Academic Musings & Tech for Learning

I was just watching an episode of Universe on the History Channel, Deadly Comets & Meteors. They highligted the Earth Impact Effects Program from the University of Arizona. At http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/ you can enter different variables and calculate the effect of a colliding asteroid. Click the links for examples of previous events and see what catastrophes you can create. There are no visuals, but that’s a good exercise for students. For a nice write-up about the program read Space.com’s article Catastrophe Calculator: Estimate Asteroid Impact Effects Online by Robert Roy Britt.

This episode also shows you one way to make your own comet. Line a mixing bowl with a plastic garbage bag. Pour water into a bowl, add couple of teaspoons of dirt, a little corn syrup, window cleaner (ammonia), and mix. Add dry ice.. voila! comet! See what happens as it warms up. This recipe was far from exact, but it doesn’t need to be. You Tube has a couple of videos … The BBC did a program called the Comet’s Tale and the excerpt is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OttjwJY8A-0. They used soy sauce instead of corn syrup, and smelling salts instead of window cleaner, but the results are strikingly similar.

The Discovery Channel is also featuring Cosmic Collisions on tv’s How Stuff Works Series. There’s a Cosmic Collision Quiz here. Check the Space Guide http://dsc.discovery.com/space/ for short, interesting videos and articles.