The SMILE Program @ OSU

With Easter around the corner we wanted to show you some natural ways to dye your eggs.  The SMILE Club at Forest Grove High School shared with us the experiment they completed during a club meeting.  They used things found in nature like grass, cranberries, and apple skins to create their colorful eggs.  Check out their work and have a Happy Easter!

Have you ever seen a chain do this?

For centuries, scientists have tried to explain this gravity-defying phenomena.  This chain curve, or “fountain”, happens due to the forces acting on the chain, which is explained in the video below.  The Royal Society also tries other chains to see if they are capable of creating a fountain. Check it out!

Previously on the blog we showed you how to build a biodegradable battery from washers, pennies, and vinegar. A SMILE Club from Forest Grove High School shared with us the many different objects they used to try to create a battery.  Success came when the club used a strawberry as their energy source, but what characteristics of strawberry make it a good battery? We think this video does a great job of explaining the science behind this concept:

Hopefully after watching this video you have a better understanding of anodes and cathodes.  What else could be used in place of the strawberry or lemon? Scientist Angela Belcher is working on making batteries from viruses so that batteries can be biodegradable.  In this article she expands on her research.  What do you think will make a good battery?

The SMILE club at Forest Grove High School was nice enough to share with us their pictures of them planting their poplar samplings.  We encourage you to start planting soon and we look forward to exchanging data in the future.  Remember earlier in the term we shared with you a lesson plan as well as a video to help your students learn about bioenergy.  Happy planting!

GreenWood Resources, home to the largest drip irrigation farm in the world, was nice enough to provide our workshop attendees with several varieties of poplar saplings.  With these saplings we ask that you and your students plant them and conduct your own growth experiment.  Here we have provided for you a lesson plan as well as planting instructions for your trees.  We would like to see data about your sapling’s progress and we will provide a way to share that data in the near future. Enjoy!

At the SMILE Teacher’s Workshop we showcased a plethora of great lessons plans, one of which was presented by Danica Hendrickson from Facing The Future.  She was gracious enough to share with us a PowerPoint for high school students that focuses on how we use energy everyday and where that energy comes from. Danica also recommended checking out these websites in conjunction with her lesson plan to see how much waste and energy recycling saves us.  These are great bioenergy ideas to share with your students.

Jon Roschke, a KidWind Pacific NW WindSenator from Oregon Renewables, shared a great presentation and his expertise on Wind Energy. Using prebuilt turbine towers, teachers explored the science of wind turbine blade design. Take a look at the presentation that Jon included in his workshop!

A great resource that Jon recommends is the KidWind Project website:  http://learn.kidwind.org/teach