CAASPP link added to sidebar...

UPDATE 2/20/20: With testing about one month away, the CAASPP/CAST practice and training items remain in "Coming Soon" status. Will we run through the administration of the tests before practice and training items are posted? Time will tell.

California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress is the part of the California Department of Education responsible for the statewide tests administered to students, such as the CAST (California Science Test).

They ostensibly publish training and practice exams ahead of the operational administration in March. As we close out January and head toward February, the training and practice exam status is as follows:

Scoring Guides for CAASPP: CAST, Smarter Balanced, CAA Practice Tests, and CSA

California Science Test (CAST)

Practice Tests

• CAST Practice Items Scoring Guide—Grade Five (Coming Soon)
• CAST Practice Items Scoring Guide—Grade Five, Braille (Coming Soon)
• CAST Practice Items Scoring Guide—Grade Eight (Coming Soon)
• CAST Practice Items Scoring Guide—Grade Eight, Braille (Coming Soon)
• CAST Practice Items Scoring Guide—High School (Coming Soon)
• CAST Practice Items Scoring Guide—High School, Braille (Coming Soon)

Training Tests

• CAST Training Items Scoring Guide—Grade Five (Coming Soon)
• CAST Training Items Scoring Guide—Grade Five, Braille (Coming Soon)
• CAST Training Items Scoring Guide—Grade Eight (Coming Soon)
• CAST Training Items Scoring Guide—Grade Eight, Braille (Coming Soon)
• CAST Training Items Scoring Guide—High School (Coming Soon)
• CAST Training Items Scoring Guide—High School, Braille (Coming Soon)

I added a permanent link in the sidebar to the right to make it easy to check in and determine CAASPP's definition of "Coming Soon").

The administration is, once again, scheduled for March. Fingers crossed that these items will post prior to that administration.

PTSOS Workshop 2 Links of Phyz

Here are some notes and links relevant to PTSOS Workshop #2. If you're new to teaching physics in Northern California, check out PTSOS.org.

Momentum and Energy
I prefer momentum before energy, but I've run into teachers who consider those to be fightin' words.

Phyz Momentum Curriculum

One highlight here is our Grass Omelette (Egg Toss Competition). In 2013, I had five sections of Physics, so I was able to compile an adequate set of images and video to make a tidy video: Egg Toss 2013

Phyz Energy Curriculum

If you're a fan of ranking items, you might enjoy
Potential Energy Ranking - Answers
Kinetic Energy and Momentum Rankings

Further distinctions between kinetic energy and momentum are explored here.
Kinetic Energy and Momentum Conundrums - Answers

For video resources, there's
The Mechanical Universe High School: Conservation of Momentum, and Conservation of Energy
The Mechanical Universe (College): Conservation of Energy, Potential Energy, and Conservation of Momentum.

Waves and Sound
Phyz Waves Curriculum

One of my favorite lessons is a nice foray into skepticism: Back Masking and EVP (Drop Box Link to Keynote Presentation). I connect it to a lesson that involves Musical Roads and Talkie Tapes.

Demo: Science is Fun!

For video resources, there's
The Mechanical Universe High School: Introduction to Waves
The Mechanical Universe (College): Waves
PBS: The Secret Life of Waves

Charging Ahead 2020

This year's Van de Graaff portrait gallery. Enjoy.


I'm migrating from Flickr to SmugMug. One apparently owns the other, but they continue to operate as separate entities.

Another call you don't need to return

Jeff Lind at 888-227-8212 navigated his way into my school voicemail box to request a call back. He is not a parent of any of my students. He is not someone I have elected to do business with. No, it seems he's on a cold-call campaign from WorldStrides, an educational travel company from North Carolina.

Nope. I blasted a mass email to all my colleagues at school to ignore any call-back requests from him.

I reported a similar cold-call telemarketer in a previous post. I can only imagine these will become more common. Apparently school voicemail systems are not protected by "Do Not Call" lists.