TPT WebSights column draft for October, 2008:
WebSights features announcements and reviews of select sites of
interest to physics teachers. All
sites are copyright by their authors.
This column is available as a web page at <http://PhysicsEd.BuffaloState.Edu/pubs/WebSights/>.
If you have
successfully used a physics website that you feel is outstanding and
appropriate for WebSights,
please email me the URL and describe how you use it to teach or learn physics.
<macisadl@buffalostate.edu>.
Measurement
Uncertainty "Error Calculator:" <http://physics.gac.edu/%7Ehuber/error%5Fcalc/>
Tom Huber has developed
a freely downloadable windows calculator for propagating uncertainties in
calculations. His GNU program "...does error calculations, weighted
averages, tails of Gaussians, and similar analysis chores."
Submitted by Tom Huber
of the Gustavus Adolphus College
Physics Department, St Peter MN.
New
Resources at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Website
Guide
on Women and Astronomy: An
updated, expanded resource guide to the role women have played and are playing
in the development of astronomy is now available on the website of the
non-profit Astronomical Society of the Pacific: <http://www.astrosociety.org/education/resources/womenast_bib.html>
Podcasts
of Twelve Public Lectures by Noted Astronomers: Audio recordings of twelve public lectures by noted
astronomers are now available as free MP3 downloads at the web site of the
nonprofit Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP): <http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast/index.html>
Submitted
by Andrew Fraknoi, Chair, Astronomy Program, Foothill College, CA.
New Physics and
Astronomy songs online:
The
recent reclassification of Pluto provides a useful example for discussions of
the role of canonical fact in the Nature of Science in the classroom. Jeffrey
Mondak writes: I previously posted a song, "Pluto's Not a Planet
Anymore," that has ended
up receiving a great deal of classroom use. I have a new one, "Laying
Down the Laws of Motion," that
also may be of interest to physics teachers and faculty. Please feel free to
share these links; both songs are on the Songramp music site:
Pluto:
<http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewtrack.php?trackid=49124>
Laws
of Motion: <http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewtrack.php?trackid=66355>
Submitted
by Jeffery Mondak, James M. Benson Chair, University of Illinois.
Understanding Exponential
Growth and e: activities
and videos
A video on exponential
functions and human population growth by Dr. Bartlett on exponentials in two
parts is available at <http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2007/12/23/the-most-important-video-youll-ever-see-videos-parts-1-4/>
and <http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2007/12/23/the-most-important-video-you%E2%80%99ll-ever-see-videos-parts-5-8/>. A description of low cost activities
examples for teaching about exponential growth including rice grains on a
chessboard, folding paper and two video examples showing examples of the
suddenness of change the rate of change in time at <http://jzimba.blogspot.com/2007/05/understanding-exponential-growth.html>. Finally, an intuitive financial example
using compound interest leading to the definition of e as a asymptotic limit (our students often find mathematics
more accessible when coached in term of money) can be viewed at: <http://betterexplained.com/articles/an-intuitive-guide-to-exponential-functions-e/>. Understanding exponential change has
important social consequences (e.g economic change, resource scarcity, and
climate change) as well as our standard physics topics (capacitor charging and
discharging, radioactive decay, temperature changes, etc.). The study of
natural and social phenomena with the characteristics of slow gradual change
over an extended period followed by extreme change in a short interval is a
quite important topic to us all.
Submitted by David Rheam,
Math Teacher at Pavilion Central HS,
NY.
Gender Issues in
Science/Math Education (GISME) Bibliography
Richard Hake and a
colleague have produced an annotated bibliography, an on-line resource which
Robert DeHaan commends to your attention.
R.R. Hake and Mallow, J.V. 2008. "Gender Issues in Science/Math
Education (GISME): Over 700 Annotated References & 1000 URL's: Part 1 - All
References in Alphabetical Order (7.9 MB); Part 2 - Some References in Subject
Order (4.4 MB). Because periodic updates of GISME necessitate changing the
URL's, an address that will always work is Reference 55 at <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/>.
Submitted by R. Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
and R deHaan, Educational Studies, Emory University.
New Texas
Instruments site for free
online physics activities using TI-nspire: <http://TIPhysics.com>
Texas Instruments provides free curriculum resources and newsletter
supporting their new TI-nspire
technology (commercially available handhelds and computer software, which are
not free). See also <http://ti-nspire.com>
and <http://www.education.ti.com>.
From a recent TI press
release, contact Marie Hancock, Golin Harris for Texas Instruments: <mhancock@golinharris.com>.