http://www.compadre.org/psrc/ The latest material additions to the PSRC. en-US Copyright 2012, ComPADRE.org psrc@compadre.org psrc@compadre.org Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:34:31 EST http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.compadre.org/portal/services/images/LogoSmallPSRC.gif http://www.compadre.org/psrc/ 125 35 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11681 This teacher's guide contains six student activities on the topic of energy conservation and the impact of energy use on society. These materials are developed for use in middle schools for energy-related studies in many different subject areas. The activities each contain objectives, lesson plans, teaching tips, supplementary resources, and references. The top document on this page contains the Introduction and Table of Contents. The Primary Documents link can be opened to access the individual student activities. This is one of several similar modules and activity books regarding science, technology, and societal issues. Other Sciences/Environmental Science http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=11681 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:34:31 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11681 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11679 This teacher's guide and education module contains student activities that outline the impact of energy issues on society and human activities. These materials are developed for use in middle schools. The materials are divided into three units, the first covers issues related to fossil fuels, the second covers human use of energy and how it has changed over time, and the third introduces concepts of energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy sources. The units each contain several activities, teaching tips, supplementary resources, and interdisciplinary connections. The top document on this page contains the Introduction and Table of Contents. The Primary Documents link can be opened to access the units for this module. This is one of several similar modules and activity books regarding science, technology, and societal issues. Other Sciences/Environmental Science http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=11679 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:44:07 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11679 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11481 This paper outlines the pedagogical and technical features of the Open Source Physics (OSP) project and how we use OSP-based tools and resources to introduce modeling into the curriculum. We describe our current effort to create and distribute new material using the Easy Java Simulations and Tracker tools and how we distribute this curricular material with ComPADRE National Science Digital Library [OSP 2009]. The paper is organized as follows. Section II introduces the Modeling Cycle that is the basis for our pedagogy. Section III describes basic Easy Java Simulations concepts and section IV describes Tracker. The main features of ComPADRE are presented in section V and section VI presents the pedagogical benefits of this connection. Finally, section VII summarizes the improvements obtained by the use of our approach. Education Practices/Technology/Computers http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=11481 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:58:36 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11481 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11667 This animation shows a system of N non-interacting Bose or Fermi particles in an infinitely deep square well. The total involves the distribution of the individual particles across energy levels. Users can choose the type and number of particles in the well and the total energy of the system. This animation includes a step-by-step exploration that explains key points in detail. This animation is part of a collection of animations for the teaching of concepts in quantum mechanics. Quantum Physics/Multi-particle Systems http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=11667 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:12:52 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11667 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=4337 This textbook consists of a set of laboratory-based modules that provide a step-by-step introduction to physics and the physical sciences. Through study of simple physical systems and starting from their own observations, students develop basic physical concepts, use and interpret different forms of scientific representations, and construct explanatory models with predictive capability. All the modules have been designed and validated by education research to develop scientific reasoning skills and to provide practice in relating scientific concepts, representations, and models to real world phenomena. This text has been designed for courses focused on active student discovery rather than on memorization. It is particularly appropriate for preparing pre-service and in-service K-12 teachers to teach science as a process of inquiry. Physics by Inquiry has an accompanying Instructor's Guide for college and university faculty available from the University of Washington Physics Education Group. It includes best practices for use with different student populations, information on student difficulties, information about the equipment and demonstrations referred to in the text, and to convey the purpose of unusual exercises and experiments. General Physics/Curriculum http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=4337 Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:56:15 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=4337 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=9241 This is an interactive Java simulation that illustrates the addition of the primary colors of light: red, blue, and green. It displays two light sources that cast shadows onto a shelf mounted on a wall. Users control the color of the light sources to see what happens when the primary RGB colors (red, green, blue) are mixed. The resource includes background information on color addition and subtraction. This is part of a multimedia teachers' lab on properties of light. The lab is designed to provide teachers with the background knowledge and expertise to set up the same or similar activities for use in the middle school classroom. Optics/Color/Synthesis and Analysis of Color http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=9241 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:59:08 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=9241 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11219 In this study, a literature review of problem solving and metacognition skills of students was presented. The literature indicates that teaching problem solving strategies helps students but is not sufficient to promote true science expertise. Meta-cognitive skills should be clearly taught to build structured knowledge and develop desirable habits of mind, and to guide students through the stages of cognitive development. Education Foundations/Problem Solving/Metacognition http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=11219 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:47:25 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11219 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11526 Being told procedures and concepts before problem solving can inadvertently undermine the learning of deep structures in physics. If students do not learn the underlying structure of physical phenomena, they will exhibit poor transfer. Two studies on teaching physics to adolescents compared the effects of “telling” students before and after problem solving. In Experiment 1 (N = 128), students in a tell-and-practice condition were told the relevant concepts and formulas (e.g., density) before practicing on a set of contrasting cases for each lesson. Students in an invent-with-contrasting-cases (ICC) condition had to invent formulas using the same cases and were told only afterward. Both groups exhibited equal proficiency at using the formulas on word problems. However, ICC students better learned the ratio structure of the physical phenomena and transferred more frequently to semantically unrelated topics that also had a ratio structure (e.g., spring constant). Experiment 2 (N = 120) clarified the sources of the effects while showing that ICC benefited both low- and high-achieving students. Education Foundations/Learning Theory/Transfer http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=11526 Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:09:33 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11526 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=8128 This website features photo, video, and simulation galleries that explore the fascinating worlds of electricity and magnetism. This extensive library includes illustrated tutorials, historical facts, and applications to new technology. Mag Lab U is part of a large collection of web-based educational materials for K-20, developed by the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University. Electricity & Magnetism/General http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=8128 Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:44:38 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=8128 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11601 The Stick Falling from Table Model shows the translational and rotational motion of a stick falling from a table.  The normal and gravitational force vectors and the center of mass trajectory are shown.  Users can vary the initial velocity of the stick and height of the table. The stick's motion occurs in three phases.  In first phase, the stick slides along the tabletop without rotating until the CM reaches the tabletop edge.  In the second phase, the gravitational force acts at the CM and a normal force acts at the edge to produce both linear and angular accelerations.  In the final phase, the stick is no longer in contact with the table and free-falls with constant angular velocity and constant CM acceleration. The model was created using the Easy Java Simulations (EJS) modeling tool. It is distributed as a ready-to-run (compiled) Java archive. Double clicking the ejs_newton_StickFallingFromTable.jar file will run the program if Java is installed. Classical Mechanics/Applications of Newton's Laws http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=11601 Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:38:24 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11601 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11602 This web site presents a method for judging the quality of K-12 teaching materials, both in print and online. It is based on research on effective science teaching and learning and national science education standards. The guide provides a step-by-step procedure for performing a critical review of instructional materials based on learning goals and learning activities. The web site includes examples from textbooks that have received high and low ratings, interactive tutorials, files that can be used as templates for recording evaluation judgments, and links to useful online resources. Education Practices/Professional Development http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=11602 Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:14:37 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11602 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11597 This article by a physicist and an aeronautical engineer explains the physics of how aircraft wings produce lift. It shows how several popular explanations are clearly wrong, and then accounts for lift in terms of Newton's first and third laws without using calculus. The article also discusses power, drag, angle of attack, and wing vortices. Numerous drawings illustrate the ideas. Fluid Mechanics/Dynamics of Fluids http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=11597 Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:42:41 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11597 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11553 This online collection provides a wide range of short physics demonstration videos. The videos are designed to help students visualize the physical principles of common physical systems and experiments. Topics include motion, waves, electricity and magnetism, collisions, thermodynamics, and fluid dynamics. The videos are 1-4 minutes in length with brief text information about the demonstration, equipment, and physical concepts illustrated. They may be viewed in a browser or downloaded. General Physics/Collections/Introductory Mechanics http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=11553 Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:46:22 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11553 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11561 This is a collection of 100+ hands-on activities in physical science, all developed by teacher fellows in the University of Virginia physics education department. Each activity provides lesson objectives, procedures for set-up, background information, and assessment. Many also contain photos and illustrations, plus modifications for students with disabilities. Topics include the nature of science, properties of matter, atomic structure and the Periodic Table, conservation of matter and energy, electricity, heat and temperature, sound, light, motion, and forces. General Physics/Collections/Introductory Laboratories http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=11561 Sat, 03 Dec 2011 13:26:29 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11561 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11577 This page from CERES (Center for Educational Resources Project) features classroom-ready lessons for K-12 classes, developed by a team of master teachers, NASA researchers, and university faculty. The activities are designed to integrate themes and unifying concepts in science with astronomy objectives, and provide concrete experiences for observation, comparison, and organization of data about our solar system and the Milky Way galaxy. Lessons are organized by grade bands: K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Some integrate NASA data to allow students to construct first-hand knowledge of the universe. All lessons are aligned to the NRC National Science Education Standards. Astronomy/Astronomy Education http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=11577 Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:18:27 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11577 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11578 This upper-division text surveys many of the topics of modern computational physics from a computational science point of view. Its emphasis on learning by doing is assisted by many available model programs, using Python. The text is designed for a one- or two-semester undergraduate or beginning graduate course. The text overlaps the lower-division "A First Course in Scientific Computing" by Landau, to provide computational science/physics materials at all levels of undergraduate curriculum. Of particular note is the eTextBook's links to video-based lecture modules specifically created for most every topic in the text. Individual lectures can be streamed for viewing on the web. The video modules contain a video picture-in-picture of a lecture or demonstration, along with active slides coordinated with the lecture, a dynamic table of contents, and links to codes, applets, and slides. The set of lectures makes the text particularly useful for a blended or online course where an instructor can use some or all of the text's lectures or slides, or even insert his or her own materials within the text and lectures. The Table of Contents (440 KB) and the full textbook (22 MB) are available for download. General Physics/Computational Physics http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=11578 Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:51:38 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11578 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=9427 This is an Easy Java Simulation based model where students can explore the concepts of the electric field and the electric potential, in a two-dimensional situation. The model can include between 1 to 5 charged particles, and a test charge can be moved around the plane near these charged particles to sample both the electric field and the electric potential, produced by the charged particles. The simulation also can display a grid of field vectors, which show the direction and, qualitatively, the magnitude of the field. Electricity & Magnetism/Electric Fields and Potential http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=9427 Fri, 18 Nov 2011 09:33:13 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=9427 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=8792 This collection of questions and resources covers concepts on the Light and Spectra Concept Inventory. The questions are designed to be used for in-class student engagement activities. Topics include properties of waves, the EM spectrum, Doppler Shift. the luminosity of stars and its dependence on temperature and radius. This is part of a larger collection of similar astronomy modules from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This entire collection covers most of the topics found in most undergraduate introductory astronomy courses. Astronomy/Astronomy Education/Assessment http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=8792 Fri, 18 Nov 2011 09:17:07 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=8792 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11552 The Fall 2011 New Faculty Workshop schedule and presentations are available in the attached documents. Education Practices/Professional Development http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=11552 Fri, 18 Nov 2011 08:46:26 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=11552 http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=9121 This lab manual contains descriptions of a series of laboratories covering the ideal gas laws and ideal gas processes. These experiments are designed for introductory high school and college introductory physics, chemistry, and engineering courses. Each experiment includes the intended audience, learning goals, and a short introduction to the physics. The experiments include Boyle’s Law, work done in an isothermal process, adiabatic processes, thermodynamic cycles, and the heat capacity of a gas. These labs are designed for an adiabatic gas law apparatus developed at Andrews University. Thermo & Stat Mech/Models/Ideal Gas http://www.compadre.org/psrc/bulletinboard/Thread.cfm?ID=9121 Fri, 18 Nov 2011 06:14:47 EST http://www.compadre.org/psrc/items/detail.cfm?ID=9121