In November, the Louisiana Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers participated in a Physics day and a great presentation was on really simple and cheap physics demos.

Wired's Science Blogs posted details and photos about the demonstrations. There are 10 demonstrations and there are videos of them being done that you could show instead of doing the demo (although live demos are more impressive).

Check them out here:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/11/simple-physics-demos/

These are cheap, easy, and require no electrical outlet. These are great ways to engage students in a topic by doing the demo before the topic, or do the demo as an explanation of a topic.

The Andes Physics Tutor

The Andes Physics Tutor is a free resource that is described as "an intelligent homework helper for Physics." Andes allows students work draw diagrams, enter equations, and define variables just as if they were doing so on paper, but Andes will tell the students if they are correct or not, and give hings when asked. Research showed students learned more this way than with traditional paper problems. 

PBS has a great site on Physics of the Circus. The site is a companion to their show Circus, which you can watch on the site.

The site has resources, lesson plans, video clips, and more on Physics related to the circus. They are organized by concept area, such as Projectile Motion, Newton's Laws, Conservation of Energy and more.

Since most students have seen a circus on TV or been to one, this is a good way to make physics engaging and relate it to something they know.

Apple made a big announcement last week about iBooks2 and digital textbooks. You can read my thoughts on it here.

Some other teachers asked me what I use with my classes, since I don't use a textbook. The textbooks we have are 20+ years old, hard to understand and not very good in general. Instead, I use a collection of resources with my students. (I do use a Physics textbook, Giancoli Physics, with my AP class).

All of my lesson plans and resources are organized in Evernote. This is where I have unit and topic lesson plans, objectives, links, activities, projects, and all of my files. It is also what I use to organize and schedule what I'm doing each day in class.

 Students may check out one of our physics textbooks if they want, but no one does. There are also a variety of textbooks in my class that students can use if they want.

1. Lecture notes - I do a lot of labs, projects, and investigations with my classes, but I start each topic off with a short lecture and discussion, example problems, along with demonstrations and applications of the topic to real life. There are also short video clips and animations which help explain concepts. I want the students to have a basic understanding before going off on their own. The lectures are usually on PowerPoint with links, videos and live demos. The PowerPoint slides are posted on the class website.

2. Class website - the class website has the lecture notes, handouts, links, and other resources for the students.

3. Class blog - the class blog is where I have links, post class updates, and post assignments and reminders.

4. Problem sets - each section has problem sets. The packets have a short summary of the concept, as well as example problems and then the practice problems students do. They start the "homework" in class so that I can assist them and then they finish them at home. These packets become a mini-textbook of sorts. They also get lots of other handouts, including math reference, physics equations, problem solving tips, and more.

5. Labs, Projects, and Activities - we do at least 2 labs for each topic and a lot of projects and activities through the year. We use software (Multimedia Science School), along with websites, webquests, hands-on labs, and research and design/build projects. Many labs are done virtually using PhET. Projects include balloon launch for projectile motion, bridge building for forces/stress, and rockets at the end of the year, among others..

6. E-textbooks - I provide links to online physics textbooks and downloadable physics textbooks so that they have them as a resource. I do not specifically use them or refer to them in class.

7. Websites - there are a couple of great websites I use with the class, including the PhysicsClassroom, PhET, and some great videos on different sites. I have also found Dolores Gende's site to be invaluable to me as a teacher and to my students. She has some great Physics resources and links on her site.

8. Discovery Education - I use Discovery Education Streaming for videos, I get images and lesson ideas from the STEM Academy and Science of Everyday Life and the Discovery Educator Network. There are over 25 Free Resources for educators to use.

These are the main resources. There are more. I get resources from different textbooks, web sites, other educators and more.

What do you use, instead of / in addition to, texbooks in your classroom?




 Here is a full listing and description of some of the sites and resources I use:



1. The Physics Classroom - this site is excellent. It has a tutorial section (online lessons with links, practice problems and simulations) along with a review section, help for solving word problems, links, multimedia resources and much more. The lessons are in easy to understand terms and each subject area is broken down into small parts. One of the best physics resources available.



2. PhET - Online or downloadable simulations and virtual labs. There are also teacher created lesson plans and resources for each lab/simulation. The quality of these resources is excellent and they really help students visualize and learn physics concepts. There are also simulations/virtual labs for Chemistry, Biology, Math and Earth Science.



3. Physics Study Guide wikibook - great content and explanations and has links to other resources. Can be used as a study guide or even as a basic textbook.


4. Motion Mountain - free downloadable Physics textbook - covers kinematics, light, electromanetism, relativity, and some other topics.


5. FHSST Physics online wikibook - Free High School Science Texts - covers all the physics concepts and has explanations and examples. Can easily be used as an e-textbook.




6. AP Physics B video lectures - excellent videos about each topic in physics. Great for review or for students who want another explanation of a concept. Geared towards AP Physics B, but can be used for any physics class.



7. Learn AP Physics - has practice problems, links, explanations, and videos. Includes some of the videos from #6 above. Geared towards AP Physics, but can be used for other classes also.





8. Online Physics Study Guide - topic explanations, simulations, practice problems, and more.

I teach Physics and AP Physics B and have found some great resources over the years to use in class and to share with students as support materials. Here's a list of some of them.



1. The Physics Classroom - this site is excellent. It has a tutorial section (online lessons with links, practice problems and simulations) along with a review section, help for solving word problems, links, multimedia resources and much more. The lessons are in easy to understand terms and each subject area is broken down into small parts. One of the best physics resources available.



2. PhET - Online or downloadable simulations and virtual labs. There are also teacher created lesson plans and resources for each lab/simulation. The quality of these resources is excellent and they really help students visualize and learn physics concepts. There are also simulations/virtual labs for Chemistry, Biology, Math and Earth Science.



3. Physics Study Guide wikibook - great content and explanations and has links to other resources. Can be used as a study guide or even as a basic textbook.


4. Motion Mountain - free downloadable Physics textbook - covers kinematics, light, electromanetism, relativity, and some other topics.


5. FHSST Physics online wikibook - Free High School Science Texts - covers all the physics concepts and has explanations and examples. Can easily be used as an e-textbook.




6. AP Physics B video lectures - excellent videos about each topic in physics. Great for review or for students who want another explanation of a concept. Geared towards AP Physics B, but can be used for any physics class.



7. Learn AP Physics - has practice problems, links, explanations, and videos. Includes some of the videos from #6 above. Geared towards AP Physics, but can be used for other classes also.





8. Online Physics Study Guide - topic explanations, simulations, practice problems, and more.




Share your physics resources with us.

Exploriments is a site that has interactive simulations that help students learn and understand math and science. Students are active and engaged, rather than passive. They get to explore different topics and ask, and answer, questions like "what-if" and find the cause and effect of things. There are learning objectives for each Exploriment and everything works together and builds on previous knowledge.

The Exploriments are organized by Physics, Chemistry and Math and then further organized by topic. The physics ones are well done and I've used a few with my students already.

The free access does not give you full access or function, but there are some great things to use. You can upgrade to the premium access if you want to.

Knotbooks is a very cool service that allows users to create, collaborate and share customized, self-guided physics lessons. The goal of the site is to" make all of physics accessible, understandable, interactive, and free".

The site is free to use and you can either create an account or login using a variety of other accounts, such as Facebook, OpenID, Myspace, WordPress, Google, Twitter, and many others.

You can create self-guided multimedia lessons, study guides, and other resources using a huge resource of knowledge and information from their partners. You can also modify existing Knotebooks for your own use and collaborate and get help on any topic in physics from the community and resources. Text, animations, videos, and much more are all a part of Knotebooks.

While it is only for Physics, I see this as a great model to use in all topics.

I've been re-reading the short book The Universe and Dr. Einstein, originally written in 1948 by Lincoln Barnett. I first read and was inspired by this book when I was 17. An engrossing account, written for the general public, of the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics, this is an accessible and effective resource for introducing to high school students some of the philosophical questions raised by Einstein's and other related work in physics.

Einstein wrote in the book's foreword that much popular scientific writing either is too superficial or too inaccessible, but that this work presents the main scientific concepts well and ties them to questions about knowledge. To me the book reads almost like a thriller, describing carefully and with excitement the developments in physics that have resulted in a gulf between our commonsense view of the world, based on our perceptual experiences, and scientific understanding. The book discusses the relationship between developments in cosmology and philosophical problems about the relationship between appearance and reality, the reliability of sense perception, causation, the relationship between the observer and what is observed, and the nature of scientific knowledge.  Highly recommended!

This will be my last post for the academic year, as I am again planning to spend much of the summer working on my book, on which I have made substantial progress - hoping to have it finished in 2011. I'll be back to this blog in September!

I learned about some very cool applets for math and physics from Dolores Gende the other day. These two pages and the applets were created by Walter Fendt.

An applet is an interactive animation (run with Java). These applets allow students to visualize and manipulate different things to explore and learn about the topics.

There are applets for arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, forces, Newton's Laws, momentum and collisions, circular motion, waves, and much, much more.

These are great resources for teachers and students to use to better understand and explore these topics.


Applets on Mathematics

Applets on Physics 

The Road Ahead is a resource from Discovery Education and General Motors Education that explores how electricity is generated and how it will change how we live.

There is a digital magazine that interactively teaches about electricity, energy sources and new ways to power vehicles. There are also a teacher's guide, worksheets, and a classroom poster you can print.

Materials and resources are divided up into two groups: Grades 3-5 and 6-8. There is a link to GM's education site with lessons for grades 9-12.

There is also a link for getting ideas and resources for teaching about the environment.

This is a great resource for science teachers and any teacher that is teaching about electricity, the environment, and more.

The General Motors Education site has a lot of other resources for teachers for all grade levels in a variety of subjects and topics. Check it out too.

APlusPhysics is a site with a plethora of resources for physics students and teachers. It includes an entire college prep physics course online, from tutorials to animations to integrated quizzes and solutions based on five+ years of standardized physics tests (question bank of close to 500 questions).  In addition, there’s a physics discussion forum, student and educator blogs, physics activities, review videos, etc.  


The courses are based on the Regents and AP Physics exams and material. There are projects, such as catapult and mousetrap cars, a physics news section, and a section for educators. 


This is a great resource for teachers to use with a class, or to send their students to for reinforcement and enrichment. 

101 Science is an incredible site with a huge amount of resources for science.

The site has more resources than I could count, organized by topics such as "electronics", "chemistry", "biology", "physics", "math" and "photography." There are also resources for earth science, astronomy, robotics, ethics, java applets, and much more. Each main category has sub categories also.

Each topic has scores of links and resources, including articles, web sites, and videos. Some videos are from MIT, TED and more.

If you teach science, are a student of science, or just like science, this is a must see site.

Here's a look at the main Physics page:



Each link on this page has more links. Here is the page on Gravity:



(Some sub categories have much more than this even!)


This site is just tremendous with over 20,000 links and resources.

PhET is an awesome resource from the University of Colorado at Boulder. The site has interactive simulations for physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, and math that teachers and students can use.

The simulations can be run on the site or downloaded. The simulations are accurate and real and can help students learn concepts in more depth. They are easy and fun to use, and really do demonstrate the concepts well. In the physics ones I use, a big benefit is that students can quickly and easily change variables and conditions and then see what happens. This is very hard and time consuming in many hands on labs.

The simulations are also a great alternative to live labs if you don't have the resources available. Some of the simulations are better than any hands on lab because the students can truly see and understand what is happening.

You can search by topic, grade level, or just see the newest ones added. There are teacher resources for many of the simulations. Teachers who use the simulations post lesson plans and resources to the site for others to use also.

I use the Physics simulations in my classroom and they work great. This is one of those sites that every science and math teacher needs to check out.

Here's a list of some of the new simulations they have:

In my physics classes, when we study work, energy and energy conversions, I relate it to amusement park rides such as roller coasters. The students can all relate to these things and they are great examples of work being done to give an object (the roller coaster) potential energy which then gets converted to kinetic energy and so one. We are also able to bring in forces, friction, and other topics. The students love it, it keeps their interest, and they learn!

One activity I had them complete right before the Thanksgiving break is to play an online game. Yes, I said it, a game. The game is Roller Coaster Creator. I found the site by doing a Google search and played it myself first. It is a lot of fun, but I wasn't sure how educational it was. So, I tried it out on my students. They loved it. They all tried to get the highest scores and the best designs. But, more importantly was the conversations they were having while using it. They were talking like physicists and engineers. "We have to increase this hill so there is more potential energy". "There is too much friction." "That loop will create too much g-force for the passengers." "In order to have the car jump that gap, we need a different angle and more velocity."

The conversations were great! I was so happy to see them learning and applying the concepts that they had learned while having fun!!

Now, I just have to keep this fun level going and get some more great activities for them.

Share your educational games (or games you've used in education) with us.

The Physics Behind "Unstoppable" is a great piece I found on Open Culture's website. The article starts with the plot of the movie and a trailer for it and then has a video from Emory physics professor Sidney Perkowitz explaining the physics part of this. Professor Perkowitz has also authored books and articles on physics and science in movies. 


Applying science to popular culture, whether movies, music, sports, or the like is a great way to connect with your students, engage them, and show them how what they are learning is important and applies in "real life".


Open Culture is a great site with a lot of resources on education. 

Today I just read an article on video games as learning tools on Edudemic. I have always thought that games made an excellent learning tool when done right, with the right support by the teacher. Many video games teach students actual content knowledge, but most of them teach critical thinking and problem solving techniques. 


Research has shown that video games are effective as learning tools and many companies are working on educational video games. But, other video games can be used educationally also. 


I just downloaded Angry Birds for my Palm Pre+ last night and loved it. The premise is simple. A bunch of pigs steal eggs from the birds. The birds then go after the pigs. The birds get launched using a slingshot and try to knock down the pigs structures. 


As I was playing, I realized that there was physics at play here, and since I teach physics, I was very excited. Projectile Motion, structures, stability, materials, and dynamics all come into play. If you understand those concepts, you'll do better at the game. If you don't know those concepts, you will learn them while playing. 


There is nothing really bad about the game. It is extremely popular and received high praise from reviewers. My only problem is that I need it in a Windows version for my classroom! 


The game is available for Palm webOS phones (Pre and Pixi), Nokia phones, and iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad.


" Angry Birds features hours of gameplay, challenging physics-based castle demolition, and lots of replay value. Each of the 150 levels requires logic, skill, and brute force to crush the enemy. " 


As an educator, I am always looking for new, engaging ways to teach my students. Using video games is a great way to do this.


Share video games that you use for education!


Note: Edudemic is a great resource site for educators. In their own words, Edudemic is a website devoted to these ‘geeky’ things with an education slant. We focus on what’s happening in the tech world and how it applies to higher education. We’re not trying to be the next Gizmodo, we’re trying to help educators get the most out of their students and vice versa.

Science Online is a site that contains lesson plans, interactive activities, worksheets and links for K-8 science. The resources are sorted by grade level and topics, such as Force and Motion, Energy, Living Things, Cells, and many more.

The site can also be used by 9-12 teachers for inspiration, other resources, and remedial work. It is also a good place to get work for students having trouble with different concepts.