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Activities
Children in a mixed Year 5 / 6 class worked
in groups of four or five. Skills were taught to the first group. Each
group in turn shared their experiences with the next.
Children first used the equipment as
a conventional meter, to take direct readings. With the probes in place,
the first group set off on a walk around the school, measuring the light
and sound levels in every nook and cranny they could find. The portable
nature of the equipment and the instant results, coupled with its ability
to display up to three sets of information at once, made the exercise
very popular with the children.
Four projects, including some
suggested by the children, were agreed. Each group decided which they
would tackle.
1. Monitoring temperature
over a period of 24 hours, inside and outside the classroom
Two temperature sensors and one light
level sensor were used.
The DataMeter was left running for
24 hours with a temperature sensor in the classroom together with a
light sensor. A second temperature sensor (borrowed from another kit)
was hung out of the classroom window. The next day the DataMeter was
connected to the laptop and the data uploaded into Junior Insight.
The whole process was very straightforward
and the children soon became quite proficient in its basic use. The
data was then displayed graphically. The group then added a title and
captions to the graph.
The scale on the vertical axis was
also adjusted, making the graph easier to interpret. The graph was then
printed for the group to discuss, analyse and present their findings
to the rest of the class.
2. What is the rate at which hot
water cools under different conditions?
Three heavy duty stainless steel temperature
probes are required.
Pupils set up three milk bottles -
one standing in a bowl of ice, another standing in a container of polystyrene
chips and a third left at air temperature.
An equal volume of hot tap water was
added to each.
The sensors were placed in the bottles
and the DataMeter left to record the fall in temperatures.
3. Investigating the relationship
between air temperature and the temperature of the school pond over
a twenty-four hour period.
A temperature sensor and light sensor
were placed near the pond above ground level. The stainless steel Pro-Temp
sensor was dipped in the pond.
The sensors were left in place for
24 hours and then the readings uploaded into Junior Insight.
(Editor's note: Findings and
data from this experiment are unavailable. However, this is an idea
that others may like to try.)
4. Using the sound sensor to study
the nocturnal activity of pet gerbils.
The last group were getting more imaginative
and decided they would like to find out if gerbils became more active
at night.They worked from the assumption that if the gerbils became
active in their cage they would make more noise. By using the noise
sensor and the light sensor, they could study the gerbil's nocturnal
activity.
Rather than bringing their animals
into school, they decided to take the DataMeter home. This is when the
portable nature of the equipment was very convenient: the strong plastic
case proved useful. Looking at the data the next day, it appeared to
show that the gerbils did become far more active after dark. It also
indicated that one particular pupil snores loudly and made several trips
to the bathroom during the course of the night! This gave rise to discussion
on fair testing and creating the correct conditions for an investigation.
Curriculum Links
 Science
Sc 1 Scientific
enquiry
Sc 3 Materials
and their properties
Mathematics
Ma 4 Handling
Data
ICT
Developing
ideas and making things happen
Geography
Geographical
enquiry and skills: 7c Carry out field work investigations outside the
classroom.
Outcomes
The data logger is a valuable tool in a number
of curriculum areas, especially Science, Mathematics and Geography.
These projects were all completed over a short period of time. The ease
with which both the hardware and software could be used was evident
from the speed in which the children became proficient in collecting
and presenting data.
The portable nature of the DataMeter,
and its ability to record with up to three sensors, were assets. On
reflection, perhaps we were too keen to use all three sensors from the
outset. It may have been better to begin with activities which only
required one or two sensors.
The Junior Insight software provided
few problems and the groups had great fun in collecting the data, displaying
it graphically and in interpreting their findings.
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