Colorado State University
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What is Energy?
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In this exploratory activity, learners experiment, observe and determine how various toys change from one form of energy to another.
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CD Spectroscope
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In this activity, learners use an old CD to construct a spectroscope, a device that separates light into its component colors.
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How Can Gravity Make Something Go Up?
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In this activity, learners use cheap, thin plastic garbage bags to quickly build a solar hot air balloon. In doing so, learners will explore why hot air rises.
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How can Clouds Help Keep the Air Warmer?
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In this activity, learners explore how air warms when it condenses water vapor or makes clouds.
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Root Beer Float
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In this quick activity/demonstration about density, learners examine what happens when two cans of root beer--one diet and one regular--are placed in a large container of water.
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Can You Make Ice Cream in Two Minutes?
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In this demonstration, learners observe how liquid nitrogen both boils and freezes ingredients to make ice cream in two minutes.
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Two Ball Bounce
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This is a quick, yet dramatic activity/demonstration that introduces learners to the concept of energy transfer. A small ball is placed on top of a large ball and both are dropped together.
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Vanishing Rods
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This is a quick activity/demonstration that introduces learners to the concept of index of refraction. Learners place stirring rods in a jar of water and notice they can see them clearly.
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Do Cities Affect the Weather?
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In this activity, learners explore clouds and how they form.
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Why do Hurricanes go Counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere?
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In this kinesthetic activity, learners will play a game with a ball to demonstrate the Coriolis force, which partly explains why hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere rotate counterclockwise.