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  • Author Author: mikedavis
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Lightsticks and Lux

mikedavis

I am doing it.  This weekend!  I am done talking about it.  This is the weekend!

 

For years I have been imploring teachers, students, and parents to expand their mindset when it comes to the science fair.  I see a lot of

 

  • Which battery lasts the longest?
  • Which light is the best for plants?
  • Which diaper is the most absorbant?
  • Which music is makes me the calmest?

 

All of these are not without merit.  They teach process and you might get a good graph out of it.  At the end of the project, however, people haven't really changed their battery purchasing habits, or diaper habits, or gardening output.  That is, they are a project for the sake of a project.  In this case they are graded and mandatory.  I think, through open source electronics like the kind this network seems to love, there is a chance to do more engaging work.

 

For years, I have been curious about the lasting power of glow sticks.  I know that, as a chemical reaction, they glow dimmer and last longer when they are cold.  I know as a consumer that they come in a number of colors.  I am curious, as a scientist, if their light output changes with their color.  So that is my question.  If I was 25 years younger, it would be my science fair project.  Now it will be my classroom project.

 

Using the Arduino Uno and the Lux Sensor, I am going to be able to measure the light coming off one of these and measure its decay as a function of color.  I can also do it with temperature if the time and inspiration are there.  I am very excited, and this is the time. 

 

The only help I could use, and this is the best part of a community like this, is that I would like to be able to get my Arduino to send the information to a document like a spreadsheet, or a webapp like Xively.  Any advice there would be very helpful.

 

Stay tuned for results!

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