Science kipple

[purpletigron]

There's a new science club being started on an estate near where I live, currently run by a young mother with 10 year old kids. I don't have much kipple to give them myself, so I'd be grateful for any suggestions of Free Kewl Science Stuff that you know about?

Comments

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

The link from boinboing on how to make science instrumentsw (spectrometers etc.) from household objects could be useful. I think I already sent you this link...

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

Subscription to ESA Bulletin or more suitable free ESA publications?

Glossy free material from other labs?

Give 'em a list of addresses, make a project out of writing letters to request posters, CD-ROMS, etc.?

Good ideas!

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

I've spent half an hour wrestling with the PPARC Web site, and finally (successfully) submitted an order for their free wallcharts by email direct to the webmaster!

The kids involved are from educationally deprived backgrounds, and the portacabin they are currently meeting in may well be removed soon. I like the idea of getting them to track down their own stuff, but I'd like to take some stuff along myself to get the ball rolling.

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

Here's a free cool science demo for your over-gadgeted friends. I think you may have a few.

At Minicon I was helping some kids take apart an old VCR. One of them reassembled the remote, and put in the batteries. I realized that the VCR probably had mechanical problems, but that the remote control probably worked.

I also realized that I have recently begun carrying a cellphone camera.

So I whipped out my phone and turned it into a camera. I showed the kids the infrared LED on the end of the remote. They observed that when you press the buttons, nothing appears to happen.

Then I had them point the camera at the IR LED. They could now see it flashing-- since CCD cameras tend to be sensitive in the near-infrared.

Parents and kids all took this in, and agreed it was cool.

Then some of us went into the bathroom and turned out all the lights, plunging us into total blackness, except for the glow of the cellphone display. We tried using the remote as an infrared flashlight to illuminate someone's hand. Indeed, the camera allowed us to see the hand in total blackness with invisible light. The kids thought this was very cool. I suddenly felt that my technical education was justified.

(If there's not a TV remote control around, try PDAs, which usually have IR ports.)

[artela.livejournal.com]

Don't forget geology... samples of rocks and similar are cheap (as in free), and there are plenty of web resources explaining about their make-up.