Innovative Uses of Vernier Technology

Many parts of the country experienced extremely hot and dry weather this past summer. One effect of this was increased electricity demand for air conditioning in houses and places of business. An air conditioner works by compressing a refrigerant gas, which increases its temperature. The hot gas is contained in coils and outside air is…

Subjects: Physics

Steve Decker, an instructor of electronics at Oregon Episcopal School in Portland, used the book to acquaint his students with instrumentation control. After completing exercises in the lab book, Decker’s students created independently-designed projects to demonstrate what they had learned. In a recent class, for example, two students created an electric piano. The team coupled…

Subjects: Engineering Education

Chemistry students study Havasu Creek in the Grand Canyon. In July, students in Alex Canale’s chemistry class at Saint Peter’s Preparatory School in New Jersey took LabQuest on a ten-day adventure to the Grand Canyon to investigate the water quality of the Colorado River and its tributaries. The students were thrilled to collect real-time data…

Subjects: Environmental Science, Water Quality

Laura Cerletty, a physiology teacher at Whitnall High School in Greenfield, WI, and Stephen Biscotte, a physiology teacher at Cave Spring High School in Roanoke, VA , have developed an innovative way to compare two methods of measuring blood pressure using Vernier products. The Data Mark feature in Logger Pro and LabQuest app makes this…

Subjects: Biology, Human Physiology

Many homeowners in damp climates such as Oregon keep mold at bay with an electronic dehumidifier. These tend to be large, loud devices. We wondered just how much energy a dehumidifier uses? To find out, a Watts Up Pro was used with a LabQuest interface to collect real-time power consumption data. A Relative Humidity Sensor…

Subjects: Physics

In the late 1980s, Dr. John Martin made a prediction that iron was a factor limiting phytoplankton growth. He hypothesized that increasing the amount of available iron in the ocean would stimulate phytoplankton growth. This increase in primary productivity would result in a concomitant increase in carbon sequestration in the ocean, ultimately leading to a…

Subjects: Biology

The sense of balance is complex since it combines sensory input from the eyes, inner ear, and stretch receptors located in the tendons and muscles. In the classroom, you can demonstrate that visual input is important for balance. Try balancing on one foot with your eyes open, and then try it again with your eyes…

Subjects: Biology

Jon Asbornsen, of the Hawken School (Gates Mills, OH), shared his work on a novel twist to a time-honored demonstration of boiling points that uses LabQuest, a Gas Pressure Sensor, and a Temperature Probe. In the demonstration, a small volume of water is placed in a bell jar. As the air in the jar is…

Subjects: Chemistry

Comparison of regular generic soda and diet soda using polarimetry In this activity, students use the Polarimeter to identify which sugars everyday beverages have in common. First, it is necessary to concentrate the beverages. They are initially too dilute to see any differences in sugar content. One way to concentrate the solution is to dry…

Subjects: Advanced Chemistry, Chemistry, College Chemistry

Just when you think that every possible variation of acid-base titrations has been explored and documented, along comes one more—and this one is really interesting. Larry Dukerich (Arizona State University) and Guy Ashkenazi (The Israel Center for Excellence through Education) constructed a custom Logger Pro 3 experiment file so that an acid-base titration would plot…

Subjects: Chemistry