Reinventing Edison:
Build Your Own Light Bulb
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| Retrace the steps of Edison and
other inventors as you build a working light bulb using the filament
materials of your choice. Learn about electricity, light, properties of
matter, energy, and the scientific method. Test the effects of vacuum on
the life of your bulb. Perform exciting experiments. |
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Watch as the Light Bulb Finally
Comes On for your Students... Literally!
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| This kit is designed to
teach concepts of Science, Technology, and History with lessons that are
aligned to the National Science Educational Standards as well as the
Standards for Technological Literacy. Students learn with hands-on
inquiry based experiments as they find out how a light bulb works by
retracing the steps of Edison and build their own working light bulb.
Experiments are suited to
elementary, middle-school, and high school level science and technology
classes with extension activities for history and social studies as well
as optional probeware extension activities. (teachers or parents may
pick and choose the appropriate exercises from the included manual to fit
their grade level, subject area, or curriculum focus)
This kit is sold as an individual
item (that can service up to four students in the classroom or for one or
more students as a science fair experiment) and as a classroom set with
Teacher Guides (includes 8 bulb kits and teacher guides in order to
service up to 32 students).
Probeware activities are also
included for those teachers with access to probeware technology in their
classroom or lab. |
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Improvements over other ways of
teaching these concepts
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| It has been shown that
students learn more and retain more knowledge about science by performing
hands-on experiments. This kit is designed to offer a safe and
unique way to learn about topics like electricity, energy, and light by
letting students actually build their own working bulb. Using
ordinary batteries and materials like pencil lead (carbon) students can
achieve a bulb that burns brightly in a partial vacuum for up to 5 minutes
at a time. In traditional experiments students learn about circuits
or electricity by simply wiring a series or parallel circuit using "store
bought" mini light bulbs, but in our kit students become involved and
attached to the science as they try to achieve the best results (brightest
bulb, longest bulb life, etc etc) and this is done in the context of
invention and the inventive process. Depending on grade level there
are many different types of experiments and data sets that are possible.
Students can vary the type, length, diameter, of the filament material,
study the effect vacuum has on bulb life, and at higher grade levels
gather data to prove ohm's law. |
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Topics Taught by this Kit
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- Electricity (uses and effects)
- Circuits (simple circuit)
- Light (light intensity, spectral emissions)
- Properties of Matter (effects of type, size, shape of filament)
- Properties of Matter (changes in the filament if it burns away)
- Energy (exchanging electricity for light and heat, destruction of
filaments)
- Vacuum and Air Pressure (effects on bulb life, how pumps work)
- The Scientific Method
- History of the Light Bulb and Edison
- Invention and the Inventive Process
- Optional Probeware Extensions
- Optional Science Fair Experiments
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Science Fair Uses of this Kit
Reinventing Science
Kits are designed to not only work in the classroom or for the home
school, but they also work as science fair experiments. Instructions
are included to help students and parents do extensive experimentation
with the kit and create data tables that support or disprove their
hypothesis. The working bulb also makes for a very interesting
display piece to demonstrate to judges and teachers. Some examples
of science fair experiments that are possible with this kit are: |
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- Effects of Vacuum vs. No Vacuum on Bulb Life
- Effects of Filament Material on Bulb Life
- Effects of Filament Length on Bulb Brightness
- Effects of Filament Diameter on Bulb Brightness
- Effects of voltage level on Bulb Life or Bulb Brightness
- Brightness of various filament materials
- Emission spectra of various filament materials
- Ohm's Law with a Light Bulb
- Effects of Temperature on Filament Resistance and Current
- Effects of low voltage A.C. current in all above experiments
- Build a Light Meter to measure light emitted from the bulb.
- Compare your home made bulb to a store bought bulb
- Effects of Helium as an inert gas on bulb life/performance
- Historical research into light bulb development
- Other alternatives to incandescent bulbs (LED's, Fluorescent, etc)
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Standards Addressed By This Kit
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National Science Education Standards
- Science as Inquiry Standards [K-12, 5-8, 9-12: Content Standard A]
- 5-8: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
- 5-8: Understanding about Scientific Inquiry
- 9-12: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
- 9-12: Understanding about scientific inquiry
- Physical Science Standards [K-12, 5-8, 9-12: Content Standard B]
- K-4: Properties of objects and materials
- K-4: Light, heat, electricity, and magnetism
- 5-8: Properties and changes of properties in matter
- 5-8: Transfer of energy
- 9-12: Structure and properties of matter
- 9-12: Conservation of energy and increase in disorder
- 9-12: Interactions of energy and matter
- Science and Technology Standards [K-12, 5-8, 9-12: Content Standard E]
- K-4: Abilities to distinguish between natural objects
and objects made by humans
- K-4: Abilities of technological design
- K-4: Understanding about science and technology
- 5-8: Abilities of technological design
- 5-8: Understanding about science and technology
- 9-12: Abilities of technological design
- 9-12: Understanding about science and technology
- Science in Personal and Social Perspectives [K-12, 5-8, 9-12: Content
Standard F]
- K-4: Science and technology in local challenges
- 5-8: Risks and benefits
- 5-8: Science and technology in society
- 9-12: Science and technology in local, national, and
global challenges
- History and Nature of Science Standards [K-12, 5-8, 9-12: Content
Standard G]
- K-4: Science as a human endeavor
- 5-8: Science as a human endeavor
- 5-8: History of Science
- 9-12: Science as a human endeavor
- 9-12: Historical perspectives
Standards for Technological Literacy
- 1 The Characteristics and Scope of Technology
- 3-5: Tools, Materials, and Skills
- 3-5: Creative Thinking
- 6-8: Usefulness of Technology
- 6-8: Development of Technology
- 6-8: Human Creativity and Motivation
- 9-12: Nature of Technology
- 9-12: Commercialization of technology
- 2 The Core Concepts of Technology
- 3-5: Systems, Requirements, Processes
- 6-8: Systems, Requirements, Processes, Controls
- 9-12: Systems, Requirements, Processes, Controls,
Optimization and Trade-offs
- 3 The Relationships among Technologies and the Connections between
Technology and Other Fields
- 3-5: Relationships between technology and other fields
of study
- 6-8: Interaction of systems
- 6-8: Knowledge from other fields of study and
technology
- 9-12: Innovation and Invention
- 9-12: Knowledge Protection and Patents
- 9-12: Technological Knowledge and advances of science
and mathematics and vice versa
- 4 The Cultural, Social, Economic, and Political Effects of Technology
- 6-8: Attitudes toward development and use
- 6-9: Influences on economy, politics, and culture
- 9-12: Rapid or Gradual Changes
- 9-12: Cultural, Social, Economic, and Political Change
- 5 The Effects of Technology on the Environment
- 3-5: Affects environment in good and bad ways
- 9-12: Conservation
- 9-12: Reduce resource use
- 9-12: Reduce negative consequences of technology
- 6 The Role of Society in the Development and Use of Technology
- K-2: Needs and Wants of Individuals
- 3-5: Changing needs and wants
- 3-5: Expansion or limitation of development
- 6-8: Development driven by demands, values, and
interests
- 6-8 Inventions and innovations
- 6-8: Social and Cultural priorities
- 6-8: Acceptance and use of products and systems
- 9-12: Factors affecting designs and demands of
technologies
- 7 The Influence of Technology on History
- K-2: Influence of Technology on History
- 3-5: Tools for food, clothing, and protection
- 6-8: Processes of invention and innovation
- 6-8: Evolution of techniques, measurement, and
resources
- 6-8: Technological and Scientific Knowledge
- 9-12: Evolutionary development of technology
- 9-12: History of Technology
- 9-12: The Industrial Revolution
- 9-12: The Information Age
- 8 The Attributes of Design
- 6-8: Design leads to useful products and systems
- 6-8: There is no perfect design
- 6-8: Requirements
- 9-12: Design problems are usually not clear
- 9-12: Designs need to be refined
- 9-12: Requirements
- 9 Engineering Design
- 3-5: Creativity in considering all ideas
- 6-8: Modeling, Testing, Evaluating, and Modifying
- 9-12: Design principles
- 9-12: Factors in Engineering Design
- 10 The Role of Troubleshooting, Research and Development, Invention and
Innovation, and Experimentation in Problem Solving
- 3-5: Troubleshooting, Invention and Innovation,
Experimentation
- 6-8: Troubleshooting, Invention and Innovation,
Experimentation
- 9-12: Researching technological problems
- 12 Use and Maintain Technological Products and Systems
- K-2: Discover how things work
- K-2: Recognize and use everyday symbols
- 3-5: Follow-step-by-step instructions
- 3-5: Select and safely use tools
- 3-5: Use computers to access and organize information
- 3-5: Use common symbols
- 6-8: Use information to see how things work
- 6-8: Use computers and calculators
- 6-8 Operate systems
- 9-12: Diagnose a malfunctioning system
- 9-12: Troubleshoot and maintain systems
- 9-12: Operate and maintain systems
- 9-12: Use computers to communicate
- 13 Assess the Impact of Products and Systems
- 6-8: Design and use instruments to collect data
- 6-8: Use collected data to find trends
- 6-8: Interpret and evaluate accuracy of information
- 9-12: collect information and judge its quality
- 9-12: Synthesize data to draw conclusions
- 16 Energy and Power Technologies
- 3-5: Energy comes in different forms
- 3-5: Tools, Machines, Products, and Systems use energy
to do work
- 6-8: Energy can be used to do work using many processes
- 6-8: Power is the rate at which energy is converted
from one form to another
- 9-12: Energy Sources
- 9-12: Power systems are a source, a process, and a load
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