Information:
• The Summer SMART program for web page development will be held at IIT; July 26-August 6, 2004, 1-5 pm. Note that the date has been changed, because of conflicts with other programs.  Sign up now if you want to be included.  Admission is limited to high school classroom teachers of mathematics and science, with priority given to high school physics teachers.
• The syllabus for SMILE courses, which appears on the SMILE website at location http://www.iit.edu/~smile/syllabus.htm has recently been updated.  We have prepared a more detailed description of teacher presentations, which includes the the following statement:

  "Over half of the lessons have strong visual, auditory or tactile components, which also makes them meaningful to handicapped students. Furthermore, the content of most of the lessons is readily adaptable to students at various levels, including students with special educational needs."

  Many thanks to Roy Coleman for help in preparing  this revised document!
• Write-ups for academic year SMILE meetings for the current semester may be found at http://www.iit.edu/~johnsonp/acysmile.html, and write-ups from previous semesters are permanently located at http://www.iit.edu/~smile/biweekly.htm.

Thanks for the ideas, Chris!

Chris Etapa [Gunsaulus Academy]         Force and Motion Illustrated with Rockets
Chris made a mortar tube about a meter long from a piece of poster board, rolled up to a diameter of about 15 cm -- which was large enough to hold a small inflated balloon.  We divided into groups, each group blowing up a balloon and holding in the air without tying it.  We then taped a Styrofoam® cup over the end of the balloon, to serve as a nose cone.  While still holding it shut, we put the balloon into bottom of the tube, and then let it go.  The balloon rocket took off, and went across the room!  We discussed how Newton's 3rd Law (action-reaction) was involved.

Chris -- with a little help from Terri Donatello -- then showed us how to make a straw rocket.  We again blew up a balloon, and taped a soda straw to its side.  A long cord, several meters long, was threaded through the straw and then stretched taut across the room..  When Chris let go of the balloon, it zipped across the room, the straw traveling along the string that served as a track for the rocket.

Chris then showed us how to make an Alka Seltzer® rocket. She took a 35 mm film canister (with its snap-on cap) and taped a paper nose cone onto its bottom. She put some vinegar (dilute acetic acid in water) into the canister, added 1/2 of an Alka Seltzer® tablet, put the cap on, and turned it upside down (nose cone up) on the floor.  Carbon dioxide gas, which is produced by the chemical reaction NaHCO₃ + H⁺ ® Na⁺ + H₂0 + CO₂ (gas), causes a pressure increase inside the canister, and the cap is blown off.  The rocket goes straight up, and very fast!  Pat Riley pointed out the importance of the ideal gas laws in explaining the pressure increase that produces the launch. For more details see Film Canister Rocket by John Scavo on the SMART home page at location http://www.iit.edu/~smart/scavjoh1/lesson2.htm. 

Chris distributed the following questions for discussion:

Force & Motion
1. What provides the force that propels the balloon rocket upward?
2. How is this like a real rocket?
3. What provides the force that propels the Alka Seltzer® rocket upward?
4. How is this like a real rocket?
5. What happens when the vinegar and Alka Seltzer® mix together?
6. Explain how Newton's 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd Laws are at work, or if they apply at all, for each rocket.

This was a blast! Very good, Chris!

Ed Scanlon [Morgan Park HS, biology]         A Comparison of Hominoid Skulls
Ed passed out several pictures of hominoid skulls (frontal, profile, and basilar views for the skulls of Australopithecus africanus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Neanderthal, and Homo sapiens).  Ed obtained the information, along with explanatory materials, from Science Kit / Boreal Laboratories:  http://sciencekit.com/, kit number 46973: Hominid Skull Comparison: An Investigation of Hominid Evolution.  He also distributed a data chart for their classification, which contained the following entries:

• Specimen Number -- Specimen Name -- Geologic Age
• Forehead (Frontal Bone) -- Vertical/Horizontal?
• Supraorbital Brow Ridge -- Small/Medium/Large?
• Sagittal Crest -- Yes/No?
• Maximum Cranial Breadth (mm)
• Maximum Braincase Length (mm) -- (not including crest)
• Foramen Magnum -- Centered/Toward head /In between?
• Nasal bones -- Arched/Flat/In between?
• Maximum Breadth of Nasal Opening (mm)
• Maximum Height of Nasal Openings (mm)
• Length of Maxilla (mm)
• Chin -- Yes/No/In between?
• Facial Prognathism -- Minor/Pronounced/In between?
• Facial Slope (in degrees)
• Dental Arcade -- Straight Sided/Diverging?
• Incisors -- Slanted out/Vertical/In between?
• Canine Length (mm)
• Canines Jut -- Yes/No/In between?
• Canine Diastema -- Yes/No/In between?
• Combined chewing surface (mm²)

Each group got one set of drawings (numbered but not named), on which measurements with protractors and metric rules could be made.  We discussed common features of the skulls, as well as features most useful in distinguishing the skulls.  The goal was to analyze various features and determine their importance in deciphering evolutionary relationships, by measuring and describing various hominoid skulls.  Although humans and other primates have many similarities, humans did not evolve from apes.  The evidence seems to point to a common ancestor for primates.

Which of these skulls was human??  Very nice, Ed!

Joyce Bordelon [Moos Elementary School]         Simple Machines
Joyce passed around some information on simple machines, which contained patterns for each of the six simple machines --the inclined plane, the wedge, the lever, the wheel and axle, the pulley, and the screw.  These template patterns could be cut out and glued or taped together to make each of the machines.  The information packet, Simple Machines, was prepared by Carmen O Pagán and Lily T Reyes, bilingual teachers at Talcott School. For more information see the Simple Machines Learning Site:  http://www.coe.uh.edu/archive/science/science_lessons/scienceles1/finalhome.htm.We discussed the simple machines that are found in various mechanical systems in the human body.  Levers are present in the arms and the jaw, the teeth constitute a wedge, and ball-and-socket joints probably correspond to a wheel and axle system.

Interesting points, Joyce! Thanks!

Lilla Green  [Hartigan Elementary School, retired]         A Discovery Activity
Lilla fitted three volunteers with blindfolds, and then gave them a series of items, which they tried to identify only by touching and feeling  The first item, for example, was a clothespin.  Other items were balloons, a small piece of play dough, a rubber band, and various paper clips.  Lilla stated that the Shakers invented the clothespin. For more details see the Public Broadcasting Service website The Shakers for Educators: http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/shakers/educators/.  Lilla passed out a lesson plan for using clothespins in a discovery activity, relating to their properties, their history, the application of simple machines in the design and construction of clothespins, and other uses for them.  In particular, she described an exercise for using one or more clothespins, along with other materials, to design a useful tool, such as a bag closer or a recipe holder.  As an extension, she suggested that the anatomy of a fish's mouth determines their food source.  The fish has to catch, hold, chew, and swallow their food.

Very interesting ideas, Lilla!

Ron Tuinstra [Illiana Christian HS, chemistry]         Environmental Science Activities
Ron distributed these four activities that he had personally developed and used in class as Soil Laboratory exercises, which can be performed with soil samples brought to class by students:

• Activity A: Infiltration
  1. Obtain ring stand, filter paper, and beaker.  Place filter paper in funnel.
  2. Fill funnel about 1/2 full with dirt.  Level the dirt in the filter paper.  Be sure to keep the dirt below the top of the filter paper by 3 cm.
  3. Place empty beaker under lower end of funnel.
  4. Measure 20 ml of water with a graduated cylinder.  Slowly and carefully pour all the water into the dirt in the funnel, taking care not to let the water rise above the top of the filter paper.
  5. Start timing for 5 minutes.  Measure and record the amount of water in the beaker under the funnel at the end of 5 minutes.
  6. Compare your results with other groups in the class.
• Activity B: Water holding capacity
  1. Obtain clean dry beaker; 150 ml or 250 ml capacity.  Weigh and record mass of your empty beaker.
  2. Measure out two teaspoons of your dirt into the beaker. Weigh and record the mass of the dirt and beaker. Subtract the mass of the empty beaker to determine the mass of dirt in the beaker.
  3. Place the beaker and dirt on a hot plate for 10 minutes.  Remove the beaker from the hot plate, let it cool to touch, and record mass of beaker and dirt.  Subtract the mass of the empty beaker to determine the mass of dry dirt.
  4. The difference of the original mass of the dirt minus the dry mass is the mass of water driven out of the dirt.
  5. Divide the mass of the water by the original weight of the dirt.  Multiply that number by 100 to calculate the percent water in your dirt.
  6. Record all numbers on your lab sheet.
• Activity C: Soil structures
  1. Obtain a dissecting microscope, a glass petri dish, and a dissecting needle.
  2. Place a spoon full of your dirt onto the petri dish. Place it on the dissecting scope and observe the dirt.  Using the dissecting needle, try to identify insects, humus, sand, silt, and clay in your dirt.
  3. Record all your observations on your worksheet.  Be sure to list any organisms you observe in your dirt?
  4. What particles could you identify? What insects or organisms, if any, did you observe?  What color is your soil?
• Activity D: Soil particles
  1. Obtain a clean dry beaker, 500 ml or 1000 ml capacity.  Place 2 teaspoons of dirt into the beaker.
  2. Add water until your beaker is about 1/2 full.  Mix well with a plastic spoon.  Let settle for a minute or two.
  3. How much material is floating on top the water?  What do you think it is?
  4. Observe the color and cloudiness of the water in the beaker.  On a scale of 1-4, with 1 being clear and 4 opaque, rate the cloudiness of your water.  Record this observation on your worksheet.
  5. Note the presence of sediment at the bottom of the beaker.  Carefully pour out the water from the beaker, using care not to lose the sediment.
  6. What does the sediment look like?  What material was removed when you poured the water and left the sediment?  How is this like soil erosion?  
• Additional Questions
  1. Based upon the soil types you learned in class (loam, sandy, silty, clay type), how would you classify your soil sample?
  2. What would you estimate the percentages are in your sample for sand, silt, and clay?  Compare this with loam: (40 % sand;  40% silt; 20% clay).
  3. How many different organisms, if any, did you find in your soil?
  4. What would you add to your soil, if anything, to make it a better soil?

Great stuff! Thanks, Ron.

Notes taken by Benjamin Stark.