Search results matching tags 'science' and 'physics'

Little Shop of Physics Resource for physics experiments both...

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 04:02:09 GMT

Little Shop of Physics

Resource for physics experiments both off and online.

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Interactives

Engineering Interact

Super Science Fair Project Resources

Photometry

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:24:29 GMT

Light is an energy, so it can also measured like other energies. Hence, The branch of physics in which the capacity of emitting light energy and measure of illumination of any Light source is done is called PHOTOMETRY.

Launchball from the Science Museum is a cool physics...

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 23:45:12 GMT

Launchball from the Science Museum is a cool physics game.

#scichat #elemchat #spedchat #physics

Levels can be created and shared. You must register to share and save but it is not required to play.

Added to Sensational Science Sites

FREE Enrichment Links for Gr. 2-8---Enjoy!

Joan — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 03:50:00 GMT
Try using some of these links the next time one of your students says, "I'm finished. Now what do I do?"
Links for Inventors and Inventions

inventors.about.com/library/bl/toc/blglossary.htm A good glossary of intellectual property terms

uspto.gov The official website for the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office

www.copyright.gov/ U.S. Copyright Office (Library of Congress)

www.google.com/ptshp?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&tab=wt&q= Google Patent Search tool

www.inventnow.org Web site where children can engage in games and activities. They can use their creativity as well as learn about the process of protecting their intellectual property.

copyrightconfusion.wikispaces.com/Teaching Teach/learn about copyright and applying fair use.

www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ahrpa/opa/kids/index.html US Patent and Trademark Office’s Kids’ Pages

specials.about.com/service/newsletters/inventors/1286467200.htm Some of About.com’s information on inventing and inventors. Read about the beginnings of Facebook and its new movie.

inventors.about.com/od/inventing101patents/a/patent_searchin.htm How to do a patent search for new inventors and students

ilinventor.tripod.com/ Inventor group (Illinois Innovators and Inventors--i3) headquartered in Edwardsville, IL. Meetings are held monthly (2nd Wed. of the month) with networking opportunities for inventors.

ilinventor.tripod.com/reference.html Resources for inventors from i3

www.inventorsdigest.com/ Website related to the magazine for “idea people”

uiausa.org Great website for inventors just getting started “on the road to inventing”- Website of the non-profit organization with many links and resources for inventors

www.inventorsconnection.org/Topics/42646.html St. Louis inventor group; meets monthly at the St. Louis County's Library Headquarters (at 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.)

www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/tvsearch.php?keywords=Inventors&sitesearch=1&in=tv_all&go.x=13go.y=10 Lessons plans and “elementary” information on inventing

Math Links

1. www.brightstorm.com/math 2,000+ FREE Math Videos – Every Topic in Algebra through Calculus! Excellent site.

2. www.mathforum.org/mathmagic/ A “bountiful” offering of math resources is listed here by grade level.

3. www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/ Please visit this site for explanations and examples covering decimals, percents, integers, probability, and much more. (Very good for 6th-8th grade math)

4. www.mathmammoth.com/worksheets/free.php Free sample math worksheet downloads (for Grades 1-9)

5.Here there are many math help resources available, including math lessons, math games, and a math help message board.

6. www.cut-the-knot.org/games.shtml Link to many MATH GAMES for ALL grade levels---Great site for practice AND fun!

7. www.algebrahelp.com/index.jsp This is another great website for those times when a student needs help with solving algebra problems.

8. www.learn-with-math-games.com/index.html Various math games for K through Middle School. Includes interactive as well as printable math games.

9. www.dadsworksheets.com/v1/Timer.html Use this free, web-based countdown timer to time math worksheets, quizzes, tests, projects, games, or other classroom activities. 100% JavaScript--Nothing to download, no software installation. This timer is perfect for math practice, writing assignments or any other school work activity that has a time limit. Enjoy!

10. step.nn.k12.va.us/math/middlemath/ppt/mid_math_ppt.htm Try these math PowerPoint presentations all ready to go for middle school students!

11. www.math.com Choose the appropriate level from the left sidebar. Then begin to answer the math problems presented at that level. You will receive immediate feedback about your answers. Investigate the "1-2-3-4 Step" feature where you can find explanations, examples, etc. for the math problems presented. How many problems will you answer correctly?

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Puzzle Links

1. www.gamesforthebrain.com/ Free online critical-thinking and problem-solving games and brain teasers for all ages

2. www.iknowthat.com/com/L2?GradeLevel=-1:6&Subject=Thinking Games Click on “Thinking Games” or “Math” in the left sidebar.

3. brainquest.com/educators/download Download great Brain Quest activities, icons, and more! (Please see #3 under "Kids"---"four seasons" downloads.)

4. www.familyeducation.com/search/results/?keywords=free+crossword+puzzles Many types and themes of crosswords for various age groups

5. puzzles.about.com/library/features/dailyxwd/blprind.htm Daily crossword puzzles uploaded weekly as a group--Level of difficulty = middle school to adult

6. www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/language_arts/madlibs/ Learn/review the parts of speech while having fun writing zany stories on various topics---painlessly!

7. www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/games/mad_libs/ ONLINE VERSION of the above Mad Libs worksheets

8. pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/area/tangram.html Online tangram puzzles like those in our enrichment class

9. www.abcya.com/tangrams.htm More interactive tangram puzzles!

Sports Science Resources and Links (January 2011)

1.   http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sportscience/index ESPN Sports Science homepage---The Emmy Award-winning TV series, hosted by John Brenkus, uncovers sports' biggest myths and mysteries by using cutting-edge technology to measure momentum, friction and the laws of gravity.

2.   http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5311548 ESPN Sports Science: Why Is John Wall So Fast?

3.   http://www.virtualnerd.com/intro-physics/ You can now access hundreds of online physics lessons -- from the rate of acceleration to Newton’s First Law. Each lesson is presented as an engaging video tutorial that features our Dynamic Whiteboard™, allowing you to drill down as deeply into any concept or problem as you want.

4.   http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/baseball/the-physics-of-the-freak How San Francisco's Tiny Tim Lincecum confounds the critics—and baseball's best hitters.

5.   http://www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/curve.html The science behind various types of pitches in baseball

6.   http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/lanceArmstrong/ The Science of Lance Armstrong (lesson plans)

7.   http://webusers.npl.illinois.edu/~a-nathan/pob/ The Science of Baseball

8.   http://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/staff_picks/sports_science/ Sport Science (baseball, cycling, surfing, hockey, climbing)

9.   http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/ Popular Mechanics: Sports (tennis, baseball basketball, football, golf)

10. http://physics-of-sport.net/ Physics of Sport (covers a variety of sports)

11. http://www.pbs.org/saf/1206/   On the Ball (basketball, attention/focus, diving, sports injuries)

12. http://www.sportsci.org/ Sports Science (general information, some sports-specific articles)

13. http://www.racquetresearch.com/ Raquet Research (tennis)

14. http://webusers.npl.illinois.edu/~a-nathan/pob/ The Physics of Baseball

Websites and Resources for Gifted/Talented Education-2011

1. www.giftedresourcecouncil.org/ Gifted Resource Council website

2. www.giftedsage.com/ St. Louis Association of Gifted Education website

3. www.mogam.org/www/index.shtml Gifted Association of Missouri website

4. www.pbs.org/teachersource/ For teachers but may be helpful to parents as well

5. www.tip.duke.edu/talent_searches/grade_7/index.html 7th Grade Talent Search Overview (Duke University)

6. www.hoagiesgifted.org/ Various activities for gifted and enrichment purposes

7.www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/tvsearch.php?keywords=gifted+education&sitesearch=1&in=tv_all (For teachers but contains links helpful to parents regarding “gifted with learning disabilities” information)

8. connections.smsd.org/nieman/EL/gifted.htm Provides interesting links for parents and teachers
9. www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10563.aspx Social Networking Links and Resources - Impacting the World of Gifted Education

Design Squad Nation (another from PBS) is a fantastic site where...

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 02:32:35 GMT

Design Squad Nation (another from PBS) is a fantastic site where kids can design their own inventions through drawings they can create on the site. They can also upload pictures or prototypes. Students can also view inventions of others. Really fun and interesting to look at.

They also have two neat interactives, Fidgit and String Thing.

what’s Fidgit?

DESIGNiT, BUILDiT, FIDGiT is an exciting puzzle game where you solve challenges and save tiny creatures called Fidgits! Think fast and manipulate blocks, springs, funnels, and other objects to bring the Fidgits home safely.

Features:

-Your Fidgits bounce and roll with a real physics engine!

-A library of brain-teasing challenges

-Make your own custom levels, and share with friends

-Unlock new materials: paint buckets, tubes, pendulums, and more!

-It’s sandbox-style play with countless combinations

what’s String Thing?

Make your own music! Customize a virtual string instrument to play a song you write. Choose from three different instrument sounds. Then add a funky beat and play it back.

screenshot

Students need to create accounts but they just have to come up with a screen name and password…no email address required.

Painting six ways

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 04:51:00 GMT

#1: Drizzle painting: for this I gave them three containers of tempera paint with pipettes. I used powdered tempera mixed to a consistency thick enough to stick to the paper towels, but thin enough to run down the paper.

This girl was particularly interested in how high up on the paper she could put the paint and get it to still drip on the floor. (Process!)

The girl who made this painting was persistently trying to make vertical lines; she said to me, in only a slightly exasperated voice, "even when I make lines across, they still drip down."

#2: Color mixing. This activity is pretty self explanatory, but I cannot say enough about it. They loved this activity (boys too) and created some fantastic shades. See at the end of this section for a Bev Bos video that inspired it.

video:

#3: Dough Paint: I found this in the Science Arts book. The paint is made of equal parts salt, flour, and water, with a little paint added. The book calls is "Sparkle Dough Paint," but I wouldn't say it actually "sparkles." None the less it is a fun art activity. They helped me funnel it into squeeze bottles and off they went.

Most of them chose to do "fold over" paintings, I did not suggest it, but one child did it and it caught on like wildfire. (The term "Fold Over Painting" is borrowed from Bev Bos.

I love the one above. It took forever to dry (three days) but I thought it was such a creative use of the materials.

I love how this one (above) was folded at an angle to make an interesting shape.

#4: Salad Spinner Art: This is one of everyones' favorite ways to paint at school. All it takes is some precut paper, some liquid water colors, pipettes, and a salad spinner. Like most of these painting options- no instructions are needed.

Add as much or as little paint as desired.

Spin for as long and and as fast as desired.

Ta- Da!

#5: Bubble Painting: Some children a little older than my class did this project and was fascinated by making really cool designs on their paper with the over flowing bubbles but my class wasn't really interested in what was happening to their paper. They were interested in what was happening in the cup: the bubbles building, the bubbles overflowing, the bubbles popping. This being said, we switched from paper to paper towels so we could do more bubbles faster and clean up faster.

#6: Incline Painting (with cars and marbles!): This activity was inspired by one of my favorite blogs: Teacher Tom's Blog. Now, mine was not as complex as Teacher Tom's, but I am not a builder, or a "tinkerer" or anything of the sort.

My simple solution was to adjust only one side of our adjustable table. I put a sensory pan at the bottom to catch the cars and left the roll of paper on the floor by the legs, pulling the paper over the top and cutting it off for the next group.

This was pretty fun, and kept the boys interest for more than ten minutes!

15 Ideas for Using Digital Cameras in Science

Anonymous — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 01:41:03 GMT

1. Stop motion movies and flip books.

By taking multiple pictures, students would create a photo flip book or stop motion movie to demonstrate, as accurately as possible, a particular science concept or process. For some examples, see Dale Basler’s post Create stop-motion videos and learn physics. Another way to easily create stopmotion films is with SAM Animation software (more examples) and a webcam.

2. Photographs of Lab Setups
Take photographs of lab setups so you’ll remember next year how you set it up. Embed the photos into lab handouts and add annotations and directions.

3. Science Photo Gallery

"Where Sand Meets Sea" by Kelsey Rose Weber

Students take pictures and explain the all of the science concepts present in their photo. Display student work in the classroom and around the school. It drives home the concept that science is everywhere! Exceptional work in physics could enter the American Association of Physics Teachers’ High School Physics Photo Contest.

4. Photo/Video Analysis
This is different from #3 in that students would need to take a photo (student-created or teacher-created) and mathematically analyze it. For example, students could photograph the water coming up out of the water fountain. From the size and shape of the parabola, students could determine the initial speed of the water and the time it spends in the air. See also Speeding Problem and Kobe, Karplus, and Inquiry.

5. LED Motion Photos

by Amy Snyder, 2007

Students would take pictures with the shutter open a little longer than normal to capture motion. Attaching LEDs to the subject would allow for “light traces” in the photograph. See Sebastian Martin’s A Different Physics Class.

6. A super-accurate stopwatch
Many cameras have a video mode. It could be used to film an event that takes such a short time (less than 2 seconds) that using a regular stopwatch would yield poor results because of human reaction time. For example, students could measure the time it takes a ball to fall from the ceiling to the floor (which is less than 1 second) to determine the gravitational acceleration. Recently, we were doing a lab where students studied how the spacing between dominoes affects how quickly the line of dominoes fall. Students were getting messy data because the falling times were so short. If students had taken a video of the dominoes, they might have gotten more accurate falling times because they can look at it frame-by-frame at 30 fps.

7. End-of-year slide show for final exam review.

Make a slide show from pictures of students doing lab work and participating in demonstrations. At the end of the year, use the slide show to review for the final. Ask the students if they remembered what happened in the lab/demo and what concept it demonstrated. Plus, it’s a great way to remember all the good times during the year!

8. Video-based Labs
Sometimes, I only have one lab setup because the equipment is expensive or finicky. I used to run these as teacher-led demonstrations. Now, I can take a video of the experiment in action and students get the data from the video and do a regular lab analysis. Students must still recognize what data is important and know what to do with it, as with a traditional experiment. For a great example, see: Coin on Rotating LP. (Be sure to click “Home” to see many more!)

9. Archiving Student Whiteboard Solutions

In groups of 3, my students often write-up problem solutions on large whiteboards and present them to the class. Taking pictures of the whiteboards and archiving them on the class website would be perfect for student review and for students who were absent that day. If that gets too much to handle (sheer volume), take a picture of an exceptionally well laid out solution and put it in the “Whiteboard Hall of Fame” or the “Whiteboard of the Week.” Documenting exemplary work shows students the level of expectation we have for all of them! See more at Physics Whiteboards.

10. Mini Biography
Take pictures of students and attach to a mini biography students would submit at the beginning of the year. Display bios around the room so you not only get to know your students, but they can learn more about each other! See an example from Dean Baird.

11. Picture Dictionary

"f=force" copyright AshleyJM

As a class create a picture dictionary where students take photos that illustrate a particular science concept (force, velocity, wave, force, charge, momentum, energy, equilibrium, etc). These pictures could be posted around the room, perhaps with equations added, as the year progresses. Much better to have student made posters than teacher ones! See the brilliant and clever Flickr photoset The ABCs of Physics.

12. Photo labels for equipment drawers
With all the equipment in science rooms, photo labels would be a great way to show the contents of the drawers to help students find things and to put them away. Plus, the photos would liven up the room!

13. Video lab reports

14. Safety Do’s and Don’ts
At the beginning of the year, all science teachers go over laboratory safety and have students and parents sign a safety contract. Creating a PowerPoint with photos of do’s and don’ts would be perfect! Plus, it could be pretty humorous. If the pictures were created by the class from the year before as a final project, the next year’s students would enjoy seeing their friends in the photos.

15. Demonstrations

In the above video, which cart felt more force? (i.e., which cart’s hoop flexed the most?) When debriefing after a demonstration, there are always a bunch of students who think they did/saw something that they really didn’t. They might be biased going in to the demo, and the demo doesn’t change that bias. By taking video of the demo, show them what REALLY happened. In the above video, students tend to focus on the speed of the carts, rather than the flexing of the hoops, even when you tell them to look at the hoops!

(NOTE: Some media in this post may not display in feed readers and must be viewed on the website.)

Tagged: demonstration, lab, lesson, physics, science, technology, video, whiteboarding

Science for 21st-Century Students

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:15:26 GMT

Today, I read the following article in our school newspaper about a new English course for juniors, which left me asking: How can we do this with science classes?

(c) The John Jay Focus

PDF version: 21-11 Course

In a recent post about the wall of physics, John Burk shares his thoughts about a physics class taught by Richard Miller at Berkeley:

[The Physics for Future Presidents] lectures are amazing, a must listen for every physics teacher or just people who would like to know some really interesting things about the role physics cool questions like, why can’t you build a spy satellite capable of reading a newspaper.

This has me thinking about the need to reform at the intro physics course we teach, and possibly even the honors course. Why do we need to make kids run the math gauntlet to get to tackle really big questions…

Student in Miller’s physics class aren’t solving “block on an incline” problems. They are learning about the science behind global warming, alternative energies, terrorism, and cosmology. Physics for Future Presidents addresses the important physics needed to be an informed citizen of the 21st century.

However, my big fear in a course like this (at least the way Miller conducts the class at Berkeley) is that students are simply learning only about the products of science and not experiencing the process of science for themselves. How can we successfully incorporate the immediate relevance of Miller’s 21st-century science with inquiry and scientific experimentation?

In addition, I wonder how much of the underlying physics involved is taught with hand-waving explanations and plug-and-chug calculations. How can we successfully engage students in Miller’s 21st-century science while building conceptual models for how nature works?

I am anxiously awaiting my copy of Miller’s text Physics and Technology for Future Presidents. In the meantime, how do you, dear readers, incorporate 21st-century science into your classes?

Filed under: Uncategorized

Great, FREE Links for Engineering, Physics, and Technology!

Joan — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:20:00 GMT

It's that time of year again when you need great resources and you have a low or no budget---at least for this year!

If you are a teacher of physics, engineering sciences, robotics, or technology, you might want to visit these FREE resource links before the school year begins. It could save you so much time once the school year is well underway.

I have used these resources in my classroom of gifted students with great results. As a parochial school teacher, our funds are limited or sometimes non-existent, so these links can make such a difference in the quality of my lessons.

Check them out and see if you agree!
1. www.robotiksistem.net/index_en.html Different robot projects and information about history and applications of robotics, mobile robots and sensors

2. www.arrickrobotics.com/robots.html All about robotics---Robot Information Central

3. www.learner.org/interactives/parkphysics/coaster/ Design your own roller coasters online!

4. themeparks.lovetoknow.com/Build_Your_Own_Roller_Coaster Another roller coaster site

5. www.ehow.com/how_5053125_build-robots-beginners.html How to Build Robots for Beginners

6. robotics.megagiant.com/ The Robotics Lab is a great place for kids to learn about robotics.

7. tryengineering.com For physics, robotics and other project ideas, some with inexpensive materials

Have a great school year, fellow teachers!

Joan

Free STEM Programs For Probe Ware, PBL, And Computer Simulations

Anonymous — Sun, 23 May 2010 04:28:21 GMT

Last summer I had the opportunity to attend an awesome workshop presented by the Concord Consortium located in Concord, Massachusetts. Available through its ITSI Portal, you will find a collection of amazing free software that will allow classroom learning to come alive with a wide range of probe ware activities. It doesn’t stop there, because you will discover free ways to connect probe ware and harness computer simulations to facilitate content and skill application in science, math, computers, and engineering. There is even a project that allows students to build their own inexpensive probe ware! Before you get the details, please take a moment to subscribe by email or RSS to this Blog and follow me on twitter (@mjgormans). Have a wonderful week! – Mike

Time to learn about an outstanding organization serving up first class resources! The people at the Concord Consortium have developed a program that goes beyond the ordinary use of probe ware. It is an adventure that includes a perfect mix of technology and 21st century skills. You will find a true opportunity to engage students, allowing them to cross the disciplines and experience real world applications. These activities also allow students to work in a collaborative effort as they problem solve, analyze, and hypothesize. While the Concord Consortium does not supply the probe ware, they do provide free interface software support for all brands of probe ware. This includes facilitation for both Mac and Windows platform. If you don’t have any probe ware, no problem! They even have an inexpensive soution on how to make your own. Yes, it’s true, they recommend a process of creating your own probe ware as an engaging student project.

The Concord Consortium has created over 100 activities that incorporate probes and models for middle school physical science, earth science, and life science. Included in these 100 activites are also lessons in High School biology, chemistry, and physics. These are outstanding, well thought out units, that give the teacher all the needed resources to facilitate real student learning. The lessons incorporate both on-line models and the java interface for probe ware. All lessons are made up of models, probe activities, or a combination along with supporting documents and on-line activities. Students will be engaged in designing inquiry based STEM activities that use computational models and real time data. Probes facilitate activities involving voltage, light, relative humidity, motion, pressure, and force. The do-it-yourself probe ware kits allow students to build simple, inexpensive circuits that measure more than 14 different parameters. Models include activities such as atomic scale, global warming, circuits, and seismic eruptions. The included portal provides an area for teacher account set up, and for class and student log in. The ingenious interface allows for teachers to monitor student progress online as they work individually and in collaborative groups. Best of all, it is free and has been made possible by the people at the Concord Consortium and the National Science Foundation. Take a look at the links below, providing you access to the immense amount of resources available. You will be impressed with this outstanding program that supports probe ware, models, and true 21st century learning through STEM education.

I recommend the following: Watch this introduction video Next, look over this page devoted to the activities preview. Are you ready to sign up for an account? After you do, you will discover even more activities and resources. Visit this link to register. Be sure to check out this getting started page with videos on many topics. Last, here is a link that provides build it yourself information that really won’t bust the budget!

Thanks for joining me on this adventure in 21st Century Education! As always please check out the resources and share this post with others! I look forward to you subscribing by RSS or email. I am also on twitter at (mjgormans) and I will follow back! Take a moment to visit my 21centuryedtech Wiki that includes hundreds of free resources to expand your 21st century collection! I have some great info coming your way on 21st Century Learning, Google advanced searching, and cool collaborative applications in the near future! Please enjoy and share! -Mike