Posts made in January 31st, 2010

Alkaline Metals Videos for Science

Posted on Jan 31, 2010 in Science Resources | 2 comments

One of the benefits of using videos on an IWB in Science lessons is for those moments when you want to demonstrate something that is just too dangerous to do in the classroom.

This is particularly true when demostrating the reaction of Alkali Metals with water. You can demonstrate small pieces, but it’s a little dull. And when the kids ask “go on Sir, throw in a bigger bit” you still can’t use too big a bit for obvious safety reasons.

Which is why it’s good to then turn to a good video to demonstrate the reaction.

An old favourite of mine was from the TV show “Brainiac”:

But sadly this is actually a fake experiment. If you look carefully you can even see a wire going into one of the bathtubs which sets off the regular explosive.

Last night I watched a Mythbusters episode that I must have missed previously where they test out the scenario in the Brainiac video and prove that it didn’t happen the way it was show. It’s a nice way of demonstrating how to actually test something you see on screen to see if it is actually real.

Their take on Alkali metals in water is in five parts on YouTube, mixed in with other myths. Here’s part one (starts 5 minutes in)

(YouTube search – Mythbusters Alkaline Metals Threequel)

Awesome stuff. I think I now have a new favourite Alkali Metal explosion video to show.

An alternative is to check out the Sodium Party videos from Theodore Gray. Big lumps of sodium in a lake. What’s not to like?

And remember – don’t try this at home….

YouTube XL

Posted on Jan 31, 2010 in Interactive Whiteboards | 0 comments

YouTube is an excellent resource to use in schools but the biggest problem is quite often some of the offensive comments that invariably get left below popular clips. When showing clips on your interactive whiteboard, you don’t really want to be showing those comments to your class.

YouTube XL is one way to get around that. Basically YouTube XL is a skinned version of YouTube designed to use on large-screen televisions. The interface makes it simpler to use by cutting out a lot of the clutter on the page. In fact, it makes YouTube a whole lot easier to use on an IWB. The advantage of losing the clutter means that there are no comments on view – you just have the videos. Try it out now : http://www.youtube.com/xl

As an alternative – another way to safely view YouTube videos is to use http://www.safeshare.tv/ and also there’s http://quietube.com/

Incredibox

Posted on Jan 31, 2010 in Activity Ideas, Resources, Useful Links | 0 comments

Here’s a fun little website for a Sunday morning. Incredibox allows you to create music using what is best described as a virtual human beatbox. You have to really try it to get the idea. Very simple to use, just drag the different sound icons onto each person to play each loop. Easy to use on an Interactive Whiteboard.

Thanks to Keisa Williams for sharing the link on Twitter.