings.  It's a great activity for the whole family!  And it's free.

CAMBRIDGE SCIENCE FESTIVAL 2014

Science Carnival 2014

Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway
Saturday, April 19, 2014              12:00-4:00pm 

                                                                           

The 2014 Science Carnival has 5 themes:
Earth & Space         Micro-Zone             No Limits          Game Corner          Robot Zoo

EARTH & SPACE

• Mystery Material: Is It Liquid or Solid?

Visitors will make and explore the unique properties of a non-Newtonian fluid and other fun polymeric materials.

• Squishy Circuits

Come learn about electricity: how it flows and how to make it do work. At Squishy Circuits you use homemade play dough that is conductive (it lets electricity through) and insulating (it doesn't)  to make your own circuits and turn on lights, buzzers and other electrical devices. Kids of all ages can have some creative fun and learn something along the way!          by: The Methot Family

• Optical Demonstrations

New England is full of technology based on the science of optics. The New England Optical Society will demonstrate the principles behind flat panel displaces to telecommunications to telescopes with our optical demonstration suitcases. We will have our giant kaleidoscope and other hands-on demonstrations.   by: New England Section of the Optical Society of America

• H2Wh0a

Do you know how to bend water or how to turn a jar of water upside down without spilling it?           Come and try some fun water experiments with the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts and learn why this is possible.    by:      Girl Scouts of Eastern Mass.

• Discovering Physics Through Interactive Exhibits

Clark University physics students present several hands-on demonstrations that make learning the laws of physics accessible and fun.

• Observe Hydrogen Emission from Our Galaxy

Come join us for a demo of a home-built horn antenna radio telescope, repeating the Ewen & Purcell 1951 Harvard experiment to detect Galactic hydrogen emission.    by:    Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and MIT

• Paper Airplanes That Fly Forever

Soar a paper airplane on a piece of cardboard. Learn to build and pilot your own plane using a novel flying technique.      by: Build and Pilot Your Own Walkalong Glider
 

     *   Lightning Safety on Land and Water

Learn what lightning is and how to protect yourself and your friends. What preparation and knowledge you need to know when a lightning storm approaches and you are going to be in the middle of it. What would a plan to prepare for a 100% lightning safe event look like?

• Kite Aerodynamics

See brilliant kites  and gain a better understanding  of  the  aerodynamics of flight and the force of wind through experiments and flying demonstrations.     by: Kiting USA

MICRO-ZONE

• Dynamic Fluids!

Did you know cells are 70% water?!     When studying  biological engineering, it is important to consider fluids, like water. Using hands on demonstrations we will illustrate some really cool properties of fluids, such as how fluids move in microscopic environments and the importance of thick fluid, polymers in your body – mucus! by: EBICS (Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems)

NO LIMITS

    *    Science from Scientists

·         Explore the amazing world of physics through hands-on demonstrations. We'll discuss basic physics concepts that affect you every day!  by: Science from Scientists

• Science Club for Girls Presents: MadSciMag

The teens of the Science Club for Girls Media Team will present their research in a specific area of science they have chosen to document via video, photo, and news stories.                         by: Science Club for Girls

• Einstein's Workshop Presents: Hands-on Math

Come explore interesting math not usually taught in schools, such as tessellations and Penrose tiles!                       by: Einstein's Workshop

·                   *    Sister-City Schools Share Their Science Projects

Whether it's planting trees or making robots, students in Yerevan, Armenia share  their projects by video and Skype.   by: Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Assoc.

• What Inquisitive Minds Wanted to Know?

Student presentations, the result of inquisitive minds answering how, and why questions - the beginning of the practice of a scientific investigation. Come Hear/Interact.                     by: TTT Mentor Program

·               *     Bright Horizons Early Education and Preschool “Science Rocks” Photo Booth

Capture your Carnival experience and the excitement of your young scientists   at Bright Horizons' Science Rocks themed photo booth. Stop by with the whole family!      by: Bright Horizons Early Education and Preschool

• Science Club for Girls: STEM Internship Program

What do underwater remote-operated vehicles, muscular dystrophy, cell phone applications, and plant flowering time have in common?      They're all things that our High School STEM Interns are working on this year.    Come by the Science Club for Girls STEM Internship booth to find out more!   by: Science Club for Girls

• Boston GreenFest

Learn about recycling through recycled art!  by: Foundation for a Green Future, Inc.

• The Innovation Institute Visits the Street!

The Innovation Institute is an after school and weekend science and engineering academic enrichment program for students in grades K-11. We are a vibrant learning community that focuses on the "how's" and "why's" --  stimulating critical thinking through hands-on investigation and design.             by: The Innovation Institute

• Science of Silly Putty!

Make your own silly putty! The MIT Undergraduate Biochemistry Association will provide materials and teach the science behind the fun and unusual properties of silly putty!     by: MIT Undergraduate Biochemistry Association

GAME CORNER

• TestTubeGames Booth

Come play the latest science creations from local game studio TestTubeGames. Make a whirling solar system, solve particle physics puzzles, or fly through electric fields in these browser and mobile games.       by: TestTubeGames

• LED Art!

Do you like art, colored lights, and/or science? We will be creating designs using LEDs!   You can come by and create your own masterpieces using different colored LEDs while also learning the basic idea behind circuits. So be sure to stop by for some fun LED Art!       by: MIT Society of Women Engineers

• Hello, Watson

Test your wits against Watson, the IBM computer featured on the popular quiz show Jeopardy!

• East End House

Showcasing various hands-on, STEM-focused games that youth in East End House’s Middle School Program have created; this will include sharing the game design and engineering insights that the youth have discovered throughout the process.  Participating youth will be led through discovery-based learning to design, prototype, and produce games that engage STEM concepts in an age-appropriate and fun way.       by: East End House

ROBOT ZOO

• If Only There Was a Way to Throw Yoga Balls...

One robot is a frisbee tosser. The other is a robot that throws and picks up a  yoga ball!    by:   CRLS Robotics Team  (Cambridge Rindge & Latin School)

Special Performance:

·          Marvelous Molecules in Play    Science demonstrations geared toward middle school aged children that are designed to entertain and inspire. Experiments and demonstrations might include the combustion of elements, a smoking chemical transformation, hot potato carbon dioxide balloons, a colorful chemical reaction, playing with liquid oxygen, and other inspirational demonstrations.

 Two Shows: 12:30pm and 2:00pm. Each of the shows lasts about one hour.

by: MIT Chemistry Department & MIT Alumni Association/ Club of Boston

Gateway to Science: Sports and Games Episode 2

GATEWAY TO SCIENCE:  SPORTS AND GAMES             March 5, 2014       Quincy Access TV

As promised, here is what the show covered:
A)  A review of the difference between linear, or straight-line, momentum.  
Demonstrated this (1) by rolling a ball, which follows its natural tendency, a straight line,  generating linear momentum,
and (2) by giving it a turn and making it spin in a circle, and because it goes constantly at 360 degree angles, generating angular momentum. 

TODAY'S VIDEO    Science of NHL Hockey:  Hockey Geometry  Includes circles and angles, too, but more.  It includes squares and many other shapes.  Its the geometry of hockey.  The video introduces all the shapes associated with a hockey rink.  Clearly explains angles and their relationship to a circle.         I used two pencils to illustrate this.  We saw that a hockey stick lies at an obtuse angle of 135 degrees (called the "lie" of the stick) and, in fact, a stick just happened to be lying around and was shown to the audience.    ; )

Different types of angles pertinent to hockey:   Angle of access (AKA angle of attack) to the net needs to be restricted by the defenders to keep the attackers from getting the puck into the net.  Another angle:  When the puck hits the board, the angle is called the angle of incidence.  The puck ricochets, or rebounds, off the board at the same angle, called the angle of reflection.  (This has applications, too, in basketball and in the physics of light.)

After the video we resumed what we started in the first show, reading a story I'd written for children, The Sled:  A Matter of Some Gravity.  Erin Corbett, a special needs teacher, was kind enough to come on the show (her first time on TV!) and read the book with me, taking turns as we went through it.  Erin did beautifully, and I really enjoyed doing it with her.  Reminder:  the story--which talks about give and take between energy and gravity in climbing and going down a hill--is elsewhere on this blog, so you can read it, too.  Who knows, some day maybe I'll be able to get it published and tell you where you can buy or borrow it!!

How can you get involved?  I issued an invitation to people to try writing similar stories:  Stories with a science lesson worked into the dialogue.  Try it, it's fun!  And send them in to me, please!

Announcements:  1)  Mad Science at the Quincy Library on Saturday morning, March 15 on Acids and Bases.  2)  Ongoing activity is at the Boston Museum of Science called Science in the Park.  An indoor playground, it displays signs at all of the stations (swings, seesaw, and others) that explain the physics of the activity.  If you don't have a membership, get passes at the library, and you can book up to 2 weeks ahead.

By the way, did you see the Sport Science Newton Awards on ESPN last month?  A brand new awards show, it features outstanding athletic events and uses a video demonstration to explain the physics behind it.  I missed it, but Frank saw half of it, and I look forward to finding it again, on ESPN or ESPN2. 

Remember.  Sports and games are the gateway to science -- and YOU hold the key!!

                                                                        INFO
VIDEO
Science of NHL Hockey:  Hockey Geometry  NBCLearn.com or science360.gov

MY BLOG
sportscience-kathy.blogspot.com

THE SLED:   A MATTER OF SOME GRAVITY   

                                Kathy Dullea Hogan, 2013

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Katherine.  Katherine’s father took her to a hill nearby so that she could go sledding down the little hill. 

Now, anyone who has enjoyed riding on a sled knows this:  You have to do some work first before you can coast down a hill.  Katherine had to climb up the hill, pushing down the snow with each step, and pulling her sled behind her.   Well, for the first ride her father pulled it for her.  He showed her how to sit on the little sled with her feet out in front.  He gave her the rope to hold on to.

“Are you ready, Katherine?” he asked. 

“I’m ready, Daddy!”

“Okay, then, off you go!” he said as he gave the sled a little push. 

The sled began to move slowly, then a little faster.  Katherine was excited and shouted, “Whee!” as the little sled went even faster.

 

As she reached the bottom of the hill and the sled came to a stop, she turned her head and found Daddy there, too.  He had run down the hill.   “Do it again,” she shouted, turned around, and started pulling the sled up the hill, by herself this time. 

Well, up and down that hill she went over and over and over.     She did a lot of work each time to climb that hill, but the ride down was so much fun -– no work,  she loved to shout “Whee!” on the way down. 

Finally -- it was time to go home and get ready for supper.  On the way home, Katherine told her Daddy, “That was fun!” 

“It sure was.  Do you know why it was so much fun to go down the hill, Katherine?”

“No, Daddy, why?”

“Because of gravity.  Gravity pulls you downhill.”

“I didn’t see anything pull me.”

“That’s right, you can’t see it.  But it’s there.  It’s like the air, it’s like the wind.”

“Like the wind?” 

“That’s right.  You see the leaves blowing when the wind blows, don’t you?   But you can’t see the wind.”

“Oh.”

“So gravity is something like the wind.  It’s there.  But you can’t see it.  You can feel what it does.”

“Oh.” 

“It pushes down.  It makes it easy to go down the hill -- and harder to go up the hill.”

“I know.  It’s hard to go up.  But on the way down, it’s not, it's easy,” Katherine said.

“That’s right, Katherine, very good.”

By now they had arrived at the corner of their street, Ocean Street.  Katherine’s friend Lois was in front of her house, two doors away from their house.   The two little girls started talking. 

Daddy told Katherine she could talk to Lois but then to come home right away. 

When she heard her mother call her, she said good-night to Lois and ran home. 

She went home and forgot her sled!

At home she had supper and told everyone  about all the fun she had coasting down the hill.  Later on, Mommy read her a story, then she went to bed.

The next morning she woke up and got dressed and asked if she could go coasting again.  As soon as she said it, she remembered that she had left her sled down the street.   

“Mommy, I left my sled outside.  Can I go get it?” she asked.

 

“Where is it?” 

“Oh, it’s near Lois’ house.”

“Oh, dear.  Well, go and take a look.”

Excited about going back to that hill, Katherine confidently walked to Lois’ house to get the sled.  When she got there, she got a big surprise.  

The sled was not there!  How could this be?  She had left it there, so of course it should still be there.  But it wasn’t.  What could have happened, she wondered.

She ran home.  “Mommy, my sled isn’t there!” she cried, her lower lip quivering.

“Oh, Katherine, that’s too bad.    I think someone might have stolen it.”

“What’s ‘stolen’?”

“Stolen is when someone takes something that doesn’t belong to them.”  

“But that’s my sled!”

“I know, but sometimes people take things they shouldn’t.  That’s why we have to take care of our things.  That’s why we have to put things away and not leave them outside.”

“But I want to do the sled again.”

“I know.  We’ll find something else you can use.  But let this be a lesson:  What do we need to do with our things?”

“Take care of them,” she sniffled.

“That’s right, Katherine."  She put out her arms. 

Come here, give Mommy a hug.”

                               ########################

SCIENCE VOCABULARY

ENERGY        Energy is needed to do any kind of work. The sun gives us energy to grow our food. Then we get our energy from the food we eat.

We can pass this energy to a ball we kick, for example. In The Sled, our energy is used to help us pull the sled up hill. Then when we get to the top, we use our energy to push off and away.

FORCE     There are three kinds of forces:

Pulling

Pushing

Turning

In this story we learn about pulling and pushing forces. We cannot see the force, but we can feel and see what it does.

GRAVITY           Gravity is a pulling force that is in every single thing, no matter how big or how small. Small things have much less gravity; bigger things have much more gravity. Gravity pulls us down -- toward the ground. When we are going up a hill, gravity is pulling against us in the other direction.

This is why it is harder work to climb a hill. On the other hand, when we go down a hill, now gravity helps us go down. In fact, the farther we go down hill, gravity helps us to go faster and faster.

PULL         A pulling force comes straight back and toward you

PUSH       A pushing force goes straight ahead and away from you

WORK     Work is simply using energy and passing it along to something else or someone else.

For example, in The Sled, the work is:

Climbing the hill

Pulling the sled

Pushing off on the sled

ACTIVITY 1

You need: a toy car         a book

Open the book. Place it face down on a table or the floor. You have an uphill ramp and a downhill ramp.*

Place your toy car at the bottom of one side of the book. Will the car go up the book by itself? No, of course not, it needs your energy! Pick it up and roll it up the side of the book until it rests on the back of the book.

Now point it in a downward direction and let go. Did the car need a push from you? Not this time. Why? Gravity did the work and pulled it down for you.

ACTIVITY 2

You need: a wagon          a friend                a very low hill

Ask your friend to sit in the wagon   while you pull them up the hill. Then pull them down the hill. Which way was easier? Which was harder? Why?

Then ask your friend to pull you in the wagon.   Ask the same questions.

ACTIVITY 3

You need:     a bicycle

The next time you come to a hill when riding your bike, think about what you've just learned here!

*  Any ramp or hill is also called an inclined plane:
    -- An inclined plane is one of six simple machines.
    -- The others:  lever; wedge; screw; wheel and axle; rope and pulley
    -- Simple machines make it easier for us to do work.

GATEWAY TO SCIENCE: Sports and Games, Episode 1

                                              MY NEW TV SHOW!    

THESE ARE THE TIMES YOU CAN VIEW IT ON QATV, CHANNEL 8:
Fri., Feb. 14, 6:30 p.m.  --  Sat., Feb. 15, 8:30 p.m.  --  
Sun., Feb. 16, 12 noon  --   Mon., Feb. 17, 4:00 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 21, 8:00 p.m.  --  Sun., Feb. 23,  6:00 p.m.

Well, I've just done episode 1 of Gateway to Science:  Sports and Games.  It was done with the help and facilities of Quincy Access TV.  Glad to have finally gotten it started!  Frank was my co-host.  After a conversation about some background of the show, we later showed two videos put on by the National Science Foundation (Science360.gov) and NBC (NBCLearn.com).  

The first video was "Figuring Out Figure Skating."  Before showing it, we reviewed two of its science points.  The first was about how a figure skater speeds up and slows down while spinning.  She gains speed by pulling in her arms, close to her center of axis and reducing drag.  She slows down by extending her arms, away from her center of axis, increasing drag.

 

The second science point concerns angular momentum.  Normally when you think of momentum, it's about motion going in a straight line, also called linear momentum.  However, it is different when something is turning.  When the force you apply to someone or something is a turning force, we call this torque.  Torque generates angular momentum.  Why is it called angular momentum?  Think of a circle.  A circle has 360 degrees, full of angles as you go all around the circle.  This is why we say a rotating or turning object has angular momentum.

Using a swivel chair from the studio, we tried to illustrate how a figure skater speeds up and slows down.  However, the initial spin wasn't too strong.  The extending and pulling in of the arms of the volunteer -- Frank -- did not illustrate this point as dramatically as we hoped it would.  We didn't want to try it again for fear of his getting dizzy!  (I got dizzy doing a practice spin!)

After showing the video, I read off a list of other videos that I recommend watching for different reasons.  They are:

AIR LIFT:  SKI JUMP     About generating lift.  Beautiful to look at.

BLADE RUNNERS:  SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING   3 laws of motion

DOWNHILL ALPINE SKIING     Focuses on the 2nd law of motion.
                                            Speeding forces and slowing forces.

SAFETY GEAR                        Good explanation of elastic collision.

BOBSLEDS, BANKING ON SPEED   Pulls many physics terms together; 
                                                  brings in some history with Galileo.

SHAUN WHITE AND ENGINEERING THE HALF PIPE     Well illustrated.
Attention skateboarders!  Relates design and engineering.

SCIENCE OF SKIS - SCIENCE OF SKATES - COMPETITION SUITS
These videos get into materials science and engineering.

MATHLETES      Arithmetic, algebra, calculus applications.  Geometry, too:  great illustration of the angle of access at the hockey net.




After this, in preparing to show "Aerial Skiing, Ski Jump," I presented a preview of the video.  Aerial ski jumpers employ three different types of twisting:
1, The WHOLE BODY is involved with contact twisting. When you apply torque to a mass, the rotating mass has angular momentum.
2, The ARMS use tilt twisting, precise arm movements that regulate spin, speed and orientation.
3, The LEGS move in a way similar to that used in hula hooping.

Hula hooping was then nicely demonstrated for us by Mark Crosby of QATV who, happily, did not require too much cajoling to be pulled in as a volunteer.  He did quite well.

After the video was over, we segued from the Winter Olympic sports to the popular winter sport of sledding.  I read the first few pages of a book I wrote, "The Sled:  A Matter of Some Gravity."  I wrote it a year ago when I had a chance to work with some of the children at Head Start, Quincy.  Being there with the children spurred me on to write a story for them in which a little science is added to a child's play.  I only had time to read a few pages, but at the next show I'll read the rest of the story.  I hope anyone with young kids will encourage them to watch.

I showed an assortment of some of the things I've been collecting over the years, including sport science books, games such as jump ropes, toys such as balloons and frisbees, etc.  They'll be used in future shows.

WOULD LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK ! : )

When I learned to set up this blog, I didn't think about encouraging people to sign on as a Follower, nor to post comments or to ask questions.  A lot of people have looked at this, and I'd love to know your reaction to it.  Love to hear from you!

"BREAKING" NEWS

Two months ago -- October 21, 2013 -- I had an experience that was a very effective lesson in Newton's laws of motion.  Let me "walk" you through it.


1st law of motion:  I was an object in motion with a tendency to stay in motion (this is called inertia) until I came in contact with an unbalanced outside force.

TRANSLATION:   I stepped off the sidewalk near the Union Oyster House, looking to be sure there was no traffic in the road.   As I did so, I didn't see a pothole, stepped in it and fell flat on my face!    Now I was an object at rest, with a tendency to stay that way.  (This, too, is called inertia.)
 
2nd law of motion:   
         Force = mass  x  acceleration      
TRANSLATION:   I had been walking at a good clip (acceleration) and, seeing that my size is more than I would like (mass), the resultant force was considerable.

3rd law of motion:   Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
TRANSLATION:      As my right foot hit the edge of the pothole, the pothole pushed back on my foot.  My foot lost, the pothole won.  My 5th metatarsal broke.

                                                                    

It is quite a bit better now, thank you, but I'm walking with a limp.  Hopefully that will improve in time.

THINGS I LIKE TO DO - an "interest inventory"

This "Interest Inventory" is suggested to go with the proposal below for a school club that focuses on sports and games.  The purpose of the club is having fun and discovering the underlying physics and geometry of the things we like to do for fun.

THINGS I LIKE TO DO (OR WOULD LIKE TO DO) – 

Please check off things that apply to you.  You can elaborate and give details.  Anything not here that you want to include, add at the bottom.   

Use the other side if you need to.

_____DOING THINGS WITH MY HANDS:

_____ENJOY READING:

_____GOOD AT FIXING THINGS:

_____PLAYING SPORTS:  

_____COLLECTING THINGS:

_____CARPENTRY, PAINTING:

_____ARTS AND CRAFTS:

_____LIKE TO TEACH THINGS:

_____DOING RESEARCH:

_____PLAYING CARDS, CHESS, GAMES:

_____MUSIC:

_____SWIMMING:

_____CAMPING, FISHING:

_____DAYDREAMING, SPENDING SOME TIME ON MY OWN:

_____VIDEO CAMERA:

_____COMPUTER:

_____WRITING:

_____DRAWING:

_____PHOTOGRAPHY:

_____IMAGINATIVE:

_____ORGANIZED:

_____DEPENDABLE:

_____I  FEEL COMFORTABLE AS A LEADER:

_____CONSCIENTIOUS:

_____OTHER: