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>.