NWA Science Students Investigate Light and Sound

March 22, 2005 Dr. Loren Winters and Dahl Clark of North Carolina School of Science & Mathematics (NCSSM) Physics Department, held my NWA middle school science students and later that afternoon my Photography in Science class spellbound. Dr. Winters teaches a physics course at NCSSM titled High Speed Photography. We demonstrated how electronic triggers are used to study motion and sound. In my middle school science class, we prepared for Dr. Winters' visit by studying how observations contribute to evidence of scientific knowledge. We studied basic characteristics of sound. In the demostration, Dr. Winters enhanced the student's basic understand of the characteristics of sound and showed them how the energy of the sound waves created by the pop of a balloon is transfered to a microphone and amplified to trigger a camera flash. Using a digital camera, images were analyzed the next day to the amazement of the students they were are to see even more details of the motion.

Photography in Science students videoed the demonstration and captured still using QuickTime Pro. They then used the stills to produce iMovies about what they observed. Click Here to View Slideshow