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ACTIVITIES TO TRY

As you leave the Museum:

~If you have a remote car door opener

• Try to block the signal with your hand. Does it work?
• Wrap your remote car door opener in aluminum foil. Press the unlock icon or button. Does the car unlock?

~ If you have a cell phone

• Ask someone to call you. Before they do, wrap your phone in foil. Does the signal come through? (Do not leave your cell phone wrapped in foil for extended periods of time).

~If you have hand held GPS, or GPS in your car or cell phone that displays location coordinates

• Make notes of the coordinates displayed on your Global Positioning System for particular locations over the course of a month. Are the coordinates always the same?
• GPS isn’t always precise! It relies on signals from satellites, which travel through the ionosphere. Space weather can affect these signals.

 As you drive home:

~Tune to an AM radio station.

• Does the quality of reception change as you drive along?    Do you hear static when you go under wires or transformers? If you travel north on Route 27, you may notice changes in reception. Bridges with metal cables or framework, or nearby radio towers can block or change radio waves before they reach you.

 At home:

~If you have a garage door opener

• Try to block the signal with your hand. Does it work?
• Wrap the opener in foil. Press the button. Does the garage door open or close?
• Place the opener under a fine mesh metal colander placed on a metal tray or cookie sheet. Use a thin skewer to press the button. Does the garage door open or close?

~ If you have a small portable radio

• Tune to a radio station and try the same experiments as above. Can you block the radio wave reception?

 At night:

~If you have an AM radio

• Tune into the farthest AM radio station you can find. Wait until the top of the hour to hear the station ID and location. Make a note of the station and its frequency, or leave the radio tuned to the station. In the morning turn the radio on. Can you hear the radio station? If so, how does it sound?  AM radio waves are called sky waves and can bounce off the ionosphere at night more than FM radio waves do and as a result can travel farther.   For more information go to:  www.haystack.mit.edu/edu/pcr/amradio/index.html

 

                                      

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