The Electric Squeeze

Overview
Standards
Resources
Evaluations
Comments

Overview

Description:

This cart demo is about piezoelectricity - how some crystals produce electricity when you squeeze them. Visitors learn about the history of piezoelectricity, how it's used, and how it's applied in nanotechnology. They make electric sparks, handle models and listen to cheesy music.

Objectives

Big Idea:

Certain crystals have structures that change shape on the nanoscale.

Learning goals:

The nanostructure of a material determines its properties. Small changes in structure can mean big changes in property.
Piezoelectricity is a property of crystals with a certain shape. Squeeze them and they generate electricity. Apply a current to them and they change shape.
Scientists use piezoelectricity to explore and transform the nanoscale world.

NISE Net Content Map:

Nanometer-sized things are very small, and often behave differently than larger things do.

Scientists and engineers have formed the interdisciplinary field of nanotechnology by investigating properties and manipulating matter at the nanoscale.

Universal design:

Provide physical and sensory access to all aspects of the program. Visitors can touch, see and hear different elements of the program.

Credits

Developed for the NISE Network with funding from the National Science Foundation under Award Numbers 0532536 and 0940143. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this product are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

Checklist

Scientist reviewed? check_reviewed

Peer reviewed? check_reviewed

Visitor evaluation? check_reviewed

Nano Topics

Fundamentals

Audience

All ages

Permissions

Creative Commons
Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike

Standards

Physical science:

K-4: Light, heat, electricity, and magnetism

K-4: Properties of objects and materials

5-8: Properties and changes of properties in matter

5-8: Transfer of energy

9-12: Structure and properties of matter

Science and Technology:

K-4: Understanding about science and technology

5-8: Understanding about science and technology

9-12: Understanding about science and technology

Resources

Download all files (ZIP)

Files:

The Electric Squeeze - Lesson Plan

The Electric Squeeze - Presentation

Links:

Electric Squeeze Training Video

See FAQ #10 to learn more about downloading NISE Net video

Video:

Evaluations

Year 5 Summative Evaluation of Exhibits and Programs

As part of the overall summative evaluation of the first five years of the NISE Network, the Year 5 Exhibits and Programs Study examines the measurable impacts of these public products on museum visitors. Read more

Comments

Follow up on using Piezo Popper

Submitted by Kimberly Duncan on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 07:30.

We did the Electric Squeeze during our Nanodays this year...and in place of the sparker tube, we used the "Piezo Popper". The popper was great fun! The visitors could see the spark from sparker, and then the small (contained) explosion drew a lot of attention.

A few notes about the sparker (http://www.teachersource.com/Energy/EnergyConversion/PiezoPopperKit.aspx)

1. Methanol or acetone work really well.
2. You only need one drop (and a half a drop works even better).
3. I used a little bit of duct tape to seal up the hole where the wire goes into the film canister.
4. Make sure to point the canister away from you and from visitors.
5. It may be useful to have a spare canister bottom, in case you shoot it off somewhere and can find it!

We really liked the popper--because it was really easy to use and minimized the time I needed to dedicate to building materials.

Since I am not that

Submitted by Kimberly Duncan on Mon, 02/09/2009 - 17:52.

Since I am not that engineering savvy, I was a little intimidated by the building my own sparker. One of my colleagues suggested I check out Educational Innovations for a sparker he had used. I found these two:

1. Piezo Popper, a sparker that ignites ethanol!
http://www.teachersource.com/Energy/EnergyConversion/PiezoPopperKit.aspx

and

2. Piezo igniter sparker, which is the same as the BBQ replacement you can find at a hardware store...but a lot less expensive.
http://www.teachersource.com/Energy/EnergyConversion/Piezo_electricIgnit...

I plan to use the Piezo popper during NanoDays this year. I'll let you know how it goes.