Module Descriptions

Module 1: Building a Better Raincoat (20 minutes)

In this module the scientists guide the students through a discussion on what makes a good raincoat, brainstorm ways to make a raincoat, and demonstrate a water repellent fabric. We have the students participate in testing fabric to determine its suitability as a raincoat, then brainstorm on ways to further improve the material.

Key ideas: Cooling mechanisms of the human body; differences between liquids and gasses; transforming material properties of fabric; scientific testing of a hypothesis.

SC Education Standards covered:

6-1.4 Use a technological design process to plan and produce a solution to a problem or a product (including identifying a problem, designing a solution or a product, implementing the design, and evaluating the solution or the product).
7-1.2 Generate questions that can be answered through scientific investigation.
7-1.6 Critique a conclusion drawn from a scientific investigation.
8-1.3 Construct explanations and conclusions from interpretations of data obtained during a controlled scientific investigation.
8-1.4 Generate questions for further study on the basis of prior investigations.
8-1.2 Recognize the importance of a systematic process for safely and accurately conducting investigations.

Module 2: Creating a Fabric for Inkjet Printers (20 minutes)

This module emphasizes real world applications of scientific principles. The first section provides a review of electricity and charged particles. The students participate in a series of conductivity experiments and then see how charged particles and surfaces can be used to make fabric for inkjet printing. The second section demonstrates chemiluminescence and includes a brainstorming session on possible uses of this kind of chemistry.

Key ideas: Charged particles and electrical attraction; electric circuits; application of scientific principles; chemiluminescence

SC Education Standards covered:

6-1.4 Use a technological design process to plan and produce a solution to a problem or a product (including identifying a problem, designing a solution or a product, implementing the design, and evaluating the solution or the product).
6-5.2 Illustrate energy transformations (including the production of light, sound, heat, and mechanical motion) in electrical circuits.
7-1.2 Generate questions that can be answered through scientific investigation.
7-1.6 Critique a conclusion drawn from a scientific investigation.
7-5.1 Recognize that matter is composed of extremely small particles called atoms.
7-5.3 Compare the physical properties of metals and nonmetals.
7-5.5 Translate chemical symbols and the chemical formulas of common substances to show the component parts of the substances (including NaCl [table salt], H2 O [water], C6 H12 O6 [simple sugar], O2 [oxygen gas], CO2 [carbon dioxide], and N2 [nitrogen gas]).
8-1.3 Construct explanations and conclusions from interpretations of data obtained during a controlled scientific investigation.
8-1.4 Generate questions for further study on the basis of prior investigations.
8-1.2 Recognize the importance of a systematic process for safely and accurately conducting investigations.