Science Education – Page 7 – Science Teaching tips from Lee Trampleasure

April 21, 2012

Newton’s Laws and shopping carts falling out of truck

Watch the following video, the try to answer the questions below it: What is happening to the truck and the carts when the carts start following off the truck? What causes the carts to fall off the truck? While the truck is moving, the left row of carts doesn’t fall off the truck. Can you explain why they don’t? At...

Physics/Science Education Comments: 0

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,...

Modeling/Physics/Science Education Comments: 0

February 5, 2012

Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol workshop at AAPT conference

At the AAPT Winter Conference, I attended a workshop on the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) (emphasis on “reformed teaching” not “reformed protocol”). Below are my notes on that workshop. [This workshop runs 8:00-5:00 on Sunday, and I’m live blogging this so, if you’re reading during this time, reload the page for the most up-t0-date content.] Intro question: What does...

Modeling/Physics/Science Education Comment: 1

December 7, 2010

“You can’t put something on the final we haven’t seen!!!”

Today as a finals review “warm up” (although it ended up taking the whole period) I presented the students with four beakers of water: One with ice, one at room temp, one on a hot plate “low” (about 37C) and one boiling. I used Logger Pro to show the four temperatures on a projector screen (a sensor in each beaker)....

Modeling/Physics/Science Education Comments: 2

October 17, 2010

Spreadsheet for calculating slopes at points on quadratic functions

On the Physics Modeling email list there has been a discussion of finding tangents to a parabolic curve using an Excel spreadsheet. The primary way we use this is when students graph position vs time of a ball rolling down a ramp. Students discover that the relationship can be modeled as a parabolic equation, x = at2+bt+c. If they can...

Modeling/Physics/Science Education Comments: 0

August 10, 2010

End of the year teacher evaluation for my physics students to complete

At the end of each school year, I have my students complete an evaluation of the course. My goal is for them to reflect (1) me, (2) the class, and (3) themselves. I find the evaluations extremely valuable. Scary at times, but valuable. This last year wasn’t one of my best, and the evaluations showed that to me. But I...

Physics/Science Education Comments: 3

July 15, 2010

Using a TI-83 or TI-84 graphing calculator in high school physics classes

This summer I’m leading a workshop at the American Association of Physics Teachers meeting entitled “Using graphing calculators in the classroom.” Featured in the workshop is my handout titled “Analyzing data using your TI-83 or TI-84 calculator.” You can download a PDF version of the worksheet here. The handout has calculator screenshots and uses TI fonts to show the exact...

Modeling/Physics/Science Education Comments: 4

June 9, 2010

Error analysis in volume measurements

I use the attached worksheet to walk my high school physics students through the process of determining the percent error in a calculated measurement. After these calculations, students then determine the range of their final results (± x cm3). Finally, they look at the range and discover that use of the “sig figs” rules gives them about the same value...

Physics/Science Education Comments: 0

December 7, 2009

Hayward’s “D Street” fault creep, curb offset evidence erased

Sadly, improvements in city streets can wipe out geologic evidence. D Street has been a great field trip stop to see earthquake fault creep, and appears in many guidebooks and web sites. But in 1997, Hayward repaved the road, including the sidewalks (they all needed it). When they repaved it, they straightened all the curb lines, thereby erasing the evidence...

Geology/Earth Science Comment: 1

October 23, 2009

Handout for using the TI 83 / 84 calculator in a science classroom.

I have updated my Analyzing data using your TI-83 or TI-84 calculator handout. New features include: Using the Table features to have the calculator solve for variables. Using Draw to calculate the slope of the tangent to a curved line. Standard letter size (8.5×11 inches) for easier printing. You can download a copy here: TI-graphing-calculator-tips-for-science.pdf. It is in PDF which...