Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Two new activities for PhET's "Faraday's Electromagnetic Lab"

I've always liked the presentation of PhET's "Faraday's Electromagnetic Lab" sim, but could never figure out how best to leverage them in inquiry-based activities. And some might say that I have yet to overcome that challenge.

Nonetheless, I wrote two activities that—between them—allow for the exploration of the sim's capabilities. There's some good physics illustrated and animated in the sims.

Electricity and magnetism are difficult subjects for physics learners, so many hands-on lab activities are called for. No harm in adding a few virtual lab activities to the mix.

"Faraday's Electromagnetic Lab" sim.

"Faraday's Electromagnetic Lab I: Magnets and Electromagnets" activity and answer key.

"Faraday's Electromagnetic Lab II: Pickup Coil, Transformer, and Generator" activity and answer key.

These are "first-takes" and may benefit from further development at a later time.

No comments: