Innovative Uses of Vernier Technology

In addition to our large variety of experiments offered in our curriculum, teachers use their creativity to bring excitement to the classroom. Find out how our sensors have made the ordinary into the extraordinary!

Doing something innovative in your classroom? Tell us about it by e-mail at innovativeuses@vernier.com

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Showing 19 results in General Science, most recent entries shown first.

Title	Excerpt	Products Used
Exploring Animated Vector Displays in Logger Pro	There are so many powerful features available in our Logger Pro software, it is easy to miss one. One such feature is the ability to display vectors using an Animated Display meter. Data from accelerometers, force sensors, and motion detectors are perfect for creating a 2-D animated vector display. You can even display an animated vector right on a video used in video analysis. Vectors displayed on a swinging pendulum video To help get you started, we have created a Logger Pro file t... [more] Science Subjects: General Science, Physics	Logger Pro 3 25-g Accelerometer Low-g Accelerometer 3-Axis Accelerometer Dual-Range Force Sensor Force Plate Motion Detector Vernier Wireless Dynamics Sensor System Go!Motion
Forestry Survey using a Vernier GPS	In late October 2005, employees from Vernier participated in a tree planting event in conjunction with the organization Friends of Trees. We planted 200 trees in the wetlands area surrounding nearby Beaverton Creek. Below is a table that shows the quantities of each type of tree that was planted, along with some general notes and estimated survival rates. Qty Species Common Name Estimated Survival Rate Notes 40 Alnus rubra Red Alder 50% fast growin... [more] Science Subjects: Biology, Earth Science, Environmental, General Science, Life Science	Vernier GPS Sensor Vernier LabQuest Logger Pro 3
What To Do With Old CBLs?	Nüsret Hisim (Walkersville HS, Walkersville, MD) was in the same situation as many other customers: He long ago updated his interfaces to newer LabPros or CBL 2s. Here are some creative ways he makes use of those older, original CBLs: Use them as stand-alone meters. The original CBL not only had a meter screen on the unit, but it also came with three inexpensive sensors—temperature, light, and voltage. Simply turn on the CBL, connect one of these senso... [more] Science Subjects: General Science	Force Plate LabPro Interface Logger Pro 3
Comparing LED and Traditional Holiday Lights	LED lights are becoming much more common. They�re used in traffic lights, bicycle lights, flashlights, message displays, and their application is growing. LED holiday lights have been available for several years; however, the sales of the LED versions lag behind the traditional incandescent lights, primarily because of cost. (LED lights can be as much as five times more expensive.) Nevertheless, LED lights have several important advantages over conventional incandescent bulbs, including ... [more] Science Subjects: Engineering, General Science, Physics	Light Sensor Surface Temperature Sensor Vernier Spectrometer LabPro Interface Logger Pro 3
Students Monitor Classroom Conditions	Two groups of local science students from Westview High School, Beaverton, OR, recently won honors with projects using our sensors to monitor their school environment. Julio Montano, Jose Perez, and Josean Perez used our temperature sensors to monitor classroom temperature and how it affects student attention span. The project won awards at the science fair. One of the science fair judges told the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about it, and the students w... [more] Science Subjects: Environmental, General Science, Physical Science, Technology	CO₂ Gas Sensor Stainless Steel Temperature Probe LabPro Interface Logger Pro 3
Forensics Death Scene Investigation	Students at Susquehanna Township High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, participated in a program where the students studied the life cycle of the blowfly and its relationship to the decomposition of a deer. This program motivated 9th grade student Drew Evans to do some further investigation for his science fair project. Drew was intrigued with the effect that temperature had on the activity of the insects. Knowing that death scene investigations focus on deter... [more] Science Subjects: Biology, General Science, Integrated, Life Science, Physical Science, Technology	Logger Pro 3 LabPro Interface Stainless Steel Temperature Probe
Measuring a Plant's Response to Gravity	Judy Day, with the Science House, a NC State University K-12 science outreach program, has developed an activity investigating a plant's response to gravity. Judy uses a ProScope USB digital microscope to record changes over time in a plant that has been placed on its side. For best results, Judy recommends using an Arabidopsis thaliana (the wild variety) having an inflorescence stem at least 10 cm long. Here is a brief description of Judy's procedure: ... [more] Science Subjects: Biology, Environmental, General Science, Life Science, Middle School Science, Physical Science, Technology	Logger Pro 3 Basic ProScope HR Kit
Investigating Airport Sound Levels	Sound levels of airplanes at take off and landing Anyone who lives along the flight path of a major airport knows that sound pollution is an unpleasant fact of life. Riley Wilson, Tim Horton, and Mario Bautista, 8th grade students at Hughes Middle School in Long Beach, California, know this all too well, often having instruction interrupted as planes fly over their school. Airplane noise in the Long Beach area is a frequent topic ... [more] Science Subjects: Earth Science, Engineering, General Science, Middle School Science, Physics, Technology, Environmental, Life Science	Sound Level Meter LabPro Interface Logger Pro 3
Around the World with LabPro	Ute Kaden is the first teacher in Brownsville ISD, Texas, to teach AP Physics. To keep the interest of her students at Hanna High School, she literally spans the globe in search of new and exciting ways to bring real-world data into the classroom. Recently she took her Vernier LabPro and sensors to the North Pole! At a latitude of 89� 58.5' she measured salinity, temperature, barometric pressure, and acceleration due to gravity. Her results? g = 9.801 m/s2 ... [more] Science Subjects: Earth Science, Environmental, General Science	Barometer Salinity Sensor Stainless Steel Temperature Probe LabPro Interface
Thanksgiving Experiments	Michele Perin of St. Louis, Missouri gets pretty creative with her Vernier labs. She doesn't have a lab for EVERY season yet, but she has written some tasty experiments for Thanksgiving! How Quickly Does Your Potato Cool? Have you ever sat down to a Thanksgiving dinner only to find that the potatoes have gotten cold while other dishes were being readied? Does the size of the potatoes affect how long they stay hot? Download experiment (PDF 229 KB) ... [more] Science Subjects: General Science, Physical Science, Physics, Physiology, Technology, Biology, Life Science	Dual-Range Force Sensor pH Sensor Stainless Steel Temperature Probe LabPro Interface Logger Pro 3
The Volume of a Person	Eric Koser and his 9th grade physical science students at Mankato West High School in Mankato, Minnesota, had spent a lot of lab time doing experiments studying mass, volume, and density with overflow cans. When the discussion of the density of a person came up, Eric took on the challenge to measure it. Fortunately, one of Eric�s colleagues is married to a welder, and she had her husband build a human-sized overflow can out of a 55 gallon drum. Eric placed four Vernier Force P... [more] Science Subjects: General Science, Life Science, Physical Science, Physics, Chemistry	Force Plate LabPro Interface Logger Pro 3
Hurricane Rita	While preparing to evacuate the Chinquapin School in Highlands, Texas (just east of Houston), physics teacher Brian Lamore had the presence of mind to recognize a unique data-collection opportunity. Brian set up a LabPro and Barometer in his apartment. He ran a length of rubber tubing from the Barometer through an open window. Even though the power went out sometime during the storm, the LabPro collected data throughout the storm using battery power. Brian made it through the storm safel... [more] Science Subjects: Earth Science, Environmental, General Science, Physics, Technology	Logger Pro 3 LabPro Interface Barometer
Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams	Two of the 13 teams awarded grants by the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams program in 2005 used our products extensively. The West Salem HS, OR team developed several methods of testing the ripeness of watermelon. One method was to measure the frequencies in the sound of the "thump" when the watermelon was hit by an object. They used the FFT graph of Logger Pro for the analysis. The team's mentor was Michael Lampert, who is also a 2005 Disney Teacher Award winner. The Bow HS, NH team... [more] Science Subjects: Water Quality, Physics, Biology, General Science	Digital Control Unit Sound Level Meter Logger Pro 3
Which Hot Dog Cools Faster?	Introduction Different types of hot dogs will cool at different rates after they have been cooked. This activity takes the first steps in investigating this phenomenon by measuring the rate that a warmed hot dog cools. Students can compare the ingredients of various types of hot dogs (all-beef, veggie, turkey, etc.) to help explain the differences in cooling rates. Objectives The objectives of this activity are to observe, measure, and explain the capacity of different types of hot ... [more] Science Subjects: Elementary, General Science, Middle School Science	Stainless Steel Temperature Probe LabPro Interface Logger Pro 3 Vernier EasyTemp� Go!Temp
Juggling with Logger Pro	Check out www.jug.net/wt/jgpl.htm for a remarkably complete collection of information about the science of juggling. William V. Thayer, (St. Louis CC at Meramec, Kirkwood, MO) even includes this sample graph made with Logger Pro showing the position of the balls during a juggling session. He made this graph using special gloves with aluminum-foil strips wired so that if adjacent strips were shorted out, the voltage goes to five volts. He then juggled metal-coated balls, reading the voltage fr... [more] Science Subjects: General Science, Integrated, Physics, Physiology, Technology, Biology	Logger Pro 3 Voltage Probe
Hot Biceps	Judy Day (The Science House, Raleigh, NC) has students and workshop participants use our new Surface Temperature Sensor to examine the increase of muscle temperature as a team member lifts a 2-3 lb (1 kg) weight. The Surface Temperature Sensor is designed for use in situations in which low thermal mass and/or flexibility is required. It has an exposed thermistor that results in an extremely rapid response time; therefore, it is ideal for this experiment. A student places the tip of the te... [more] Science Subjects: Biology, General Science, Integrated, Life Science, Physiology	Exercise Heart Rate Monitor Surface Temperature Sensor LabPro Interface Logger Pro 3
Mouse Support System	Gus Frederick with the Oregon Public Education Network has come up with a fascinating idea that ties into the Millennium Mars Project, a project supported by NASA and the U.S. Department of Education. The goal of this project is to design a viable Martian colony. Participants are further required to produce a visual representation of their design. Gus took this idea a step further and built a small-scale working model of such a colony using mice rather than people. His "Controlled Ec... [more] Science Subjects: Engineering, Environmental, General Science, Integrated, Life Science, Middle School Science, Physiology, Biology	CO₂ Gas Sensor O₂ Gas Sensor pH Sensor Relative Humidity Sensor Stainless Steel Temperature Probe LabPro Interface Logger Pro 3
LabPro's Antarctic Adventure	Heike Robinson, physics teacher, and sea kayaker, measures the temperature of Antarctic waters with a LabPro, Palm, and Stainless Steel Temperature Probe. Four years ago, Heike Robinson started sea kayaking. The more she learned about paddling, the more she discovered about the physics behind it. She started using examples from boating to help her students visualize many concepts, such as force, resistance, heat-flow rate (hypothermia), vector addition, and moment of inertia. In... [more] Science Subjects: Earth Science, Environmental, General Science, Integrated, Life Science, Water Quality	Conductivity Probe Light Sensor Stainless Steel Temperature Probe UVA Sensor UVB Sensor LabPro Interface Logger Pro 3
Hurricane Charley	Curt Witthoff, Secondary Math/Science Specialist for Collier County Public Schools in Naples, FL, recorded this data as Hurricane Charley pounded the coastline near his house. He used Vernier sensors with a LabPro and TI graphing calculator. The equipment was placed in a box with the sensors exposed, and left on his patio. The times on the x-axis correspond to the 24-hour clock on August 13, 2004. The pressure data tells us that the eye of the hurricane passed clo... [more] Science Subjects: Earth Science, Environmental, General Science, Physics, Technology	Barometer Light Sensor Relative Humidity Sensor Stainless Steel Temperature Probe LabPro Interface Logger Pro 3