Modeling – Page 2 – Science Teaching tips from Lee Trampleasure

September 3, 2015

180: Day 9: Whiteboard walk

I usually do whiteboards as “meetings,” but hear recently of “whiteboard walks.” These walks are designed to mimic scientific poster sessions, where one student stays with their board, and the others walk to other boards and have conversations with the “authors” of the other boards. I tried this with my AP Physics C class today, and it seemed to go...

180/Modeling Comments: 0

August 25, 2015

180: Day 2: Learning whiteboards

Today my AP Physics C students got through creating whiteboards for the bouncy ball lab, and it’s clear I didn’t give quite enough instructions…but it is only their first “modeling” whiteboard. Items for me to work on with them: Graph axis are labeled with variable and units. Equations are ‘translated’ from ‘math’ (e.g. y=3.6x+1.2) to ‘science:’ x and y are...

180/Modeling Comments: 2

August 20, 2015

180: Day -2: Updating the physics mechanics inventory

Like many physics teachers, I use a pre and post “test” Concept Inventory to help me understand how and where my students are learning and struggling. The concept inventory is an amazing tool, but the images in it are of poor quality (think ’90’s computer art). I decided this year to update many of them, as well as tweak some...

180/Modeling/Science Education Comment: 1

July 31, 2015

How close are you? The “Why” behind Percent Error

There’s an old saying, “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” People would say this in response to someone saying “Well, I was close.” So, why does close count in horseshoes and hand grenades, and why is this the introduction to a science paper? Horseshoes: If you’ve never played before (I bet most of you haven’t), the goal is...

Chemistry/Math education/Modeling/Physics/Science Education Comments: 0

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.

Modeling/Physics/Science Education Comments: 9

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,...

Modeling/Physics 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...

Modeling/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.

Modeling/Physics/Science Education Comments: 0

May 18, 2012

Grading labs: A faster method using pre-printed return address labels.

Grading tends to be the biggest time consuming task for teachers. For those teachers who want students to complete lab write-ups that truly reflect discover and learning, providing feedback on labs can be an even more daunting task. This year I started using a system that has significantly sped up grading the mechanics of the lab, allowing me to spend...

Modeling/Physics/Science Education Comments: 3

March 15, 2012

Modeling Instruction: Review of acceleration lab

I’ve been using Modeling Instruction in my physics class for the past five years, and keep wondering how to handle the problem of students who miss the whiteboard sessions (where students share their results and we reach class conclusions). These sessions are critical for student growth, as this is where they are challenged to look for patterns in their data,...