Three Egg-cellent Science Experiments for Spring!

Easter is just around the corner, but before you start dyeing eggs, experiment with them first! Here are three egg-cellent science experiments from science-sparks.com just in time for spring.

Eggs always break so easily. Or so you thought. To make an egg unbreakable, all you need is cling wrap! Wrap the egg in cling wrap, place it in your palm and close your hand around it so your fingers are completely wrapped around the egg. Squeeze as hard as you can. The egg should remain in one piece and your hands should stay clean. If you're feeling bold, do the same thing without the cling wrap.

Age-old bouncy balls don't have anything on bouncy eggs. To make an egg bounce, place the egg in vinegar for a couple of days to remove the shell. Be careful when you remove the shell and wash the egg - if you puncture the membrane, it will break. To bounce it, drop it carefully from a low height and the egg should bounce back up from the surface. Try bouncing it on different surfaces. Better yet, try to figure our at what height the egg breaks.

Honey, I shrunk the egg! For this experiment you'll need two eggs, water, two glasses, vinegar, sugar and a pin. Get started by removing the shell of the egg after soaking it in vinegar for at least 24 hours as you did when creating a bouncy egg. After you've exposed the membrane, make up a concentrated sugar solution by dissolving sugar into water. Place one egg in water and the other in the sugar solution. Let them sit for 24 hours. You'll notice that the egg in the sugar solution looks much smaller than the one in the water. Prick the egg that was in the water glass with a fine needle and watch a jet of water shoot out! Put the shrunken egg in water and watch as it grows and reabsorbs water (this may take a few hours). 

For seven more eggy experiments, check out the Science Sparks website.

Mitochondria: The Powerhouses of the Cell

Are you looking for a quick science lesson for 9-12 graders? Something that will engage them and interest them...? Take a look at PBS' "The Powerhouse of the Cell." This short five minute video introduces students to something that takes place right inside their bodies thanks to mitochondria. 

Cellular respiration is the process most cells use to convert food molecules to energy. In multicellular organisms like humans and trees, cellular respiration takes place in the mitochondria. These important organelles and the high-energy molecules of ATP they produce power virtually every biochemical reaction that takes place - both in your body and in the plants and animals around you!

Mitochondria play host to one of the most important processes in your body: cellular respiration. Taking in glucose and oxygen, mitochondria produce energy, which they capture and package as energy-rich molecules of ATP. In PBS' video, the structure and functions that give mitochondria their nickname - "the powerhouses of the cell" - are described.

After students view the video, use follow up discussion questions to keep the conversation about mitochondria going. 

• What are the differences in the muscles of a sprinter and a marathon runner?
• How would you explain that skin cells have a lot fewer mitochondria than muscle cells?
• If you looked at heart cells, would you expect to see a lot of mitochondria or only a few? Why?

This curriculum was produced by the WGBH Educational Foundation and funded by the National Science Foundation.

Swift's Motic Cameras Magnify Learning

The Vandalia Drummer News ran a great story this morning on how microscope cameras are impacting the learning atmosphere of Butler High School - one biology experiment at a time.

The cameras fit over the eyepiece of the school's existing microscopes and are linked via USB to a computer monitor at each lab station. While the students still mount their slides like normal, they manipulate them using the computer.  Since students don't have to pass the microscope back and forth, collaboration is encouraged and ample time is saved - two things every teacher values.

Butler High School biology teacher Kelly Stevens is quoted in the story as saying, "One of the downfalls of working with just one microscope is that only one student can see what's on the slide at a time. Now everyone sees the same thing in real time, and I can get around the classroom faster."

Coupled with Motic software, which allows students to capture video of their slides, make time-lapse photos and do side-by-side comparisons of their specimens, these cameras are generating a buzz at Butler. With the software, teachers can even "push" electronic documents from their computer to each lab station. Students then complete the assignment and "push" it back to their teacher, making for completely paperless labs. 

Stevens insists in the article that while the new technology is great, it doesn't do the learning for the students.

He told Vandalia Drummer News that, "students still have to learn how to use the microscopes; the technology doesn't do the work for them. We are doing the same things we have done in the past, this just takes it to a new level."

Can there really be a down side to this story? Unfortunately, yes. Just one classroom at Butler is hooked up with the new technology. This means that Stevens and the high school's other biology teachers must all share the space so all students benefit from the technology.

As Stevens put it, "The cameras have made us so much more efficient in the classroom. It would be nice if we could equip all of our biology classrooms with this technology."

Read the Vandalia Drummer News story.