SAS at the Annual Convention of the National Science Teachers Association

Several members of the Society for Amateur Scientists recently attended the annual convention of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) in Anaheim, California.

Mark Streitman and Cindy Lee Duckert were at the NSTA meeting to exhibit Mark's commercial Foucault pendulum that he has developed through his company Science Design. Mark's commercial pendulum was inspired by Dr. John W. Dooley of Millersville University. For more details, see Physics Experiment of the Month No. 35, A Short, Driven, Foucault Pendulum. This site is maintained by the Dr. Dooley, who has published numerous experiments in The Citizen Scientist, including a nicely illustrated version of A Short, Driven, Foucault Pendulum.

Mark has increased the height of the clear plastic shield that surrounds the pendulum to prevent interference from moving air. It was intriguing to walk by his booth every few hours and notice how the pendulum had so obviously moved. Actually, of course, the swing of the pendulum was unchanged. The Earth rotating beneath the pendulum created the illusion that the pendulum itself had moved.

For more about Mark's commercial Foucault Pendulum, see a previous editorial in The Citizen Scientist.

Dr. Shawn Carlson, Founder and Executive Director of SAS, and I were also at the NSTA meeting. While Shawn was promoting LABRats, I was giving data logger workshops for Onset Computer.

Forrest M. Mims III