One of us (ST) constructed a Blue Man Group[R] instrument from 2-in PVC piping (internal radius r = 2.54 cm) as an undergraduate project. The instrument itself is shown in Fig. 1.

Taking a breath of helium gas and then speaking or singing to the class is a favorite demonstration for an introductory physics course, as it usually elicits appreciative laughter, which serves to energize the class session. Students will usually report that the helium speech "raises the frequency" of the voice. A more accurate description of the…

Halfway through the 2015 AFC Championship game between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, game officials discovered that the Patriots were using underinflated footballs on their offensive snaps. A controversy ensued because the Patriots had actually supplied these balls to the game's referee just hours before kickoff. Athletes and…

The current study deals with freshman students who study at the Department of Science at the Faculty of Education. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of teaching electrochemistry concepts using Predict-Observe-Explain (POE) strategy. The study was quasi-experimental design using 20 students each in the experimental group (EG) and…

Analyzing evolutionary relationships requires that students have a thorough understanding of evidence and of how scientists use evidence to develop these relationships. In this lesson sequence, students work in groups to process many different lines of evidence of evolutionary relationships between ungulates, then construct a scientific argument…

Smart Glasses such as Google Glass are mobile computers combining classical Head-Mounted Displays (HMD) with several sensors. Therefore, contact-free, sensor-based experiments can be linked with relating, near-eye presented multiple representations. We will present a first approach on how Smart Glasses can be used as an experimental tool for…

This dissertation is a combination of two research areas, experimental physical chemistry, Chapters I to V, and chemical education, Chapters VI to VII. Chapters I to V describe research on the water-mediated chemistry of oxidized atmospheric molecules and the impact that water has on the spectra of these environmental systems. The role of water…

The research on the cooling law began with an article by Newton published in 1701. Later, many studies were performed by other scientists confirming or confuting Newton's law. This paper presents a description and an interpretation of Newton's article, provides a short overview of the research conducted on the topic during the 18th century, and…

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a process routinely used to produce thin films of materials via decomposition of volatile precursor molecules. Unfortunately, the equipment required for a conventional CVD experiment is not practical or affordable for many undergraduate chemistry laboratories, especially at smaller institutions. In an effort to…

We describe an inexpensive hand-held fluorescence imager (low-magnification microscope), constructed from poly(vinyl chloride) pipe and other inexpensive components for use as a teaching tool to understand the principles of fluorescence detection. Optical filters are used to select the excitation and emission wavelengths and can be easily…

This experiment introduced general chemistry students to the basic concepts of organic structures and to the power of spectroscopic methods for structure determination. Students employed a combination of IR and NMR spectroscopy to perform de novo structure determination of unknown alcohols, without being provided with a list of possible…

We present fascinating simple demonstration experiments recorded with high-speed cameras in the field of fluid dynamics. Examples include oscillations of falling droplets, effects happening upon impact of a liquid droplet into a liquid, the disintegration of extremely large droplets in free fall and the consequences of incompressibility. (Contains…

A simple charge indicator with bipolar transistors described recently enables us to perform a number of experiments suitable for high-school physics. Several such experiments are presented and discussed in this paper as well as some features of the indicator important for its use in schools, namely its sensitivity and robustness, i.e. the…

A simple, easily visualized thin-layer chromatography (TLC) staining experiment is presented that highlights the difference in reactivity between aromatic double bonds and nonaromatic double bonds. Although the stability of aromatic systems is a major theme in organic chemistry, the concept is rarely reinforced "visually" in the undergraduate…

Although cloud chambers are highly regarded as teaching aids for radiation education, school teachers have difficulty in using cloud chambers because they have to prepare dry ice or liquid nitrogen before the experiment. We developed a very simple and inexpensive cloud chamber that uses the contents of gel ice packs which can substitute for dry…