Friday, June 5, 2026

Go Micro-scale in Physics!

 Okay, this is a reach.  Some equipment, such as balls, ramps, rules, and cars, aren’t harmful.  (BTW we use a one-meter board cut at Lowe’s as a ramp.  There was some difficulty explaining why we needed exactly one meter.). There are several small-scale or micro-scale labs in Physics.  

Circuitry: Petri Dish Electrolysis explores electric current.  By all means watch the Flinn video!  (This reddit post might help, if you understand redox.  I use LEO the Lion says GER, not OIL RIG.  CAT goes GER helps to reinforce cathode.)


More Circuitry: Another small-scale circuit lab is the Exploratorium’s Squishy Circuits.  (Here is the commercial Squishy Circuits product.  Here are instructions for using play dough with Makey Makey.). The Exploratorium’s instructions use a button battery—creating a small scale experiment.

Gas Laws: Sizing up Temperature, Charles’ Law, is both a Chemistry and Physics lab.

Optics: Laser Jello requires laser pointers.  Rob uses unflavored gelatin and Jello in Petri dishes.


Newton’s Laws: Start with the STEMonstration video before reading Air-Powered Mass, part of the Mass vs.Weight Series.  NASA’s STEMonstrations, such as Momentum, tend to be small scale, rather than micro-scale, and use simple materials, such as marbles.  (Yes, wading through NASA’s resources is frustrating.)  

Heat, Temperature, and Conduction uses water and metal washers—my type of lab!  It’s simple, explains a concept, and doesn’t cost much.  Use the cup and metal washers with this Inertia demo or this easy lever activity.  

I have had exactly one student interested in  Ferrofluids.  The kit and materials are expensive.  Here is a bit of background.  I did find DIY Nano!, written for kiddos.  Whenever I’m exploring a new topic, I start with elementary or middle school materials.  Really.  Nanoscale is more of a science than Physics topic; however, I think high school, upper-level students are better prepared to understand nano scale ideas.



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