Mentos and Diet Coke

You've all probably seen the famous youtube video by now or know what happens when you drop Mentos into coke.(if you haven't: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKoB0MHVBvM)
Believe it or not, this isn't magic, it's science! This week we used this experiment to learn about the scientific method, specifically independent and dependent variables. We attempted to figure out why this phenomenon happens, and tried to change some aspects of the experiments to locate the cause. We tried different types of soda, different types of mentos, temperature of soda, and a few other variations. We learned that when you change factors like this, you are manipulating the independent variable, thus causing an effect on the dependent variable. We had fun and made a mess, but most importantly we had fun with science.

Teachers can use this experiment in just about every field: Physics teachers could use it to make rockets, biology use it to teach the scientific method, chemistry could get to the root of why mentos released the CO2 in coke, the options are endless!!!

A really cool and inexpensive device for delivering the mentos to the Diet Coke can be found @ http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/geyser-tube

Note: We chose Diet Coke because for whatever reason, it tends to have the best reaction.

Thanks for Reading!
Mr. Nappen

First WebQuest!

I have just finished my first WebQuest! For those of you who do not know a WebQuest is a teaching tool that a teacher can use to have their students use the internet to learn about a concept. I look at it as a "scavenger hunt" of sorts. The teacher sets the student in the right direction, but it is up to the student to figure everything out for themselves. Too often students are spoon fed material thus WebQuests are a great way to differentiate instruction. Here is a link to my first WebQuest! It's all about Stem Cell Research!

http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=69349

Thanks for reading!
-Mr. Nappen

Science is the poetry of reality!

If you love T-Pain and science then this video is for you!! This song actually plays while you wait to go into the planetarium @ the Franklin Institute. Enjoy! Gotta love the Stephen Hawking part!!

Cool Site!

www.crayon.net

You can create your own newspaper!  I am using this site in a WebQuest I am creating, I will be posting it as soon as I am done.

Thanks for reading!
Mr. Nappen

A Great Webquest

Parents and Friends,

Today I learned how to use WebQuests in the classroom. For those of you who do not know, a WebQuest is an inquery based lesson format in which most of all the information that learners work with comes from the Web. WebQuests are created by educators and are subject specific. The one I found coincides with a lesson on genetics. It gives the students the option to choose a disorder and do research. The grading rubric is right on there, and there is an oral presentation aspect.



 Here is the link:
http://www.rbhs208.org/sterling/genetic%20disorder.htm

Thanks for reading,

Mr. Nappen

First Blog! Ooh-Blek!

I'm new to blogging, and very excited to see how this process works out. I think the best place to start is to talk about my Methods of Teaching Science class since I have not been able to get into the field yet.I have been busy preparing for the Praxis II General and Bio tests.

We did a great lab called Ooh-bleck. Apparently this is a popular lab because I mentioned it to my girlfriend and she said she had done it before. Basically its a really cool way to teach students about the properties of matter (solid/liquid/gas). Ooh-bleck, made popular by Dr. Seuss, is this crazy cool substance that has properties equal to solids and liquids depending on what you do to it. If you tap your finger on it, its solid, if you hold it on there, it's liquid... you can pour it, but if you hit it with a hammer, it sort of shatters... weird I know, you almost have to see it to believe it. I've posted a link to an ooh-bleck lab similar to ours. If you have a kid and want to make ooh-bleck the recipe is really simple. It'll cost you around 2 bucks at the supermarket, and it is very safe (its only corn starch and water w/ food coloring).

http://education.jlab.org/beamsactivity/6thgrade/oobleck/index.html


The cool thing about the ohhbleck lab is that you can use it on just about any age group from 1st grade to high school. It really helps students hone in their skills on the scientific method, and also can help them learn about the properties of matter.

Thanks for reading!!

Mr. Nappen

Test

This is a test blog.