Student assignment to go with Arts, Music, or PE and Materials Science
Students are to research one man-made item that contributes to art, music, or physical education/ sports. There are a variety of options so please read through the assignment carefully to make sure you put together the right arrangement of items.
Part 1: Pick a topic
A. Find a really interesting topic that will surprise people when they learn about it. For example, LEDs are a relatively new “invention” and are made by having particular ratios of gallium and arsenic, along with other heavy metals in a silicon matrix. Red LEDs were the easiest to make because they are the longest wavelength and the lowest amount of energy. They had a really hard time figuring out how to make blue LED’s. Well, a couple brilliant people figured out how to take a different approach and made the blue light possible. They won a Nobel prize for their achievement.
B. Are the plastics that make up sporting balls all the same material? What is in the center of a baseball? What are tennis racquet strings made out of?
C. The grills that some wear covering their teeth- are those more than mere metals?
D. Electric guitars- what material makes up the body of the instrument?
E. Ferrofluids- what are they? How are they used in art?
F. Why is lead paint no longer used? Why was it used in the first place? What do they use now instead of lead paint?
G. What is cinnabar? How was it used? Is it still being used by artists today?
Choose one topic- the ones listed here are just examples. Ideally there will be a sign up sheet so no topics are duplicated. Red and green LEDs are not the same as blue ones and therefore red/green LEDs and blue LEDs would be considered two different topics.
Part 1: Pick a topic
A. Find a really interesting topic that will surprise people when they learn about it. For example, LEDs are a relatively new “invention” and are made by having particular ratios of gallium and arsenic, along with other heavy metals in a silicon matrix. Red LEDs were the easiest to make because they are the longest wavelength and the lowest amount of energy. They had a really hard time figuring out how to make blue LED’s. Well, a couple brilliant people figured out how to take a different approach and made the blue light possible. They won a Nobel prize for their achievement.
B. Are the plastics that make up sporting balls all the same material? What is in the center of a baseball? What are tennis racquet strings made out of?
C. The grills that some wear covering their teeth- are those more than mere metals?
D. Electric guitars- what material makes up the body of the instrument?
E. Ferrofluids- what are they? How are they used in art?
F. Why is lead paint no longer used? Why was it used in the first place? What do they use now instead of lead paint?
G. What is cinnabar? How was it used? Is it still being used by artists today?
Choose one topic- the ones listed here are just examples. Ideally there will be a sign up sheet so no topics are duplicated. Red and green LEDs are not the same as blue ones and therefore red/green LEDs and blue LEDs would be considered two different topics.
Part 2: Explain the science going on in the material
What sciency thing is going on in the material? Does it alter energy? Light? Sound? Does the physics of the material change? If so, how?
If you chose a topic that won the inventors a Nobel prize, be sure to mention which prize they won and why.
Part 3: Provide your information to an audience
Use Buncee to make a presentation. The slideshow gives you hints and tips you may find helpful with Buncee.
This link will take you to Buncee: https://www.edu.buncee.com/home
What sciency thing is going on in the material? Does it alter energy? Light? Sound? Does the physics of the material change? If so, how?
If you chose a topic that won the inventors a Nobel prize, be sure to mention which prize they won and why.
Part 3: Provide your information to an audience
Use Buncee to make a presentation. The slideshow gives you hints and tips you may find helpful with Buncee.
This link will take you to Buncee: https://www.edu.buncee.com/home
A few "rules"
You may not merely show someone else’s video, nor may you steal segments of someone else’s video. If you choose to present with video, it must be unique. You can use Buncee's uploader to upload the video file.
If you make an animation to explain the science, a 30 second explanation is probably long enough. It is not easy to make a good animation. Focus on quality, not quantity if you make an animation or do StopMotion photography.
If you make a video, 3 – 5 minutes long is good.
If you make a slide show presentation, use at least 20 slides. Follow good slide presentation practices.
You may not merely show someone else’s video, nor may you steal segments of someone else’s video. If you choose to present with video, it must be unique. You can use Buncee's uploader to upload the video file.
If you make an animation to explain the science, a 30 second explanation is probably long enough. It is not easy to make a good animation. Focus on quality, not quantity if you make an animation or do StopMotion photography.
If you make a video, 3 – 5 minutes long is good.
If you make a slide show presentation, use at least 20 slides. Follow good slide presentation practices.
Resources:
These websites may be useful for content:
Materials World Modules: http://www.materialsworldmodules.org/modules/list_of_modules.shtml
MAST: http://matse1.matse.illinois.edu/
Materials science in sporting performance: http://www.iom3.org/materials-world-magazine/feature/2012/aug/04/material-differences-materials-science-sporting?c=574
The science of sound: Examining the Role of Materials in Musical Instruments: http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/jom/0708/roncone-0708.html
Where art and technology meet:
· http://www.robaid.com/bionics/where-art-and-technology-meet-materials-science-and-music.htm
· http://www.robaid.com/tech/where-art-and-technology-meet-ferrofluid-sculptures.htm
· http://www.robaid.com/tech/where-art-and-technology-meet-kaleidogami-and-kinetogami.htm
These websites may be useful for content:
Materials World Modules: http://www.materialsworldmodules.org/modules/list_of_modules.shtml
MAST: http://matse1.matse.illinois.edu/
Materials science in sporting performance: http://www.iom3.org/materials-world-magazine/feature/2012/aug/04/material-differences-materials-science-sporting?c=574
The science of sound: Examining the Role of Materials in Musical Instruments: http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/jom/0708/roncone-0708.html
Where art and technology meet:
· http://www.robaid.com/bionics/where-art-and-technology-meet-materials-science-and-music.htm
· http://www.robaid.com/tech/where-art-and-technology-meet-ferrofluid-sculptures.htm
· http://www.robaid.com/tech/where-art-and-technology-meet-kaleidogami-and-kinetogami.htm
LED image from: http://pixabay.com/en/led-semiconductor-diode-light-red-153883/
These resources may be useful for presentation types of things (yes, you may use something that is not listed here).
- List of some resources at Pearson website
- Prezi, but please be kind to me and if you can control the speed, make it slow. I get motion sick from Prezi presentations.
- Projeqt- looks multimedia-ish
- Moovly- animated video
- If I was actually in a classroom, I would have an Animoto account for my kids.
- Present.me- I don't know why with that link, it appears you can get a free account. It may just be the standard 14 day free trial.
- Knovio- video enhnced online presentations
- Storybird, but I had some difficulty establishing an account
- Any Google App like Slides or Googlio
- Screencast-o-matic for making short video presentations
- Masher for images and more made into a movie
- We have an account with Buncee.