All ages. (see alert below)
During this activity, students explore high-speed imagery: how it works and why we use it. Students first watch an Academy Award–winning short film entitled Quicker Than a Wink. This ten-minute film humorously depicts high-speed imagery and Doc’s career.
The class experiments with some of the technology that Doc often used in the lab. There is a high-speed video camera that records 1000 frames/second, and a digital-camera-plus-strobe-light system that can take multiflash pictures. Students design and take photographs (all of which will be shared digitally with the teacher). The “spinning discs” are also used to illuminate how strobe lighting affects how we see things.
A great follow-up to this activity is a trip to the nearby MIT Museum, which has many hands-on science exhibits as well as much material on Doc Edgerton. Museum has an entrance fee. This must be scheduled in advance, please contact the museum.
Please note that strobe lighting is used in darkened conditions. Inform the instructor if anyone in the group is prone to epileptic seizures or afraid of the dark.