TPT WebSights column draft for November, 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>.
A New Free Online
Publication commenting on exceptional papers from Physical Review Letters and the Physical Review series of journals: http://physics.aps.org/
A new free online
publication for Physical Review
publications readers (and physics students) reading both inside and outside
their physics specialties spotlights exceptional research in physics by
offering Viewpoints -- expert commentary on particular
papers, Trends or concise review
pieces and Synopses of important
papers.
From a recent American
Physical Society press release by
Gene D. Sprouse, APS Editor in Chief. Contact
<physics@aps.org>.
The Open Source Physics
Collection of Computational researches for Teaching Physics: http://www.compadre.org/OSP
Free curriculum resources
that engage students in physics, computation and computer modeling.
Submitted by Wolfgang
Christian of Davidson College Physics.
The Large Hadron
Collider (LHC) Rap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM
With the LHC at CERN
finally in the popular news enroute to full startup (notwithstanding lawsuits
and quench events) here's a unique meld of physics and popular culture. Though very much in a century-old physics
tradition (J. .J. Thompson sang physics lyrics to Christmas carols with his
colleagues and students); this rap does use some skipped noun rhymes that may
be unsuitable for some grade school audiences. Bravo.
Science Teaching Tips
PodCast -- Science Snacks for the Classroom: http://scienceteachingtips.podomatic.com/
Fifty-plus (and counting)
free five minute podcast episodes for grade school science teachers. Produced
by the (San Francisco) Exploratorium's Teacher Institute and hosted by Dr. Stephanie Chasteen of the University
of Colorado at Boulder. The podcasts seem to be an eclectic mix
of grade school science activities, stories, facts history pedagogy and
classroom ideas. Several of the
podcasts feature physics educator Paul Doherty, and others feature master
science teachers.
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>.