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Sunday, March 28, 2010

Looking Around Corners

The materials Needed:
2 small mirrors

triangular card

scissors
pen

tall, empty carton



















Step 1 Use the triangular card to help you draw two diagonal lines on one side of the carton.

Step 2 Carefully cut a slot along each line. The slots should be just wide enough for the mirrors to fit into.

Step 3 Draw and cut two more slots on the other side of the carton.


Step 4 Carefully push the mirrors into the slots. They should fit snugly, so that they cannot slide out.















Step 5 Draw a large square at the top of the carton in the front of the mirror. Carefully cut it out.























Step 6 Make a small hole with a pencil in the back of the carton. Now your periscope is ready.



Step 7 Look into the hole to see around corners or over obstacles.

















What are periscopes used for?


Periscopes are used in submarines to allow the crew to see above the water while staying submerged. The periscope in a submarine works just like the one I made. There is a long tube that reflects light rays from the surface of the water down to the crew in the submarine in below the surface.

To view mini lesson

15 comments:

  1. Great job. You did a good job helping to explain the uses and disadvantages of this project.

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  2. Great job! I agree with you that this experiment would be hard for children...but you did a great job explaining :) Would this work if you did not use a tall container?

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  3. Great point about the sharp mirrors. The book should be more exact about measurements and the materials needed. Great job, Tiffany!!!

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  4. Great presentation and feedback. I agree that this would be a presentation that you might want to explain to the children how it works and then pass around the example to help tie the explaination to the item.

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  5. This would be difficult to use in the classroom. I like that you used different materials to make it work. Great Job.

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  6. Great job! I made one of these when I was younger and I loved it. But I see what you mean about the mirrors being dangerous but the kids would like being able to see around corners.

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  7. Great Job! I believe this is a good experiment. I am like you as well, I believe that this would be an example to show the class but it could be dangerous in the classroom. The children must be supervised at all times.

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  8. What if you had a different size or type carton? The book didn't tell you what kind exactly to use. You did a great job!

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  9. Great job! You did great explaining why you would or would not use this experiment. Would another alternative be to use a different size or shape of a box?

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  10. I agree about the mirrors and children getting cut or breaking them. This might be suitable for grade 6 or higher. Great work explaining why it did or didn't work correctly!

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  11. Great job. Seems like a great experiment. Could you replace the mirrors with anything else.

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  12. I think this would be a good experiment do to when teaching measuring. The teacher would give the students the correct measurements. If the students get the mirrors in the correct spot, then the students would be getting a reward for their hard work learning how the measure.

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  13. I worried about the projects with mirrors, such as my kaleidoscope, too. I think that they would be dangerous to use in the classroom. However, I think this is a neat experiment that the boys in the class would definitely love. Do you think there are safer materials that could be used to do this?

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  14. Thanks for mentioning that this experiment might not be appropriate for younger children because of the sharp edges on the mirrors and the importance of EXACT cuts in the cardboard. Why would a milk carton not have worked? Nice job though :)

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  15. Good job. I also think it was difficult. But did a good job in explaining the prject.

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