Invisi-Tables! Indirect Evidence Analog for Gold Foil Experiment (Nucleus) Fun!

Invisi-Tables! Indirect Evidence Analog for Gold Foil Experiment (Nucleus) Fun! See it on TpT

This is a really fun lab I made for my 9th grade Physical Science classes, but it can easily be adapted for pretty much any age level where the teacher wants to introduce indirect evidence.

The students are tasked with using nothing but the rolls of a marble to discover what is hidden under the Invisi-Table. Where are the objects? How many are there? They actually sketch a picture of what is under it without having to look! It is a perfect low budget way of simulating Rutherford’s gold foil experiment, where here the marble represents the alpha particles that were shot at the gold atoms and the objects under the table represent an unknown structure like the nucleus was to Rutherford during his research.

I’ve used it 3 years in a row with great success each time. It is very simple yet engaging and will keep the kids thinking. It is also re-usable every year. The tables themselves don’t take up much room.

Includes comprehensive student lab handout and a brief section for the teacher on how to build Invisi-Tables, which includes pictures of all 6 of the ones I have used for 3 years in a row!

Materials for each student/group: a standard glass marble, ruler, and lab notebooks or paper.

Materials for making Invisi-Tables: Glue gun, approximately 12" x 24" thin boards, 4 rubber stoppers per table for the legs, and some small random objects to glue under the tables themselves.

This is definitely worth doing. Please share you experiences with it in the reviews or comments.

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