Broken Wine Glasses? Don't Fret; Model Gravitational Lensing, Instead!

Today, I purchased two very expensive crystal wine glasses to replace ones that I have broken.  On the way home, I broke them.  Accidentally.  Not to worry!  Now I can use the bases as very expensive crystal "gravitational lens" modeling tools.

In  this TED Ed video that I saw (amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing), physicist Patricia Burchat explains dark energy and dark matter in such a fascinating and interesting way.  I would love to have her as my physics professor.  In the video, she explains and demonstrates the use of a wine glass bases as a "gravitational lens" that bends space/time and light.
Watch it!  So good. 

Broken Wine Glasses? Don't Fret; Model Gravitational Lensing, Instead!

Free Download--SMART Notebook Lesson on Levers

Great middle level or 9th grade lesson on Levers...click here to download it. It includes two matching games to identify first, second and third class levers, two interactive mini apps--one is more advanced to calculate load and effort. The last few slides are a lab activity idea for older students who are very self-directed. Enjoy!

Free Download--SMART Notebook Lesson on Levers