Science Demonstration 2018-2019 Project

This school year the SNHS is planning on visiting our middle school feeders to demonstrate some of the principles and labs that we have had the opportunity to learn from in high school. This will serve both as a fun interactive experience with the incoming eighth graders to TPHS, but also as a chance for them to see what Tinley Park has to offer its students who are interested in the scientific disciplines.

Presentation Details:

Our first group has an interesting lesson that comes from their studies in physics and chemistry; they are going to demonstrate sublimation by making carbon dioxide filled bubbles. Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide and it transforms from a solid to a gas without becoming a liquid, which is called sublimation. Because Carbon and Oxygen (the two elements that comprise Carbon dioxide) are nonmetals who have very similar electronegativity, they can not produce an ionic attraction. What they can create are weak attractions called the Van Der Waals interactions. Because the molecules are so weakly held together, the carbon dioxide molecules readily transform from a solid to a gas when there are minor kinetic or thermal changes in the environment. When it comes in contact with water, the dry ice sublimates into carbon dioxide gas, which is used to inflate a soap bubble on top of a container.

Our second group will demonstrate the workings of a battery using a galvanic cell. Galvanic cells Drawn from chemistry principles, this will be a great opportunity for students to dive into a subject they are unfamiliar with. As an everyday object, a battery will hopefully be relatively easy to introduce higher level concepts. The group will use two breakers of solution connected by electrodes, a salt bridge, a clock and a hot dog if time allows to demonstrate the movement of ions through a load, electricity. Students will be

Our third group will be demonstrating the practical uses of electricity and magnetism by building a telegraph using a combination of wires, small nails, and a battery. The telegraph works by sending a current through a wire which will be coiled around a nail. The coiled wire will produce a uniform magnetic field and be accentuated by the iron metal in the nail, creating an attractive force for any metal close to it. Another metal strip will be place just above the wire-wrapped nail and will be attracted when there is current in the wire (produced by the voltage of the battery). The attraction will create a clicking noise when the strip hits the nail, thus allowing for Morse Code to be produced when a switch is attached to the system.

Our fourth group has proposed a water filtration demonstration that will show the students how to make their own homemade water filtration systems to demonstrate the processes that take place in water filtration plants today all over the globe. The group will be using a mixture of mechanical and chemical processes to filter a sample of pond water till it is clear using hot glue guns, tape, straws, pipe cleaners, sand, coffee filters, charcoal, and cups. Throughout the presentation, the high school group will be explaining how each chemical or mechanical process interacts with the dirty water to clean the sample.

Our fifth group will model the effects of cellular respiration with a demonstration involving yeast and a balloon. They will demonstrate the entire process of cellular respiration by adding water and sugar to yeast inside of a tied balloon, which will cause the balloon to gradually inflate. As this occurs, the students will break down how the yeast is using the water and sugar, and what is being produced to inflate the balloon. This demonstration will provide students with an introduction to a fundamental aspect of biology and how eukaryotic organisms acquire their energy for daily tasks.