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Matter and Energy
Asa Packer Elementary
School, Spring 2010
Grade 5 |
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Dr. DeLeo began this program by reminding us that we were big fifth graders, and that we would be going into middle school next year. I guess he knew that we really didn't need to be reminded of that. Dr. DeLeo wanted our program to involve some of the subjects we would see in middle school. So, he told us that part of our program would be about matter and part about energy. We were excited to hear that we would be building roller coasters! |
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Dr. DeLeo told us that all matter was made up of very tiny particles called atoms. Atoms are so small that the number of them making up a glass of water is about 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000! There are about 100 different kinds of atoms, and you can put them together in an infinite number of ways. When you put atoms together, you get molecules. A long time ago, it was discovered that atoms could be organized according to their properties into something called the periodic table. Atoms in columns of the periodic table mostly behave in the same way. Elemental matter is made from one kind of atom only. Compounds are made from combinations of atoms. So far, about ten million compounds have been identified. |
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| Dr. DeLeo showed us a video that described the elements in the first column of the periodic table. One of the special properties of elements in that column, such as lithium, sodium, potassium, and so forth, is that they explode when they come in contact with water. |
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| We then examined electrically excited gases and discovered that every type of atom emits its own characteristic set of colors ("spectral lines"). These colored lines are like fingerprints of the elements. We used diffraction gratings, which are like prisms, to spread out the mixed-up colors. |
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 We then went on to talk about energy. We learned that there are two important kinds of energy, especially when we are talking about roller coasters. They are called kinetic energy and potential energy. But these scary sounding words turned out to be not very scary at all. You see, kinetic energy is just the energy you have when you are moving. The faster I run, the more kinetic energy I have. Potential energy is just the energy of being high. The higher I am, the more potential energy I have. When you are on a roller coaster, the potential energy of being high is turned into the kinetic energy of going fast. This is called “conservation of energy,” when one kind of energy is turned into another. It’s sort of like being scared. When you’re on the high part of the roller coaster, you’re scared because you’re high – “help, I’m too high!!” When you get to the bottom, you’re scared because you are going so fast – “help, I’m going too fast!!” So, you’re scared at the top, and scared at the bottom, but they’re different kinds of scared. |
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Dr. DeLeo showed us a computer simulation of roller coasters. It was really funny because if the car was going too fast when it went over a hill, it left the tracks and went into the air. And, the computer program said “oops!" Click the play button on the picture on the right to see a video of the simulation. |
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| And, as you can see by our reactions, we really liked it!! |
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| Next, he showed us how to connect real foam tracks together with tape. We worked in groups so we could make very long roller coasters. We got the marbles to go over hills, around loops, and even through tunnels. It was really fun, and we learned a lot! |
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| Here are some more photos of us building and testing our roller coasters. Our teachers and Dr. DeLeo helped out. College students from Lehigh University came to help out as well. You can see two of them in the pictures on the right. |
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| Here are some videos showing our roller coasters in action. Just click the play button on each of the pictures. |
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At the end of the program, Dr. DeLeo gave us two gifts to keep. He gave us a periodic table of the elements placemat. He said that it would be useful to us in middle school.
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He also gave us something called a “space pet” (or a “celt”). If you spin it one way, it spins just fine. But if you spin it the other way, it stops spinning, rocks back and forth briefly, and then spins the other way. Also, if you rock it, the rocking motion quickly turns into spinning motion. Because of the way it is shaped, it turns one type of motion into another. It says “Lehigh University” on it – that’s where Dr. DeLeo teaches. And, it can even be used as a magnifier! What a great day! |
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I hope you have enjoyed this web presentation as much as we enjoyed sharing the actual learning experience with your son or daughter. Although we have endeavored to exclude photographs where permission has been denied, it is possible for errors to occur. If you would like us to remove a photograph of your son or daughter for any reason, please send me an e-mail message at lgd0@lehigh.edu or call me at 610-758-3413, and we will remove it promptly. Please note that we will never associate a child's full or last name with a photograph except in circumstances where special permission was explicitly provided. Thank you. Gary DeLeo. |
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