Here are some afterthoughts and links related to the first PTSOS New Teacher Workshop in Sacramento, held at Rio Americano High School Saturday, October 18. Most PTSOSers know about ptsos.org, ncnaapt.org, the PTSOS Yahoo Group, and phyz.org, but we blasted through some other resources as well. We cover a lot of ground at PTSOS New Teacher Workshops, so here's a list of some of the specifics that might have sneaked past you.
Steve Keith demoed Vernier Software's student-friendly Logger Pro for physics data-plotting. Steve's also a fan of Arizona State University's Modeling Workshop. And he gets pretty good mileage out of Interactive Physics. I'm impressed with the potential of IP, but I'm disappointed that they no longer support the Macintosh platform.
I mentioned ripping video from YouTube on the Mac OS X platform. In the ever-changing world of Internet applications, sometimes it's best to simply use your Google-fu. I'm currently using TubeTV (with QuickTime plug-in, Perian, installed). But it looks like there are other things out there, such as YouTube Grabber and TubeSock. If you try them, let us know how it goes.
We looked at some video clips from Physics Cinema Classics. Specifically, the "Cannonball"-related clips. I haven't been able to relocate those on YouTube (they may have been removed per copyright issues), but here's a nice substitute (in keeping with Steve Keith's advice to work cars into the curriculum). With QuickTime (free for Macs and PCs), you can step through the video, frame by frame.
In addition to the Tumble Buggy (with Keith Industries' custom battery slug), Drilled Balls, rare dart guns, and Geyser Tubes included in your Goodie Bags, we saw ideas for using a Newton's Cradle, Visual Accelerometers (and the old-school liquid accelerometer), Introductory Dynamics System, Rotating Platform. Steve demoed Falling Rhythm.
We also talked about skepticism and critical thinking. I've got a page of mini-lessons in this area. Here's a nice resource on spoon bending. It includes video of the world record spoon bending from The Amazing Meeting 6 this past summer in Las Vegas. There's an excellent episode of Nova devoted to this topics as well: James Randi's Secrets of the Psychics.
The existence of Released Test Questions from California's Physics Content Standards Test was news to some. I'll print a set for PTSOS2 participants. By then, there should be 15 more questions in the set.
Oh, and we strongly recommend attending local NCNAAPT meetings and joining the American Association of Physics Teachers (The Physics Teacher, AAPT's journal, is worth the annual dues).
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Letting go of Newtonian mechanics
I'm finishing my unit on uniform circular motion and gravity. We'll test on that this week and move on to momentum.
In the rearview? Preliminaries, motion and inertia, force and interaction. That is, kinematics and Newton's laws. By week's end, I'll be done with the first of California's 9-12 Physics Standard Sets (Motion and Forces) and started on the second (Conservation of Energy and Momentum).
I say this as someone who will not make it through all California's Physics Standards by the time the Physics CST strikes in April.
And I say it as someone who imagines there are many California high school physics teachers out there not as far into the curriculum in mid-October. I know we all love our mechanics topics and could spend the entire year deeply immersed in them, but that typically requires sacrificing rainbows and blue skies.
It's worth mentioning The Hewitt Doctrine: "Don't Let Kinematics Become a Black Hole of Physics Instruction." Conceptual Physics author, Paul Hewitt worries that we'll spend half the year working with ticker-tape timers and increasingly trickier graphical and algebraic kinematics puzzles, only to run out of time before giving students even the most rudimentary exposure to electricity, magnetism, optics, or many other fascinating topics in introductory physics.
Conscientious physics teachers fear that without a thorough understanding of motion and forces, students will not be able to grasp subsequent topics in physics. This turns out to not be the case. Very little of the sky falls if you move on from mechanics before it's fully fermented.
The deep understanding of kinematics and Newton's laws that most physics teachers obtained on their way out of college should not be expected of high school students in their first exposure to the topics. They don't all really need it.
I recommend letting it go and moving on.
If anything, students need more time with electricity and magnetism. These topics are very abstract, so lab work and slow development of concepts is called for. Of course, the year is finite (180ish days). If you're going to have a chance at E&M, you're going to have to get out of mechanics earlier.
Just a thought. Double your money back if the advice doesn't work for you.
In the rearview? Preliminaries, motion and inertia, force and interaction. That is, kinematics and Newton's laws. By week's end, I'll be done with the first of California's 9-12 Physics Standard Sets (Motion and Forces) and started on the second (Conservation of Energy and Momentum).
I say this as someone who will not make it through all California's Physics Standards by the time the Physics CST strikes in April.
And I say it as someone who imagines there are many California high school physics teachers out there not as far into the curriculum in mid-October. I know we all love our mechanics topics and could spend the entire year deeply immersed in them, but that typically requires sacrificing rainbows and blue skies.
It's worth mentioning The Hewitt Doctrine: "Don't Let Kinematics Become a Black Hole of Physics Instruction." Conceptual Physics author, Paul Hewitt worries that we'll spend half the year working with ticker-tape timers and increasingly trickier graphical and algebraic kinematics puzzles, only to run out of time before giving students even the most rudimentary exposure to electricity, magnetism, optics, or many other fascinating topics in introductory physics.
Conscientious physics teachers fear that without a thorough understanding of motion and forces, students will not be able to grasp subsequent topics in physics. This turns out to not be the case. Very little of the sky falls if you move on from mechanics before it's fully fermented.
The deep understanding of kinematics and Newton's laws that most physics teachers obtained on their way out of college should not be expected of high school students in their first exposure to the topics. They don't all really need it.
I recommend letting it go and moving on.
If anything, students need more time with electricity and magnetism. These topics are very abstract, so lab work and slow development of concepts is called for. Of course, the year is finite (180ish days). If you're going to have a chance at E&M, you're going to have to get out of mechanics earlier.
Just a thought. Double your money back if the advice doesn't work for you.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
61 Science Nobel Laureates endorse Obama
A group of 61 Nobel Laureates have gotten together to endorse Barack Obama for President. Their letter and the signatories are here. This is the largest number of Nobel Laureates to ever endorse a candidate for office.
Tip of the ballot to The Bad Astronomer.
Tip of the ballot to The Bad Astronomer.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Book of Phyz updates: Force and Interaction
I've updated a couple of documents and presentations in The Book of Phyz unit on Force and Motion.
1. LabPrep: Carts and Tracks. An activity focused on learning the Pasco Introductory Dynamics System. The tracks and carts are nice, but students need to spend some time to get familiar with them. Since we do several IDS-based labs across our two-year sequence, it's time well spent. Document updated.
2. Lab: Going Through the Motions. This one is focused on understanding acceleration through Pasco's Visual Accelerometer and fan attachment with the IDS. Document and presentation updated.
3. Lab: Putting the Force Before the Cart. This activity develops Newton's second law using the IDS and Visual Accelerometer. Document and presentation updated.
All can be accessed here.
1. LabPrep: Carts and Tracks. An activity focused on learning the Pasco Introductory Dynamics System. The tracks and carts are nice, but students need to spend some time to get familiar with them. Since we do several IDS-based labs across our two-year sequence, it's time well spent. Document updated.
2. Lab: Going Through the Motions. This one is focused on understanding acceleration through Pasco's Visual Accelerometer and fan attachment with the IDS. Document and presentation updated.
3. Lab: Putting the Force Before the Cart. This activity develops Newton's second law using the IDS and Visual Accelerometer. Document and presentation updated.
All can be accessed here.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
PTSOS-Now also in Sacramento!
The popular and successful PTSOS New Teacher Workshops have expanded to Sacramento. I will be hosting Workshop 1: Mechanics ("Overcoming Inertia") at Rio Americano High School on Saturday, October 18. More importantly Steve Keith, longtime physics teacher at Casa Roble High School and Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching recipient, will be presenting as co-leader.
The PTSOS workshops at San Mateo High School continue with Paul Robinson and Dan Burns presiding.
Stephanie Finander continues as Reach Out Coordinator.
For more information on PTSOS and the workshops (and much, much more), see our website at ptsos.org. You'll find information there on how to register for an upcoming workshop.
The PTSOS workshops at San Mateo High School continue with Paul Robinson and Dan Burns presiding.
Stephanie Finander continues as Reach Out Coordinator.
For more information on PTSOS and the workshops (and much, much more), see our website at ptsos.org. You'll find information there on how to register for an upcoming workshop.
Inertia at high speed
The chronicles of high speed video as seen through my Casio EX-F1 continue. The latest episode focuses (!) on our Inertia in Action PhyzLab.Click here to go to the full Inertia Video page.
A brief explanation of each activity.
Card Trick: Put a coin on a card and put the card on a cup. Remove the card in one swift move (without changing its orientation).
Hoop Dreams: Balance a marker pen on an embroidery hoop atop an air-core solenoid. (Some prefer hex nuts and wine bottles.) Next, remove the hoop so that the pen drops into the coil. There's a bonus video from 2002 showing a student attempting the difficult triple Hoop Dream.
Tablecloth Trick: We use physics textbooks in lieu of fine china. Then we try loose sheets of paper. The paper is non-trivial.
Click here for the full high speed video page.
The Flying Circus of Physics
The Flying Circus of Physics is a wonderful book of physics questions. Not number puzzles. Not problems. Questions. Questions drawn from observable, real-world phenomena. It is the product of physics professor and popularizer extraordinaire, Jearl Walker. I discovered the book early in my teaching career and have regarded it as an essential volume for physics teachers (and the physics curious). I present several of Walker's questions to my students as homework throughout our two-year sequence.As light-hearted as the title might sound, the book is serious physics. "Naked-eye physics," as Walker describes it. In the 1990s, Jearl Walker did a thorough overhaul of my favorite calculus-based physics textbook, Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday and Resnick.
In the better late than never department, I see that Walker updated his treasure-trove in 2006. As with the first edition, it's available in several languages. Walker has also established a robust web presence around the second edition. He's even got merchandise! My T-shirt is ordered an on the way.
Check out Jearl Walker's Flying Circus of Physics. If you teach physics or possess curiosity about the world around you, you should not be without this book.
UPDATE: Oily snorkels! Full episodes of Jearl Walker's Emmy Award-winning Kinetic Karnival can be accessed from a MySpace page posted and maintained by his students. Once on the MySpace page, click "View my ... Videos."
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Physics in the Fountain of Fizz
The Mentos geyser became an Internet/YouTube phenom some time ago. Theories abound on the chemistry of the phenomenon. It seems the surface roughness and gum arabic of the Mentos are the critical elements. If you've been living off-world for the past couple of years, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the Mentos geyser.
In the meantime, I developed a demonstration narrative to examine the physics of the Mentos geyser. Not the chemistry. Just the physics.
To examine the physics, measure the mass of the geyser ingredients before and after the eruption. This will allow you to calculate the mass of the fizz ejected in the eruption.
Measure the maximum height of the eruption and the length of the interval during which the eruption occurred. Doing so will allow calculations of the mass flow rate, the speed of the fizz as it erupts, and ultimately the power developed in the eruption.
The error bars on these calculations are significant. Estimations and simplifications dominate. But the fundamentals are there.
Where does this demo fit into the physics curriculum? I'm planning on using it at the end of my unit on energy.
Anyway, here's the sheet. Keep in mind this is version 1.0 of the sheet. I'm open to suggestions on how to improve it.
If you're looking for a slick way to get the Mentos into the soda without getting the soda onto you, check out the Geyser Tube from Steve Spangler Science.
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