April 2010 Discover.ed

Energy Factory Coming Soon!

Imagination Station’s newest Learning World, Energy Factory, is opening this Spring! Energy Factory is a partnership between Imagination Station, BP Husky and First Solar to make the exploration of energy both fun and engaging!

Students will explore energy in many different forms.

The Ball Refinery

BP Husky Exhibits include:

Ball Refinery- In this exhibit, students have the chance to sort balls into various distillates. This hands-on exploration helps younger audiences understand the process of oil refining.
Voice of the Visitor- Let your students sound off! This exhibit empowers students to add their voice on an energy-related topic. It challenges students to think for themselves and listen to the responses of their peers.
Energy Quiz- What’s your energy IQ? Students will take a quiz and learn about many energy-related misconceptions.
Story Wall- Learn about the refining process, from extraction to processing and distribution in this fun and animated timeline.

First Solar Exhibits:

Photovoltaic Wall- Students are encouraged to be clouds and block out the sun. This exhibit, which fosters group involvement, demonstrates how reducing photovoltaic input affects energy output.
Solar Shooting Gallery- Students can challenge their classmates to an arcade-style shoot out while exploring the properties of solar energy.
Experimentation Station includes:
- Program a Robot- This exhibit will lead to a better understanding of how solar panels are produced. Students will understand what a high-tech job entails and learn that robots do work faster, more accurately and more cheaply.
- Follow the Sun- Students will manipulate a solar panel to understand that panels create the most electricity when they are positioned to directly face the sun.

In addition the one-of-a-kind exhibits funded by our sponsors, Imagination Station is also introducing some great exhibits that explore the properties of energy in a broader capacity, including:

Magnetic Cloud

Magnetic Cloud- Enable students to ‘see’ the shape of an electromagnetic field.
Energy vs. Power- Students can store a fixed amount of energy than release it in a low-power, a medium-power or a high-power light.
Among many others!

Energy Factory is sponsored by:

Extend Your Experience:

Visit Imagination Station’s newest exhibit, Energy Factory, and then book a Global Warming and Alternative Energy Workshop on Wheels to reinforce what students learned at the science center! This workshop includes a hands-on exploration of solar and wind power.

Additionally, an Imagination Station team member will create a cloud in a bottle to highlight the effects of air pollution on our atmosphere. Students will also model the design process as they explore the difference between polystyrene and cornstarch packing peanuts and the environmental implications of each choice. Lastly, students will construct their own alternative energy vehicles and race to determine the best design.

Additionally, there are still a few spaces available for our Walking With Dinosaurs, Teacher Professional Development, on April 15 from 4-6pm.

Call 419.244.2674 ext. 107 for more information, to book your workshop or reserve your seat at the TPD on April 15!

Try This in Your Classroom!

Heatin’ Up

Objective: To explore how energy from the sun can be collected and stored in different ways

Materials:

2 plastic bottles: one painted black, one painted white
2 balloons

Procedure:

Place the open end of one balloon on the mouth of the white pop bottle and do the same for the black pop bottle
Place both bottles in the sun. What do you think might happen? Touch the 2 bottles, do they feel the same? Why? What do you think is causing this?

Why:

The black bottle will absorb the sun’s energy much better than the white bottle. As the sun’s energy is absorbed by the black bottle, the air inside of it heats up. As the air heats up it expands to fill the balloon.

The sun is about 4.5 billion years old! Every second about 4 million tons of the sun’s matter turns into energy and only 1-billionth of the sun’s light every strikes the Earth! With all this solar energy, almost every house in the world could operate independently from gas, oil, or coal. What things do you think we could operate by solar energy? Could we reduce the amount of pollution in the world? How?

Unfortunately turning solar energy into electricity is not very efficient; however we can collect and store the sun’s energy in the form of heat. Can you name any uses for this?

Imagination Station is excited to announce our Rubber Band Car Challenge. As we speak, thousands of packets have been mailed to schools in the region. We are challenging classrooms to create cars that can travel the furthest distance and look cool doing it.

Don’t Forget….

The Rubber Band Car Challenge

Download the Rubber Band Car Challenge

There’s still time for your class to enter their submissions for the Rubber Band Car Challenge!

The Rubber Band Car Challenge is designed to help build excitement in the classroom about energy. In addition to the Rubber Band Car Challenge, we are including many different activities designed to appeal to students of all ages, abilities and interests. These are easily adaptable across the curriculum from kindergarten to high school. Some investigations can be performed individually, while others foster cooperative team skills. The time and the length of the investigations may vary from 15 minutes to an entire week of fun – it is completely up to you!

All entries must be received by May 11, 2010. The top five distances will be invited to the Imagination Station for an official race-off. The car with the greatest distance will win. Please only one entry per class.

The top cars will be displayed for all visitors to see at Imagination Station. The winning entry will receive an Extreme Science Demonstration for their entire school!

If your classroom does not receive a Rubber Band Car kit in the mail, all activities and challenge details are available on-line at www.imaginationstationtoledo.org.