Classroom Activities

Physics for Future Presidents

March 18, 2012

Richard Muller gave one of the plenaries at the AAPT Winter Meeting, and it was one of the more useful sessions of the conference for me.  Richard Muller is the teacher of an influential course at UC Berkeley called Physics and Technology for Future Presidents: An Introduction to the Essential Physics Every World Leader Needs [...]

Read the full article →

Large lecture inquiry: How to engage students in the practices of science

March 11, 2012

I’m behind in my blogging from the AAPT Winter Meeting, but better late than never. I had the pleasure of meeting Fred Goldberg at this meeting, an influential teacher and education researcher.  Even without knowing that he’s an important guy, you can sense his charm and intelligence like a warm glow.  He’s very thoughtful and [...]

Read the full article →

Teaching inverse square laws

February 1, 2012

That darn inverse square law comes up in so many places — electric fields drop off as 1/r^2, so does light intensity, gravity, and a bunch of other things that I’m not thinking of at the moment. I just came across some fun things in my archives from some master teachers on how they teach [...]

Read the full article →

The Flipped Classroom: Using class time for learning, not presentation

December 5, 2011

I write a lot about teachniques (just coined that phrase, how do you like it?) to get students more interactive and engaged in your courses.  But a lot of teachers aren’t sure how to take the time to do those activities given how much content there is to cover.  As you might be aware, one [...]

Read the full article →

How much can you see of yourself in a mirror?

November 13, 2011

This is a nice take on the standard physics “how much of yourself can you see in a mirror” activity.  Another tip of the hat to Karen Hunter at the Oregon AAPT meeting for this one. So, to refresh your memory, if a mirror is 1 foot tall, you can see two feet worth of [...]

Read the full article →

A trick for halloween: Mixing Glowsticks

October 28, 2011

Got glowsticks?  I saw this trick at a recent Oregon AAPT meeting (tip of the hat to Karen Hunter).  Light mixing is one of those things that’s always a bit tough to show.  You shine a blue and a red light on a surface and it kind of looks magenta.  That is, if you have [...]

Read the full article →

Teaching non-majors Light and Color (and making them love it)

August 18, 2011

I sacrificed my June and my sanity this summer to teach the non-majors Light and Color course (see below for course materials).  This was exactly the population I am interested in reaching with good science instruction — not the converted, science enthusiasts, but the often math-phobic rest of the population.  And I got my wish.  [...]

Read the full article →

Ideas for the first week of class: Teaching the nature of science (and evolution)

August 8, 2011

At the start of the school year, a lot of science classes start by trying to answer — what is science?  What is this endeavor and what makes it special?  One way to do that is by the dull-and-deadening pedantic introduction to the scientific method, emphasizing the formation of hypotheses and testing of those hypotheses [...]

Read the full article →

Teaching with Clickers: How, for What, and with What Mind-Set? #AAPTsm11 #clickers

August 1, 2011

Again, I’m here blogging from the AAPT.  Ian Beatty gave a particularly lovely talk on clickers today, a very nice example of presentation zen at its finest.  I think he had perhaps 3 main points and 10 main visuals for a 30 minute talk.  Nicely done.  But professional ego stroking aside, I very much liked [...]

Read the full article →

Teaching with style: Physics to stake your life on

June 29, 2011

A friend just sent me this YouTube video, and I show it here as an example of how lecture can be used to utmost effectiveness.  A bit of showmanship, a memorable experiment, and crystal clear explanations: What strikes me is that this instructor has got this class in the palm of his hand. Not just [...]

Read the full article →

Activities on the greenhouse effect

March 22, 2011

Looking to teach about the greenhouse effect or climate change? I gathered a few of them together here. Please share your own, too! First, there is the Exploratorium site on climate. This is a nice primer on many different aspects of climate, with some nice links. No activities, but you can find some really nice [...]

Read the full article →

What’s the difference between a compact fluorescent and a regular bulb? (#NSTA11)

March 15, 2011

I wanted to blog more from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) meeting last week but (a) I hardly had any time to go to sessions since I was busily hawking the best software money can’t buy (the free PhET simulations) and other busy-making things, and (b) there was no wifi at the hotel or [...]

Read the full article →

Playing the “I wonder” game: Object oriented inquiry

January 5, 2011

I have been feeling very frustrated lately with my seeming inability to make any sort of connection between the exciting, hands-on, inquiry and exploration style of education that I learned at the Exploratorium, and reforms in college education.  I’m learning interesting things about how people learn, cognitive science, the importance of motivation and real-world examples, [...]

Read the full article →

Two examples of social media in the classroom

December 20, 2010

Today we’ve got another guest post.  I’ve been writing quite a bit about social media in the classroom, and how it is (and isn’t) a useful way to support student learning.   Kate Willson had a few interesting examples of ways that an instructor — and an entire college — are jumping on the social media [...]

Read the full article →

Geeky treats #5: The Science of Cooking

December 10, 2010

Did you know that when you whip egg whites, you’re not just beating in air but you’re actually unfolding, or denaturing, the proteins in the eggs? The same thing happens when you heat up eggs, but as you heat them the unfolded proteins make bonds with other proteins, which is what makes them firm up. [...]

Read the full article →

Geeky Treats #4: Freezing food is cool

December 9, 2010

Got liquid nitrogen?  Apparently you can have an awful lot of fun with it.  I heard secondhand about a party at the Exploratorium where treats like candy, caramel corn, and whipped cream were dipped in liquid nitrogen to make a flash-frozen dessert.  One of the favorites was to take a ladle of whipped cream and [...]

Read the full article →

Geeky treats #3: The nose knows

December 8, 2010

Here’s a fun science experiment that you can do around taste.  You need to work with a partner on this one.  Get yourself some lifesavers, or other hard candy.  Plug your nose, cover your eyes, and have your partner give you a piece of candy.  Try to guess the flavor.  It’s really hard!  A related [...]

Read the full article →

Geeky treats #2: Chemical Cake

December 7, 2010

Don Rathjen also has a wonderful activity called Chemical Cake.  This is a great activity for this time of year since the recipe makes a spice cake (why a spice cake?  You’ll find out….).  He makes the following substitutions in a standard cake recipe: Egg (emulsifier)   –>  soap margarine (lubricant)   –>  vaseline water [...]

Read the full article →

Geeky treats #1: Electrical Cake (Just like Ohm-made)

December 6, 2010

There’s nothing cooler than something geeky that’s also yummy in your tummy.  So, this post is the first in a series about some cool science that that we can eat. There’s more than one way to bake a cake.  For one, why bother to let the convection of heat in your oven bake your cake [...]

Read the full article →

We’re on our 500th post! Come over and say hello.

November 30, 2010

Welcome to the 500th post of sciencegeekgirl!  To celebrate, I’m going to resurrect a meme from Not Exactly Rocket Science (via Cocktail Party Physics) and ask readers to introduce themselves in the comments.  Lurkers and one-time visitors and vocal frequent visitors — you know which one you are.  Say a quick hello and tell us [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries