Gong
Last week I introduced my first year classes to the concept of designing experiments. The physical system under investigation was a wooden rod and two bit of string, many possible research questions that I won't go into here as I don't waant to spoil it for any other teachers who might try this practical with their classes. (Subscribers can get details here). There was however one particularly interesting research question that I will share. Inspired by Chinese musical instruments, one student decided to use the rod as a striker to hit a bell in an attempt to investigate the relationship between the distance swung by the striker and the amplitude of sound from the bell. Initial tests were not conclusive, controlled variable proving to be too difficult to keep constant. The students name just happens to be Gong, something didn't think about until later.