This semester has more themes to it than the previous one. We will be focusing on the senses and various scientific subjects that go along with our basic senses. This semester is a lot of fun and uses a lot of recycled materials to make some pretty awesome science experiments. If you are new to STEM make sure to look back at our STEM Basics page to give you a solid foundation for this lab group.
Hearing - In this lab we will explore hearing, how we hear and how other creatures hear. From that point we will construct different types of ears and test them out to see how the different ears change how creatures hear compared to how we hear.
Experiments
Rot
- Rot is absolutely amazing and vital on our planet. Without rot dead
trees, animals, and other life would build up and make it difficult for
new life to thrive. In this lab we will examine how things rot (from
insect breakdown to fungal breakdown).
Smell - Our sense of smell helps us know when danger is near (smoke from a fire) or when it has just rained. It also aids our sense of taste and is constantly affected by dust, pollen and other pollutants in the air. This lab will introduce students to their sense of smell by getting rid of their other senses and see what they can do with it (determine what smell they are smelling, find their way through a simple maze by smell and find ways to get rid of unwanted smells).
Sense of Touch - Our sense of touch extends to our entire body, from the top of our heads to the bottoms of our feet. It helps us to know when things are too hot/too cold for our cells to handle, if something will irritate us, if something is unstable and we should not step on it, etc... In this lab we will determine between our feet, hands and lips which are most sensitive. We will also see between students who is more sensitive to certain materials over other ones on their skin and will see who has the most sensitive touch when crossing a lab path strewn with touchy feely objects.
Magnetism - Although we may not think about it, our lives are controlled by and exist because of magnets and the fields that they create. Our planet has a large magnetic center creating our magnetic field, which protects us from solar winds and helps birds to migrate. In this lab we will do simple experiments with magnets to learn how they work and what they can be used for.
Sight - In this lab we will be looking
into how our eyes see and how our eyes can play tricks on us or see more
than is really there. We will use optical illusions, shape patterns and
demonstrations to get a better look at this fascinating ability.
Batteries - Batteries drive everything in the electronic age, from our watches to our cell phones we need batteries to have our portable electronics function. Batteries are a simple chemical reaction that can be created in all sorts of materials. In this lab we will use common fruits and vegetables to make and test our own batteries, it will be a fun and enlightening (bad joke intended) lab.
Insulation -It keeps ours houses warm in the winter and cool in the summer, it also helps polar bears and seals brave the chilly arctic seas and keeps us from getting burned on hot water pipes. Insulation is an important part of life and comes in many forms. In this lab we will explore insulation and work to create our own insulated environments out of different materials, which will prove to be the best?
Sense of Taste - Our sense of taste works hand in hand with our sense of smell, but can stand alone as something truly amazing. In this lab we will take our other senses out of the equation and see how our sense of taste works and stands on its own to determine what we like and do not like using this singular sense.
*Special Learning: The National Park Service is absolutely AMAZING and you can request materials for your STEM Club for various Junior Ranger Programs through their website. To correlate with several of the labs we are working on this round we are doing the Junior Cave Scientist Program throughout the course of this lab grouping (with the students earning their Junior Ranger Badge at the completion of the Lab Group).
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