TPT WebSights column draft for September, 2010:
WebSights features announcements and reviews of select sites of
interest to physics teachers. 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.
Paul Hewitt's Next
Time Questions (with
Solutions) available from the Arbor Scientific website
<http://www.arborsci.com/Labs/CP_NTQ.aspx>
Hewitt's Figuring
Physics cartoon column
appears in this journal, and his conceptual cartoon series of Next Time
Questions are designed to
promote student reflection on physics at home between physics classes. I greatly appreciate opportunities to
develop my students' attention spans -- to reflect at length on problems that
could be nontrivial and require extended consideration and patience; otherwise
my students are used to giving up on thinking after a few minutes or seconds. So take some of that life span that
your students would otherwise waste thinking about inconsequential, non-physics
topics, and try the downloadable Next Time Questions featured at the redesigned Arbor Scientific website
<http://www.arborsci.com>.
The
Classroom Astronomer Website
and the To Teach The Stars Network
<http://www.toteachthestars.net/>
AAPT member
astronomer Larry Krumenaker has started a new (quarterly, paid subscription)
magazine called The Classroom Astronomer which has a free website presenting some articles and
astronomy resources for teachers.
Krumenaker has published survey research findings on HS Astronomy in the
Astronomy Education Review
(AER), and has summarized his findings, developed arguments and presentations
for offering HS Astronomy courses, and listed resources for such courses at his
page <http://www.hermograph.com/highschool/highschoolastronomy.htm>.
Together with the publications and newsletters of the Astronomical
Society of the Pacific <http://www.astrosociety.org/education.html> the online AER journal <http://aer.aip.org/> and NASA online education resources <http://search.nasa.gov/search/edFilterSearch.jsp?empty=true>,
there is a wealth of online materials for teaching astronomy.
Submitted by Dr.
Larry Krumenaker, Publisher and Editor: The Classroom Astronomer
Demonstrating
Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Propulsion in a Minute
<http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/SimpleMHD>
A nice
illustration of (right hand rule) magnetic forces on current carriers is
demonstrated at this Evil Mad Scientists Labs page, with the author further developing the
demonstration into a simple and inexpensive boat drive, then leading to more
sophisticated (and less successful) experimentation and development with a
cheap radio controlled toy boat.
The author also has a page on the homopolar motor previously published on
this site at <http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/HomopolarMotor>.
Physics of
Surfing Resources
The teacher's
guide to the film Physics of Surfing <http://www.physicsofsurfing.com/POS_teachersguide_web.pdf> recently called my attention to a number of
mainly conceptual resources looking at a popular sport illustrating several
ideas in physics. The laid back,
very visually appealing, and mathematics free film is quite surfing and surfing
culture –centric and explains much of the infamously opaque surfing
vocabulary, providing explanations for reading surf conditions. The teachers' guide is probably
suitable for a middle school or conceptual physics course. The teacher's guide references the
collection of pages at the world-famous Exploratorium in San Francisco <http://www.exploratorium.edu/theworld/surfing/>, and a scholarly article from Scripps <http://escholarship.org/uc/item/6h72j1fz#page-1> mainly discussing bottom shape and surf
conditions – artificial surfing reefs have been constructed to
questionable result (search reefs at <www.wikipedia.com>).
For a better student mathematical treatment, Edge's May 2001 article in
this journal is essential <http://tinyurl.com/surfphysics>.