Presentation Ideas for TESC Science Carnival

Astronomy:

• Observation of Sun spots
• Spectral analysis of Solar spectrum (collected with Ocean Optics diode array)
• Building a Comet

Biology:

• Observation of streaming chloroplasts
• Pond water microorganisms
• Microorganisms Around You (colonies grown on agar petri plates, take from door knobs, coughs, elevator buttons, etc)
• Canopy studies
• DNA fingerprinting lab
• PCR demonstration
• Plant morphologies
• Zebra fish
• Fruit fly (Drosophila) mutations

Chemistry:

• Rotational polarization by sugars
• Making Slime, Nylon, Rayon
• Pyrotechnics (Thermite, glycerol/potassium permanganate)
• Flame tests
• Gas discharge tubes
• Reaction kinetics
• pH of common foods and household goods
• Oscillating clock reactions
• Making diazo dyes
• Making luminol or luciferin
• Chiral molecules (sugars, thalidomide, tannic acid)
• Testing drinking water with dropper bottles

Physics:

• Double-slit experiment
• Polarized light
• Coupled oscillation (Wilberforce pendulum)
• Measure hair width with a laser
• Fire syringe
• Electric circuits
• Electrostatics (Van de Graff generator, rods/fur, electroscopes, balloon & water)
• Jacob’s Ladder
• E/m experiment
• Catapult or Trebuchet machine
• Gyroscopes
• Building a Cloud Chamber
• Radioactive isotopes

Instrumentation:

• Scanning Electron Microscope (A Bug’s View)
• NMR and similarities to MRI’s
• GC-MS analysis of gasoline
• Microscopy of fibers
• Fluorescence microscopy
• Polarizing microscopy