PC Format Collection 7/PCFORMAT07.iso/DISCOVER/DOC/README5.TXT

Text File | 1994-05-27 | 10KB | 302 lines

===APPENDIX B: EXTENDED LEARNING MODULE======================================

This section gives instructions for making some discoveries of your own at
home or school.

PROJECT 1: Understanding Time

How long is long?  Construct a time line of the Universe to identify
historical events.

1. Find Materials:

   a. a twelve month calendar

   b. pencils, crayons, rulers

2. Using your blank calendar, use the scale below to record the history of
   the Universe through the twelve months.  Decorate the locations of the
   various events with your own drawings and artwork.

1 month = 1.25 billion years.  Scientists believe the universe began on
January 1, (about 15 billion years ago).  The Earth began to form about
September 1 (5 billion years ago).

1 day = 40 million years.  Dinosaurs appeared on December 26 and vanished on
December 30 (this means they lived about 140 million years on the Earth).

1 hour = about 1,666,666 years.  Humans appeared about 9:00 p.m. on December
31 (about 5 million years ago).

1 minute = about 27,778 years.  Fire was discovered and agriculture developed
during the last two minutes of the last day of December (about 52,000 years
ago).

1 second = about 463 years.  Recorded history began during the last seven
seconds of December 31 (about 3,500 years ago).

3. Taking it further...

   a. Make a different time line showing the important discoveries since the
      beginning of man's existence.  (Magellan's trip to the Americas,
      Newton's theory of gravity, and other important events).

   b. Make a time line to reflect historical landmarks in the space program,
      transportation, medical fields, etc.

   c. Make a personal time line showing the important events in your own
      life.

   d. Make a mobile time line indicating historical events on a hanging
      string.

PROJECT 2: Making a Viewer

CAUTION: MUST BE SUPERVISED BY A TEACHER OR PARENT!

What do I really see?  Make a pinhole viewer.

1. Find Materials:

   a. small cardboard box

   b. ruler, pencil, black tape

   c. a hobby knife

   d. tracing paper, flashlight

   e. small object (like a toy block)

2. Construct your camera.

   a. Hold each part of the box up to the light.  Look for any points shining
      on the inside the box.  Cover any holes which allow light into the box
      with black tape.  Now the box is "light proof."

   b. Use the compass point to poke a clean hole in the center of the top of
      the box.

   c. In the center of the bottom of the box draw a rectangle 2 1/2 inches by
      1 1/2 inches.  Carefully cut this out with the hobby knife.  This hole
      is the "aperture."

   d. Cut a piece of tracing paper large enough to fit over the rectangular
      hole.  Tape the paper to the box with the tape, making sure there are
      no gaps.

   e. Put the top on the box and put black tape on any gaps around the lid.

3. Now, put your viewer on a table in front of the toy object, the pinhole
   facing the toy.  Standing in front of the viewer, look at the tracing
   paper while someone shines the flashlight onto the toy from several feet
   away.  Look at the aperture (the tracing paper) and notice that the
   object appears upside down.  This is because the light shining on the toy
   is reflected at every angle away from it.  Only a small number of light
   rays can pass through the pinhole.  Since light travels in straight
   lines, the image will appear inverted.

4. Taking it further...

   a. Use your pinhole viewer to look at sunspots.  Remove the box top and
      hold the top up, parallel to the sun.  Put a piece of paper on the
      ground.  Look for the image of the sun on the paper.  Hold still and
      watch for sun spots (magnetic storms in the sun's upper gaseous
      layers).

IMPORTANT: Never look directly at the sun! Never look through the pinhole
directly at the sun.

PROJECT 3: Making a Compass

CAUTION: MUST BE SUPERVISED BY A TEACHER OR PARENT!

Show me the way:  Make a compass and learn to use it.

1. Find Materials:

   a. a straight pin, a knife

   b. a styrofoam cup

   c. small bowl or pie tin

   d. a magnet and water

2. Making your compass.

   a. Cut a 1/2 inch square of styrofoam cup.  Make a narrow groove at the
      top, large enough to hold the pin.

   b. Magnetize the pin by rubbing it 50 times with the magnet in one
      direction; start at one end and slide it to the opposite end.  Make a
      small semi-circle over the pin with the magnet after each stroke.

   c. Float the square with the magnetized pin in it in the pan of water.
      When the water is calm, watch the pin move to a north-south position.

   d. Give it a slight push to change the direction.  If it's magnetized, it
      will return to the north-south direction.  Mark north, south, east, and
      west in the room.  The "compass" will return to its north-south
      position because the Earth has its own magnetic field.  The pin inside
      a real compass is a magnet.  It will point north, telling you which
      direction you are facing (in relation to which way is north).

PROJECT 4: Making a Kite

How can it fly?  Make a kite and experiment with aerodynamics.

1. Find Materials:

   a. plastic (supermarket) bags

   b. plastic straws, tape

   c. newspaper, pencil

   d. a hole punch, scissors, ruler

   e. string, permanent markers

2. Making your kite.

   a. Measure a pattern on the newspaper to match the diagram on your screen.
      Cut this shape out and set aside.

   b. Cut your plastic bags so that the shape you cut out of the newspaper
      will fit onto the bag.

   c. Put the newspaper pattern on the bag and trace the shape.

   d. Carefully cut out the shape.  Mark a triangle shape in the lower
   center of the bag and cut it out carefully. (see diagram in the
   Extended Learning Module in the Discoverers program)

   e. Tape two straws together, end to end and set aside.  Repeat this step.

   f. Tape the far corners of the shape and use the hole punch to make a
      small hole in the center of the taped areas.

   g. Place the straws on either side of the shape.  Tape the ends of the
      straws to the plastic, then tape down the center of each straw.
      (see diagram in the Extended Learning Module in the Discoverers
      program)

   h. Attach a 40-inch string to the holes on the outside of the corners of
      the shape--this is the bridle string.

   i. Attach a long flying string to the middle of the bridle string and fly
      the kite outside in strong winds.

3. Use permanent markers or paints to decorate your kite!

PROJECT 5: Making a Map

How do I get there?  Make a map of your house and neighborhood.

1. Find Materials:

   a. pencils, rulers

   b. large grid graph paper

   c. tape measure

2. Making your map.  On the graph paper, map your bedroom, using ceiling or
   floor tiles as square feet in the room.  Note the entrance, your desk,
   bed, and anything else that takes up floor space.  Make another map of
   your neighborhood, adjusting the scale.

3. Verify the map with your parents or siblings.  Map making only works if
   the map is readable to others!

PROJECT 6: Using a Prism

What color is light?  Use a prism to experiment with light.

1. Find Materials:

   a. a prism

   b. white paper

   c. heavy paper with 1/4 inch slit

   d. a light source

   e. darkened room

2. Hold the heavy paper with the slit in it up to a ray of light (use high
   wattage if using a light bulb).  Have a friend hold up the white paper,
   opposite the heavy paper.  Hold the prism, by the edges, in between both
   sheets of paper so that the light coming through the slit hits the prism.
   The colors coming through the prism will strike the white paper making the
   colors easy to see.

3. Taking it further...

   a. Move the prism, changing the angle and varying the distance between the
      two papers.

   b. Experiment with mirrors.  Try to separate the colors so they reach
      different parts of the room.

   c. Make a cardboard disk ruled into 50 equal parts (like a pie).  Count
      the divisions into 6 equal sections and color them in (white, primary
      and secondary colors).  Put a pin through the center of the disk and
      attach it to the eraser of a pencil.  Give it a spin.  The faster you
      spin the disk, the whiter it gets!

PROJECT 7: Understanding Topography

Looking down:  Observe rocks to determine topography.  Relate this to the
process used to map the surfaces of the planets.

1. Find Materials:

   a. 3 different-sized and -shaped rocks

   b. an empty bucket or tub

   c. a bucket full of water

   d. waterproof permanent black marker

   e. paper and pencils

   f. towels for clean-up

2. Steps to determining topography:

   a. Add about 1/4 inch of water to the empty bucket and place the first
      rock into the water.  Remove it and mark the water line with the
      marker.

   b. Replace the rock and add about 1 inch of water to the bucket.  Again,
      remove the rock and mark the water line with the marker (see diagram
      in the Extended Learning Module in the Discoverers program)

   c. Repeat the above process as many times as you can, adding 1 inch of
      water each time, until you reach the top of the rock.

   d. Repeat the procedure with the other two rocks.

3. The views from above the drawn lines is a demonstration of the contour
   lines.  When you are finished you will be able to view the contour lines
   of three different-sized and -shaped rocks.

4. On the paper, try to draw the contour lines, showing the topography of the
   rocks.  Examine the relationship between the contours and the actual shape
   of the terrain.

5. Taking it further...

   a. Get topographical maps of local camping and hiking areas and plan
      several trails through the terrain.  Try to make the trails cover easy
      and difficult paths.

   b. From the rocks above, figure out the best locations for a space station
      or human habitation of some type, by looking at the contour lines
      created.