2004 NSTA/Vernier Technology Awards

Middle School Level

Nancy Elliott
Science Teacher
Chillicothe Middle School
Chillicothe, MO

Synopsis:
Nancy and her students have been working with local wildlife biologists to take Northern Bobwhite Quail population counts. In this activity, they listen for calls and map coveys. The question Nancy and her students wish to answer is whether or not the calls they are hearing are from the same bird. Nancy’s students will use a Vernier Sound Level Meter as they attempt to develop a protocol to answer this question.

High School Level

Michael Farmer
Science Teacher
South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities
Greenville, SC

Synopsis:
Michael has developed an experiment designed to be especially interesting to students who are bound for careers in the visual arts, creative writing, theater, music and dance. In this novel demonstration of the inverse square law, students use a Vernier interface and Light Sensor to study the relationship between pinhole size, pinhole distance, and light intensity.

Eric Muhs
Physics Teacher
Roosevelt High School
Seattle, WA

Synopsis:
Eric and his students have designed and built two cosmic ray detectors, and are working on a third. The detectors are interfaced with Vernier LabPro®, allowing computer collection of data. With these detectors, Eric will provide his students the opportunity to detect and study cosmic rays. He intends to loan the detectors out to teachers in the Seattle area that are involved in the WALTA (Washington Area Large-scale Time-coincidence Array) project.

Edward Wyrembeck
Physics and Calculus Teacher
Howards Grove High School
Howards Grove, WI

Synopsis:
Edward has designed an experiment to help students understand that the tension in a pendulum string, for a bob that is moving downward, is increasing and is more than the weight of the bob. Using Vernier LabPro and a Dual-Range Force Sensor, Edward’s students gather data from a pendulum experiment that features a pool ball, and compare their experimental results to theoretical results they have obtained mathematically.

College Level

Michael Columbia
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne, IN

Synopsis:
Michael has modified a popular chemistry experiment to use Vernier LabPro and a Stainless Steel Temperature Sensor with a Palm™ m100 handheld. Once data has been collected it is transmitted to the campus computer network via Ethernet data ports at each lab bench. Finally, it is e-mailed to each student for computer-based analysis outside the lab. This method of data collection, transmission, and analysis has resulted in a computer-free chemistry lab.