Activities
Meteorites
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The solar system consists of an enormous number of objects in orbit around the sun. Like any other kind of science, to learn about the solar system we need to make observations. The problem is that almost all of the things we want to study in the solar system are too far away to bring back to the laboratory. So, we must rely on messengers from space to tell us something about planets, stars, and other objects in space. Light is the messenger that telescopes collect to learn about the motion, temperature, and gases of the solar system. Meteorites are rocky messengers that can give us direct evidence about how planets formed, what they are made of, and what goes on inside stars.
The purpose of this activity is to introduce some methods for locating meteorites, both finds and falls, and to learn more about and participate in the ongoing science involving meteorites. There have been approximately 20,000 meteorite fragments collected as of 2004. Of these, a very small fraction are falls.
- Cloud Chamber
- A cloud chamber at the University of Illinois
Popcorn Neutrinos
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This lab models a reaction in which there was an apparent loss of energy which led to the proposal of the neutrino in 1931 by Wolfgang Pauli. In beta decay experiments, scientists found an apparent loss of energy. Either the Law of Conservation of energy was not true in beta decay, or there was another unknown, and, at that time, undetectable particle, which was released and ultimately responsible for the "loss" of energy.
In the process of doing this lab, students will see the value of accurate measurements and the use of the scientific method when confronted with an apparent contradiction in basic scientific laws. The mass will be measured to see if it is conserved when popcorn is popped.
With adaptation, this lab can be used in grades 9-12, in physical science, chemistry, physics or integrated science classes.
Micrometeorites
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Most of the meteorite material that reaches the surface of the Earth is really small in size. That's a good thing, of course, because the big ones are catastrophic. The biggest impacts wiped out lots of the species on our planet, and the evidence is good that this happened many times during the history of life on Earth.
Every day, several tons of extra-terrestrial stuff is swept up by the Earth as it travels around the Sun. (By extra-terrestrial stuff, we don't mean little green men. Just material not originally from the Earth)
In this activity, we will learn how to mine and collect micrometeorites and create a collection to help us understand the following:
- Why is so much of this material small in size?
- How can we find it, or intentionally collect it?
- How can we organize it?
- How can we understand our collection as part of the work that meteorite scientists do?
Making Cloud Chambers
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The cloud chamber, also known as the Wilson chamber, is used for detecting particles of ionizing radiation. In its most basic form, a cloud chamber is a sealed environment containing a supercooled, supersaturated water vapour. When an alpha particle or beta particle interacts with the mixture, it ionises it. The resulting ions act as condensation nuclei, around which a mist will form (because the mixture is on the point of condensation).
Here we learn how to build and troubleshoot our own Cloud Chambers to see this phenomenon ourselves!
