July 2008

Science isn’t "out there", it’s "in here"

July 19, 2008

[[ AAPT SESSION: BEYOND PIAGET]] Students often come into our class ready to be filled with knowledge about science. They see the knowledge as “out there,” that the teachers are there to give us the truth about the world. But, at least one perspective is that the only thing that is “out there” are the [...]

Read the full article →

The folk theory of physics teaching

July 19, 2008

[[AAPT SESSION: BEYOND PIAGET]] Why do we teach physics? I’m in a workshop today (run by Dewey Dykstra) about how people change their ideas about the world (I’m going to try not to use phrases like “cognitive framework.”) What do we want our students to know and see? For many years, there has been a [...]

Read the full article →

Stay tuned! Posting from Physics Teacher conference…

July 18, 2008

Hello trusty fans, it’s 8:30 pm and sunny and warm, because I’m in the upper reaches of the land block. I’m in Edmonton, in Alberta (that’s in Canada, yes), for the American Association of Physics Teachers conference. So, stay tuned over the next several days as I’ll be posting a lot about interesting things that [...]

Read the full article →

Light walk

July 18, 2008

This photo was posted by a teacher who took her own light walk… Notice how all the light patches on the ground are round. That’s because the spaces in the leaves in the trees — though they’re not round — act like pinholes. The round spots are images of the sun. This is true — [...]

Read the full article →

Teacher Reference Center

July 15, 2008

For you K-12 teachers out there… **Teacher Reference Center (TRC) This index of over 260 titles from the most popular teacher and administrator trade journals, periodicals, and books is now offered *free* via the EBSCO/host/platform. This database provides coverage on key education topics such as Assessment, Continuing Education, Current Pedagogical Research, Curriculum Development, Instructional Media, [...]

Read the full article →

The Value of Support (First year stories in teaching)

July 13, 2008

I just posted a new episode of my Science Teaching Tips podcast — especially for new teachers. This one features a veteran teacher telling his story of his first year of teaching, and how his supportive department was very useful in adjusting.

Read the full article →

Crackpot science

July 12, 2008

There’s a delightful post on crackpot science (in particular crackpot physics) from Twisted Physics this week. For some reason, physics has more than its fair share of crackpots fringe scientists: those misunderstood tormented souls whose genius goes unnoticed by mainstream physicists… The receipt of any missive beginning, “EINSTIEN WAS WRONG AND MY THEORY PROVES IT!!!” [...]

Read the full article →

Hit by lightening! Don’t let it happen to you…

July 10, 2008

I just had to post this recent message from a local climber here in Boulder who was struck by lightening… I’ve excerpted from a much longer message, but I thought these portions of the story were particularly interesting. I’ve also attached photos from her legs that she sent with the original email. I changed all [...]

Read the full article →

Sound sucker

July 8, 2008

I just read this neat little gem in The Physics Teacher. Take a bunch of coffee stirrers (the kind that look like round straws for wee folke) and set them into a box so they’re all upright (all the little holes are looking up at you). Jiggle them and pack them tightly so that they [...]

Read the full article →

The world’s funniest joke…

July 7, 2008

It’s all in the name of science… The British Association for the Advancement of Science (which is the AAAS’s counterpart across the pond), set out on a bold mission — to find the world’s funniest joke. Well, not quite, they were studying humor and its dependence on culture, gender, age, etc. To this end, they [...]

Read the full article →

The PIE idea library

July 6, 2008

I just realized that the PIE institute has a wonderful website! PIE is “Playful Invention and Exploration” – or integrating engineering with artistic expression. Their web page is a treasure chest for any maker… let me tell you (especially those of you who like to hack and Make and all that), it’s a delightful creative [...]

Read the full article →

Electrifying Ideas

July 4, 2008

I just posted a new episode of my Science Teaching Tips podcast – Electrifying Ideas. My old boss, Paul Doherty, is a great storyteller, and this is one of the stories of science that he uses to explain the history of science. The ancient Greeks knew about magnets, and they knew about electricity, too. But [...]

Read the full article →

The antislit

July 3, 2008

Sorry for the long delay in posting (not that it matters — I see my stats — most of you are off reading my old posts about how water goes around drains or whether polar bear fur is fiber optic). I’ve been on vacation back in my old haunts in the SF Bay Area, and [...]

Read the full article →

Next Entries →