Edgewood Sailing School: Salinity Workshop

In this youth STEM workshop at Edgeood Sailing School in Cranston, RI, We had a wonderful time at the Edgewood Sailing School in Cranston, RI, We explored salinity measurements using basic electronics on a breadboard.

We used a simple oscillator chip (the '555') whose output frequency is a function of a resistance value in the circuit. The 'resistor' in the circuit was our water sample (high salinity --> low resistance), and we hooked the output oscillation to a small speaker. Result: higher salinity meant higher audio pitch!

Some pics from the workshop below:

Gathering materials in advance of the workshop ...

Developing the instructions for the hands-on portion.

The 555 circuit in action.

The instructors ranged in age from 52 to 6 years old :)

After the workshop, we got to go for sail!

A bunch of other boats out that day.

Impromptu marine biology lab on the beach ...

A friendly visitor at the workshop.