One of my favorite science educators, Science Jim, has just posted a new video explaining the Higgs Boson particle. Watch his 7 minute summary of this new scientific discovery below:
For more humorous but enlightening videos on other science concepts, be sure to check out the Science Jim Show page on his website for other free resources. He also has a series of very reasonably priced web classes that you can get on his website or through CurrClick, as well as live, hands-on science classes in the Triangle NC area.
Showing posts with label physics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label physics. Show all posts
Friday, July 6, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
FREE Physics Game Online: Steampunk
My son will be doing several physics classes this semester, so I'll be trying to supplement them with some additional physics at home. I recently found a fun game to practice some of Newton's laws, and with a stylish theme to boot! Plus, it's a FREE online game, so the price is right.
The game is called Steampunk, and so it has the Victorian-era-meets-high-technology look about it. The aim of the game is to break pieces of wood in such a way that they release balls, explode bombs, swing pendula and the like to move the GOOD pentagonal-shaped guy to safe ground and the BAD pentagonal-shaped guy to unsafe areas (like the water and gears, etc.) The components move in the ways predicted by Newton's law, so it is a good way to model concepts like momentum and such.
The game is not designed to teach physics, nor does it say anything or explain anything about Newton's laws or other concepts in physics. However, playing around with the movement puzzles presented does develop an intuitive feel for Newtonian physics. It also requires systematic thinking and the ability to plan ahead (if I blow up this, it will release that ball, but I have to wait until that board swings into place for the ball to move to the next level, ect.)
So it's not Victorian-era rocket science. But it is a fun game to model and test your physical predictions.
You can play the game by clicking here.
The game is called Steampunk, and so it has the Victorian-era-meets-high-technology look about it. The aim of the game is to break pieces of wood in such a way that they release balls, explode bombs, swing pendula and the like to move the GOOD pentagonal-shaped guy to safe ground and the BAD pentagonal-shaped guy to unsafe areas (like the water and gears, etc.) The components move in the ways predicted by Newton's law, so it is a good way to model concepts like momentum and such.
The game is not designed to teach physics, nor does it say anything or explain anything about Newton's laws or other concepts in physics. However, playing around with the movement puzzles presented does develop an intuitive feel for Newtonian physics. It also requires systematic thinking and the ability to plan ahead (if I blow up this, it will release that ball, but I have to wait until that board swings into place for the ball to move to the next level, ect.)
So it's not Victorian-era rocket science. But it is a fun game to model and test your physical predictions.
You can play the game by clicking here.
Monday, December 5, 2011
FREE Middle School Physics Kit Available
Here is another wonderful resource for middle school education. For the past several years, the American Physical Society (APS) has run a program called Physics Quest. In it, middle school students try to solve an applied physics problem, using a FREE curriculum and materials kits provided by APS.
The Physics Quests are presented as a problem within a story that is described in a comic book format. In the earlier years, the stories centered around early physics innovators, such as Ben Franklin and Nicola Tesla. For the past few years, the stories are set in modern settings, with a middle school student with extraordinary abilities (named Lucy Hene, AKA Spectra) as the protagonist.
Previous years have examined such physical topics as lasers and magnets, but this one relates to temperature and the weather/global warming issue. Students are led through four experiments that reveal clues to solve the puzzle of the extreme temperature/weather at Spectra's middle school. Best of all, if you register with APS before all the kits are gone, they will even send you a Physics Quest set with the storybook and the equipment you need to conduct the experiments.
We've done this for the past couple of years, and found it to be a fun addition to our other physics studies. While it can be done in school, the organizers also encourage other educators, including homeschoolers, Scout troops, and after school program coordinators, to participate as well.
To find out more about this year's Quest, see the APS website Physics Quest page. Or, click here to register to receive a kit to do this year's Quest.
The Physics Quests are presented as a problem within a story that is described in a comic book format. In the earlier years, the stories centered around early physics innovators, such as Ben Franklin and Nicola Tesla. For the past few years, the stories are set in modern settings, with a middle school student with extraordinary abilities (named Lucy Hene, AKA Spectra) as the protagonist.
Previous years have examined such physical topics as lasers and magnets, but this one relates to temperature and the weather/global warming issue. Students are led through four experiments that reveal clues to solve the puzzle of the extreme temperature/weather at Spectra's middle school. Best of all, if you register with APS before all the kits are gone, they will even send you a Physics Quest set with the storybook and the equipment you need to conduct the experiments.
We've done this for the past couple of years, and found it to be a fun addition to our other physics studies. While it can be done in school, the organizers also encourage other educators, including homeschoolers, Scout troops, and after school program coordinators, to participate as well.
To find out more about this year's Quest, see the APS website Physics Quest page. Or, click here to register to receive a kit to do this year's Quest.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
How to Do Science at Home
The following video is a 50 minute-long talk by science educator Jim Mueller, aka Science Jim, about how to do science with your children at home. He talks about such things as foundational principles, what is appropriate when, sequencing, and science educational philosophies. While it may be particularly valuable for families with younger children, because he starts with teaching children who are 8, 9, and 10, I still think it is helpful for middle school education as well.
I can also attest to Science Jim's teaching skills. My son has taken both traditional in-person classes and online classes with Science Jim, and has enjoyed and benefitted from them both. We did a year-long course of physics with Science Jim, and I think he had a very good approach to the topic, with excellent hands-on experiments and good sequencing and explanations. But he is also a fun and humorous guy who relates well to young people, which can make a big difference in your child's attitudes towards doing science. If you are interested in taking some of his classes, check out his website, which also contains resources you can purchases, such as the e-books and videos he has done, as well as some other free videos on science topics.
Help for Doing Science at Home from Science Jim on Vimeo.
I can also attest to Science Jim's teaching skills. My son has taken both traditional in-person classes and online classes with Science Jim, and has enjoyed and benefitted from them both. We did a year-long course of physics with Science Jim, and I think he had a very good approach to the topic, with excellent hands-on experiments and good sequencing and explanations. But he is also a fun and humorous guy who relates well to young people, which can make a big difference in your child's attitudes towards doing science. If you are interested in taking some of his classes, check out his website, which also contains resources you can purchases, such as the e-books and videos he has done, as well as some other free videos on science topics.
Help for Doing Science at Home from Science Jim on Vimeo.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Who Wants to Win (fake) $1,000,000--Science Edition
As we start to try to ease back into classes, it's fun to use games to review what we do (or do not) know. The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Lab (generally known as the Jefferson Lab) has an online resource you can use to brush up on your students' math and science skills.
In the game, Who Wants to Win $1,000,000, students play a game according to the rules of the TV show (or, at least, I presume so--I've never actually seen the show). The questions cover not only nuclear physics (which is the specialty of the Jefferson Lab), but also math, biology, chemistry, and general scientific principles. The questions vary in difficulty, but most are appropriate to a middle school level.
Or, if you don't want to use them with your students or children, you can have fun playing by yourself. I'll have to admit, I haven't won the (fake) million dollars myself yet. I've gotten up to $500,000, but that last question is a toughie....
In the game, Who Wants to Win $1,000,000, students play a game according to the rules of the TV show (or, at least, I presume so--I've never actually seen the show). The questions cover not only nuclear physics (which is the specialty of the Jefferson Lab), but also math, biology, chemistry, and general scientific principles. The questions vary in difficulty, but most are appropriate to a middle school level.
Or, if you don't want to use them with your students or children, you can have fun playing by yourself. I'll have to admit, I haven't won the (fake) million dollars myself yet. I've gotten up to $500,000, but that last question is a toughie....
Friday, August 5, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Terminal Velocity Curriculum
The researchers at The Jason Project are working on a new curriculum entitled Terminal Velocity. While the ultimate goal is to investigate the major forces in our universe, the only unit they have completed so far is A Universe of Motion: Motion, Velocity, and Momentum. This section looks at the concepts in the title, particularly through the use of test crash dummies to determine vehicular safety.
While I haven't tried this curriculum myself, because that is not what we are doing in science these days, I have done a number of the other The Jason Project curricula and found them all to be useful. So if you have a middle school who is interested in cars, racing, crash safety, and the like--or if you are studying velocity and momentum--I would check out this FREE online curriculum
While I haven't tried this curriculum myself, because that is not what we are doing in science these days, I have done a number of the other The Jason Project curricula and found them all to be useful. So if you have a middle school who is interested in cars, racing, crash safety, and the like--or if you are studying velocity and momentum--I would check out this FREE online curriculum
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Software to Create Your Own Solar System
As I mentioned in my article about the New Zealand Charity Bundle from CurrClick, we are fortunate enough to live in the same region as Science Jim, who is an exemplary physics teacher. He took a physics class with him last year that was supplemented with programming the physical phenomenon that was led by Maria of Natural Math. It was a really good class, and I think my son learned a lot.
He has been really fascinated lately with one of the resources he discovered through taking that class. He has been using the software, called About My Solar System from the PHet project at the University of Colorado. The intention of the software is to provide students with the ability to run interactive simulations of physical phenomemon using computer.
In the program my son is using lately, one can choose a planet obiting the sun. Then you can add a moon, and see what that does to the orbit. But then you can have another moon show up, or another planet, or even another sun--all of which effect the student's solar system. It allows the user to adjust all sorts of thing--trajectory, speed, storage weight, etc.--to see what happens in terms of its orbit. Plus, it keeps the patterns of all the orbits, which after a while ends up look like some cool spirograph art.
It's a good program and we recommend it to all.
He has been really fascinated lately with one of the resources he discovered through taking that class. He has been using the software, called About My Solar System from the PHet project at the University of Colorado. The intention of the software is to provide students with the ability to run interactive simulations of physical phenomemon using computer.
In the program my son is using lately, one can choose a planet obiting the sun. Then you can add a moon, and see what that does to the orbit. But then you can have another moon show up, or another planet, or even another sun--all of which effect the student's solar system. It allows the user to adjust all sorts of thing--trajectory, speed, storage weight, etc.--to see what happens in terms of its orbit. Plus, it keeps the patterns of all the orbits, which after a while ends up look like some cool spirograph art.
It's a good program and we recommend it to all.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Donate to New Zealand Earthquake Relief and Get Free Curriculum from CurrClick
I've written previously about CurrClick, a prime electronic source for downloadable curriculum. They, and some of the curriculum developers they represent, are running a new giveaway to raise money for relief efforts for the recent earthquake in New Zealand. For a donation of $20 (100% of which goes to the New Zealand Red Cross), they will allow you to download a bundle of curricula that normally sells for $230. Or if you don't want that, you can make a $5 donation through their site, with, again, all money going to the victims in New Zealand.
There are 27 different curricula in the bundle. Of course, not all are at the middle school level, but many of you teaching middle schoolers also have other children of different ages. There is a lapbook about New Zealand Flags and Symbols, which could be useful for discussing this disaster with children of any age. There are some generic tools, like field trip notebooks pages and a meal planner, along with some interesting-looking resources on Shakespeare and Da Vinci. But one resource I can recommend specifically for middle school students is the Bite-Size Physics book by Science Jim. This 271-page ebook, which by itself normally sells for $35, contains 25 lesson plans and over 70 experiments on such topics as mechanics, energy, thermal dynamics, and static electricity. We own this book, and have been fortunate enough to have taken both online and face-to-face classes with Science Jim (Mueller), and I can tell you that he is fantastic! So if all you download from your donation is this book, you've already gotten a deal on a great educational resource and helped some people in distress. What can be better than that?
Click here to see the details on the $20 New Zealand Charity bundle.
Or, click here to donate $5.00 to the New Zealand Red Cross via CurrClick.
There are 27 different curricula in the bundle. Of course, not all are at the middle school level, but many of you teaching middle schoolers also have other children of different ages. There is a lapbook about New Zealand Flags and Symbols, which could be useful for discussing this disaster with children of any age. There are some generic tools, like field trip notebooks pages and a meal planner, along with some interesting-looking resources on Shakespeare and Da Vinci. But one resource I can recommend specifically for middle school students is the Bite-Size Physics book by Science Jim. This 271-page ebook, which by itself normally sells for $35, contains 25 lesson plans and over 70 experiments on such topics as mechanics, energy, thermal dynamics, and static electricity. We own this book, and have been fortunate enough to have taken both online and face-to-face classes with Science Jim (Mueller), and I can tell you that he is fantastic! So if all you download from your donation is this book, you've already gotten a deal on a great educational resource and helped some people in distress. What can be better than that?
Click here to see the details on the $20 New Zealand Charity bundle.
Or, click here to donate $5.00 to the New Zealand Red Cross via CurrClick.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Middle Schooler Creates #1 Free App in Apple Store
All those middle schooler computer geeks out there, take note--the longstanding favorite free app for the iPhone and similar devices, a game called Angry Birds, has been knocked off its perch...by a 14 year old boy! Robert Nay, an 8th graders living in Spanish Fork, UT, created his "Bubble Ball" app (in which you move balls through puzzle spaces using wooden and metal planks and such) in only six weeks, using a programming package called Corona from Ansca Mobile. Corona is free to download and use on your own device, but you will have to buy a $349 annual subscription to share any programs you create with others (although educational users with a .edu address can get the software for only $49/year). While it was only released right before Christmas, Bubble Ball has already been downloaded more than 3 million times!
Here is a video of Robert Nay speaking about his creation and future plans:
What a great example of what middle schoolers can do with a good idea, some parental support, and a little free time (OK, so I'm sure the fact that Nay has been programming for about six years already probably had something to do it with).
Here is a video of Robert Nay speaking about his creation and future plans:
What a great example of what middle schoolers can do with a good idea, some parental support, and a little free time (OK, so I'm sure the fact that Nay has been programming for about six years already probably had something to do it with).
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Christmas 2010 Blog: The Santa Launch Game
Since it's now two days before Christmas, I'm sure you're all sitting around with nothing to do. So here is a fun little game by Smilebox to help you waste your time. Of course, since it involves figuring projectiles, I'm having my son do it and putting it down as "Physics" on our homeschool daily log!
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
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