Materials
We used a FLIR C2 infrared camera throughout the demo. A free program from the FLIR website is required to connect it to a computer.
Other IR Demo Materials
In addition to the camera and laptop, we used a mug of hot water, a cold bottle of soda, two black garbage bags, and a clear glass.
ShopVac and Telescope Stand
We zip-tied the hose to a telescope stand. The vacuum we used was a 2 horsepower, 5 gallon version. We found it to be a bit loud, but doable. Other options are explorable.
Maser Bags
A ziploc bag containing an Easter egg, strips of paper, two starburst, and a roll of tape for the kids to make their masers.
Activites
Looking Through Bags
Put the mug of hot water and cold soda in a black garbage bag. The infrared camera will allow the students to look right through the bag.
Hand in Front of Glass
The glass will block the infrared light, a reversal of the infrared going through the bags, helping the students get the idea that some types of light goes through materials while others don't. The students seemed to really enjoyed this part.
Kids in IR
Pointing the camera at the kids so they can see themselves in infrared.
Mystery Bag
Similar to the looking through the bags at the hot water and cold soda, have a kid hold one in one hand, one in the other and have the class guess which is which.
Maser Creation
This is the heart of the demo. Challenge the students to make all different kinds of "masers" using Easter eggs. We challenged them to have crazy designs, ones that trace the outer regions of the outflow (fly high), ones that trace the base of the jets/outflows (fly low), and designs that fly for long periods of time.
Teaching Points
Astronomical Techniques
Study of outflows and jets. Optical studies are challenging because of dust obscuration. Astronomers use infrared telescopes to see through clouds of gas in space to study the process of star formation. Very easy to connect with seeing through the bags.
(Image: HH24: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)/Hubble-Europe Collaboration; D. Padgett (NASA's GSFC), T. Megeath (U. Toledo), B. Reipurth (U. Hawaii) )Electromagnetic Spectrum and Blackbody Radiation
Talk about what radio and infrared light are and how they relate to visible light. We also talked about blackbody radiation and how hotter objects emit more lower wavelengths of light.
(Image courtesy Wikipedia)Aerodynamics
Connecting how the egg flies through the air (representing masers in outflows) to other parts of aerodynamics can be a good way to point students in the right direction of creating a different type of "maser clouds", one that flies high, low, or is very stable. We talked about how the paper wings caught the air pushing it up and how having the wings be asymmetrical can cause instability in the egg's flight.