Category: Science Education

July 26, 2015

Bouncing Ball Lab Introduces Models and Foreshadows Future Physics Concepts

I use this lab as an introduction to my physics class at all levels: First year and AP. The goal of the lab is to introduce students to the role of physics in making predictions, and for me to see where they have strengths and weaknesses in lab procedures and data analysis.

Categories Modeling/Physics/Science Education Comments: 9

July 7, 2015

Tentative geology road trip/hikes to Southwest, March 2016

Katie and Ada and I had a great trip through the Southwest earlier this summer, and we’re thinking of doing a similar trip with our SF Bay Area Geology and Natural Sciences Hiking Group. The trip would run nine days, from Saturday, March 26th (early departure) through Sunday, April 3rd (late return), 2016. Unfortunately, this trip requires a lot of...

Categories Geology/earthquakes/Science hikes Comments: 18

March 6, 2015

Faulting at Devils Slide

The opening of the tunnel around Devil’s Slide in San Mateo County allowed for the creation of a mile-long trek to look at some of California’s fascinating geology. In my last geology hike to the trail, I took a photo of the great sedimentary layers at the north end of the trail, then edited the photo to show how well...

Categories California History/Geology/earthquakes/Science hikes Comments: 4

October 14, 2014

Frictional force on a block on a ramp that has a wall holding it up

Today in class, students were asked to draw a force diagram for the drawing shown on the right. The drawing shows a block on a ramp with a “wall” holding it back. The question that we couldn’t answer easily is, ‘Does the friction between the ramp’s surface and the block need to be accounted for in the force diagram.’ Then,...

Categories Modeling/Physics Comments: 0

September 29, 2014

Order of operations in math equations; a new take on explaining PEMDAS

A recent discussion on the NSTA physics teacher list, the question of “order of operations” came up.  In math, the order of operations defines which operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc.) one performs first. A writer asked for solutions to the following expressions: 2 + (3 x 2) + 3 (2 + 3) x (2 + 3) 2 + 3 x...

Categories Math education/Science Education Comments: 0

September 14, 2014

Correlations and Scatter Plots

After a couple of hand-graphs, my students use their TI 83/84 calculator for graphing. We set the calculators so they give an “R squared” correlation, which we often use to help determine which regression type (linear, quadratic, power) fits the data the best. Many of my students have a hard time understanding the nature of the correlation, and I have...

Categories Modeling/Science Education Comments: 0

March 27, 2014

If a nucleus is full of positively charged protons, why doesn’t it fly apart?

In my physical science class this week, I realized the textbook was introducing the structure of the atom and positive and negative charges, but not answering addressing the clear question that follows the presented information is “what the heck keeps all those protons together in the nucleus?” The book does get around to the nuclear forces, but not until many...

Categories Chemistry/Physics/Science Education Comments: 0

November 3, 2013

A radical idea: Treat teachers like plumbers…

This weekend, while attending a Model United Nations convention with my MUN students, I got to talking with a few colleagues and discussing how people become teachers. Here are the basic steps to becoming certified as a teacher in California: Pay lots of money to get a BA/BS at your favorite university. If you want to be an elementary teacher,...

Categories Science Education Comments: 0

January 11, 2013

Next Generation Science Standards, second draft published

The second draft of the Next Generation Science Standards were released this week. You can find them all here: www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards You can search them here: www.nextgenscience.org/search-standards-dci I have exported pages containing all DCI Arranged Standards – Public Release High School only.

Categories Modeling/Physics/Science Education Comments: 0

December 3, 2012

Results of online grading survey

Last week I posted a survey of online grading practices. I announced the survey through several email lists I participate in [1], as well as on my Facebook “wall”. The survey was open for five days, and resulted in 164 responses. I make no attempt to pass this survey off as statistically accurate representation of all teachers/schools–the respondents come from...

Categories Computers and the web/Grading software/Science Education Comments: 3