Mad Scientists Club - Experiments
by Olivia Taylor Copyright 2019 by Olivia Taylor under Creative Commons Non-Commercial License. Individuals and organizations may copy, reproduce, distribute, and perform this work and alter or remix this work for non-commercial purposes only.

NEBRASKA HONORS PROGRAM CLC EXPANDED LEARNING OPPORTUNITY CLUBS INFORMATION SHEET:
Name of Club: Mad Scientists

Age/Grade Level: varies; Grades 2 - 3rd and 4 - 5th

Number of Attendees: 12-15

Goal of the Club: The goal was to expand the children’s knowledge of basic science principles through demonstration and hands on experiments. Resources: University of Nebraska Lincoln Honors Program

Content Areas: (check all that apply)

☐ Arts (Visual, Music, Theater &Performance)
☐ Literacy
☒ STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering &Math)
☐ Social Studies
☐ Wellness (Physical Education, Health, Nutrition &Character Education)
Outputs or final products: The club did not have a final product, but during many of the weekly experiments we made items the children could take home to show their friends and family.

Introducing your Club/Activities: I led a science club to two groups of kids at separate times. Through experimentation I taught the kids basic natural science fundamentals. We did an experiment each week and a mini lesson to describe the experiment after.

General Directions: Each week once we got to the classroom I took attendance, introduced what we were doing that day, then performed either a demonstration or an experiment with the students. After the experiment was finished we cleaned up then I explained how and why the experiments worked the way they did.

Tips/Tricks: While working through the experiments it worked out best to perform each step with the students and all work at the same pace.

Students will discuss the effects of sunlight. Next, they will be introduced to the task of designing and constructing a device to reduce the effect of sunlight. In groups, students will design and then construct a tent that will keep an ice cube from completely melting before the uncovered control ice cube melts. Students will test the effectiveness of their tents. This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

This course explores the origins of magic, science, and religion as forms of belief within and across cultures. It addresses the place of rationality and belief in competing sociocultural theories, with a focus on analyzing modern perspectives. It also examines how cases of overlap between magic, science, and religion raise new questions about modernity and human nature.

In this activity about light and perception, learners create pictures in thin air. Using a simple set up of a slide projector, slide, moveable screen or poster board, and a "wand", learners investigate how we see projected images such as those from movies and television. Use this activity to help learners understand concepts associated with light and optics including persistence of vision, reflection, and map projection.

This is a booklet containing 37 space science mathematical problems, several of which use authentic science data. The problems involve math skills such as unit conversions, geometry, trigonometry, algebra, graph analysis, vectors, scientific notation, and many others. Learners will use mathematics to explore science topics related to Earth's magnetic field, space weather, the Sun, and other related concepts. This booklet can be found on the Space Math@NASA website.

Students study magnetic field by using a classroom-made magnetometer. They use iron filings to reveal the magnetic field lines and record their observations on a sketch map.

Magnets are all around us. In fact, the Earth is like a giant magnet. Have you ever thought about how magnets work? In this seminar you will learn about magnets and how they attract or repel different materials. By the end of this seminar, you will be able to compare and contrast the poles of magnets and accurately describe how these poles work.Standards 3.2.4.B4Demonstrate that magnets have poles that repel and attract each other.

Magnets are fun to play with, but how can we use magnets to improve our lives? In this lesson, students explore magnets to determine their strength, polarity, and how they attract and repel each other. Then they use the engineering design process to create inventions that use magnets to accomplish a task. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Learn about the fundamental connections between math and music, in four Acts: "Rhythm," "Frequency," "Harmony," and "Fractals." Concepts presented in the video documentary are reinforced by hands-on experiments using the Google Chrome Music Lab Experiments. Learn the instructional design process used in creation of The Majesty of Music and Math incorporating Universal Design for Learning and the methodology of assessing non-cognitive skills using a combination of gains in Experience Level, Depth of Knowledge, and Performance Quality.

This video from KET traces the energy transformations that occur when coal is burned to produce electricity. Some of the mechanical processes are also described.

The lesson will begin with students comparing and contrasting the physical properties of ice and water using a Venn diagram graphic organizer. Next, the students will describe the physical properties of ingredients needed for a microwave mug cake. The students will bake a chocolate microwave mug cake to demonstrate that some changes in matter caused by heating and cooling are irreversible. Lastly, the students will create a written and pictorial response comparing the water and ice to the microwave mug cake to provide evidence that some changes in matter can be reversed, while others can not. This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

In this adapted ZOOM video segment, cast members get hands-on in the recycling process by using old newspapers to make new paper.

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members make a seismometer and experiment with different ways to make it register movement.

The Malaysia Sustainable Cities Practicum is an intensive field-based course that brings 15 Graduate / Professional students to Malaysia to learn about and analyze sustainable city development in five cities in Malaysia. The students in the Practicum will help determine the extent to which these efforts have been successful. They will identify specific projects or policy-making efforts that the following year’s cohort of International Visiting Scholars can examine more closely. " Lead Faculty Professor Larry Susskind Teaching Assistants Jessica Gordon Yasmin Zaerpoor Administrative Staff Takeo Kuwabara Selmah Goldberg

The purpose of the resource is to produce a land cover type map from hard copies of Landsat satellite images.

This video adapted from NASA explains how a magnetometer determines magnetic fields around planets.

This book is about how to read, use, and create maps. Our exploration of maps will be informed by a contextual understanding of how maps reflect the relationship between society and technology, and how mapping is an essential form of scientific and artistic inquiry. We will also explore how mapping is used to address a variety of societal issues, such as land use planning and political gerrymandering. You will gain insight into the technical underpinnings of mapping as a science approach, complement on-going interest and activities, or provide an applied focus for research or policy.

Students will create micro-landforms outside in order to mimic landforms and generate maps.

Students will describe features shown on topographic maps as they plan a route for a bicycle race around the school neighborhood. First, they will create clay mountains and learn how to make topographic maps of their landforms. Then they will interpret topographic maps made by other students in the class to match each mountain to its map. Finally, they will use topographic maps of the school campus to plan an exciting but safe bike race route. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.