Lee Trampleasure's Blog – Page 12 – Science education and more…

June 14, 2009

Berkeley Traffic Circles – Share the Lane

The traffic circles in Berkeley neighborhoods have created confusion for many car drivers. One of the difficulties is knowing how to interact with bicycles. The Bike Friendly Berkeley Coalition’s email chat list has been discussiong what signage could be placed at the circles to help drivers understand how the circles work. One of the main concerns is to let drivers...

Berkeley politics/Bicycles Comment: 1

June 12, 2009

The physics (and biology) of snake movement

Science Friday had a great piece on snakes slithering today. The main researcher in the video is Dr. David Hu from the Applied Mathematics Laboratory, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, NY. Turns out it’s much more compicated than one would think. The scientists used smooth surfaces and even Jello to test their hypotheses. Here’s the...

Environment/Science Education Comments: 0

June 2, 2009

The math in a hybrid car

For an end of the semester project in my physics classes, I posed the following question to my students: If you put 100,000 miles on a car, which is a better deal, a hybrid or a traditional car? Students were asked to look up a car they would be interested in buying, but the car has to come in both...

Environment/Science Education Comment: 1

May 17, 2009

Free shoppping?

It’s that time again. Time to wander the aisles of the college town “free stores.” These stores don’t pay rent, and the aisles move daily (if not hourly). The merchandise are the items the students don’t feel like taking with them. Walk around student neighborhoods as finals and graduation come to an end, and you’ll find all sorts of treasures....

Environment/General Comments: 0

May 16, 2009

Interesting “ESP” site

The test A friend sent me this. I was surprised at first, but then it didn’t take me too long to figure it out. Here’s the test: http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/Pickover/esp.html Try it out (it will open in a new window), then return here if you can’t figure it out. Scroll down for the solution. . . . . . . . ....

Computers and the web/General/Science Education Comments: 0

May 8, 2009

The 15th Annual Bike to Work Day is Thursday, May 14th, 2009

The San Francisco Bay Area’s 15th Annual Bike to Work Day will take place on Thursday, May 14, 2009. Bike to Work Day is the premier bicycling event taking place in all of Northern California with all nine Bay Area counties participating in the celebration. The event is just one day of many events taking place in May as part...

Berkeley politics/Bicycles/Environment Comments: 0

May 1, 2009

Studio open in my limited equity coop in Berkeley

There’s an opening in the limited equity coop apartment building I live it. Her’s the description: Studio Apartment Available June 1st in Limited Equity Housing Co-op Building is 120’s Spanish style, located close to UCB, Berkeley BART, shopping, and the “Gourmet Ghetto.” Together, we govern, manage, and maintain this 22-unit building. Monthly assessments cover everything except your electricity. Co-op reviews...

General Comments: 0

April 20, 2009

Ball in water on elevator: Buoyancy

OK. Float a ball in a beaker of water in an elevator. The ball floats because the buoyant force of the water displaced by the ball is equal to the weight of the water. Now, accelerate the elevator upward. What happens to the ball? Does it: Sink lower, rise higher, or stay the same? Here’s my video with the answer:...

Physics/Science Education Comments: 0

April 13, 2009

California Action Alert on Employment & Disability

Dear Advocates, AB 1269 is important for Californians with disabilities who want to or do work. If you’re unfamiliar with Medi-Cal’s California Working Disabled Program, please see the following text link that describes the current program. http://www.chiip.org/longdesc/medi-cal_brochure_english.html AB 1269 adds desperately needed improvements to California’s Medicaid Buy-In Program that were vetoed by the governor two legislative cycles ago because of...

Accessibility/General/Travels Comments: 0

April 12, 2009

Berkeley Citizens Action May 19th Statewide Special Election Discussion

BCA is holding a Statewide Special Election Discussion on Sunday May 3, 2009 from 4:00 t0 6:00 pm. Invited speakers State Senator Loni Hancock State Assemblymember Nancy Skinner State Assemblymember Sandre Swanson North Berkeley Senior Center, MLK at Hearst (map). For more information, call 510-54-0816. BCA; PO Box 9932; Berkeley, CA 94709 Information on the May 19th Statewide election: California...

Berkeley politics Comments: 0