Text Set #2: Electricity

Electricity and Magnetism by Elisha Gray
Grade level: 9-12
In this book, Elisha Gray introduces the historical contexts of electricity and magnetism. Without using pages of equations, Gray develops the important concepts of electricity. There is also a chapter on harnessing water power in Niagara Falls. I think reading an excerpt from this text would be useful when teaching electricity, or using it as a resource for projects.

NV Energy: How to read your meter
https://www.nvenergy.com/home/customercare/readyourmeter.cfm
Grade level: 6-12
This is a website which explains some of the mystery revolving your electrical meter. This year in my class, I used one of my electrical bills from KUB. It's a good example for real world application. Most electrical companies use 'weird' units (such as kWhr) and in class we can find out what that is in SI units.

PHYSICS: An USBOURNE Introduction
ISBN: 0-86020-711-0
Grade level: 5-8
This book is a child-friendly approach to traditional physics. It includes nearly all areas of physics on a couple of pages per topic. It's written in cartoon-y almost comic book like style. It has explanations of natural phenomena and explains real world applications. It also includes several student friendly experiments. Even though it is targeted to younger students I have found some great demonstration ideas here. It is also a good resource for students to use for ideas if they are doing a project. The sections for electricity and magnetism are especially good because it shows the concepts through observable phenomena, not form a theoretical perspective.

101 Classroom Demonstrations
Grade level: 9-12
This is a book of demonstrations for physics. It not only explains how to preform the demonstrations but also the concepts behind them. Useful for students to read along with a topic to help reinforce the physical consequences of a topic. Any chance for students to relate academic material to real life is beneficial.

Hyper Physics: Electricity and Magnetism
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/emcon.html
Grade level: 11-12
This website is a good reference for the electricity and magnetism unit. It is organized as a concept map by topic. There are some 'physics calculators' for particular topics. This is where a student can type in a set of values and it solves for the missing quantity. It provides reference formulas for each topic and explains the relationships between variables in words. The other reason I picked this is because related topics link to each other, so there are multiple avenues to get to a certain topic or page. This can really help students reinforce the relationship between topics in the material. (Especially in physics, there are lots of connections.)

PHYSICS4KIDS: Electricity
http://www.physics4kids.com/files/elec_intro.html
Grade level: 5-8
This website has an excellent set of pages for electricity. It includes diagrams (which really convey complex phenomena) in an age-appropriate manner. Even without having chemistry, it explains the different between conductors and insulators. It even shows the relationship between force and distance graphically, showing an exponential (which they may not realize) without using in equations!

MIT: The wonders of electricity
http://video.mit.edu/watch/the-wonders-of-electricity-and-magnetism-9964/
Grade level: 9-12
This website's main focus is a video demonstration lecture at a museum. The video is appropriate for all ages but the text on the page is more at a high school level. The text on the page explains some of the demonstration outcomes without explanation (which is in the video.) A good activity I could do with this resource is having students read the text, and speculate on how the demonstrations might be preformed and why, and then watch the accompanying video. Then, students could compare their speculations to how the preforming completed the demos.

Physics 1501: Electricity and Magnetism
http://theory.uwinnipeg.ca/mod_tech/node83.html
Grade level: 10-12
This is a course website that has been done very well. It includes notes for each topic that read like a condensed textbook. (I know that sounds so awesome, haha) but it really is. This is a great resource for students who forgot their textbook one day, or would just like a supplementary text. The thing I like about how this website portrays this unit is that it teaches Electricity and Magnetism separately, and then shows how deep their connection really is. Also includes really good diagrams. Does not include very much Electrostatics, unfortunately.

Galaxy.net: Electricity
http://www.galaxy.net/~k12/electric/
Grade level: 9-12
This is a reference of demonstrations for electricity. I really like projects in physics that students get to chose their own experiment. This is a good resource for students to find demonstrations and experiments to do. It also includes teacher notes so students can see the 'behind the scenes' emphasis on each aspect of the experiments.

Berkley: Physics Applets
http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/physics/appletindex.html
Grade level: 10-12
This is a webpage of physics applets. It has includes alot of PhET simulations for topics in physics. It has the longest list for electricity and magnetism and even includes a simulation for superconductivity (which is an advance topic.) Students can use this webpage as a reference if they ever want to view a simulation for a concept.

CalTech: Physics Applets
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~phys1/java.html
Grade level: 10-12
This is another webpage of physics applets. Gives students more options for their choice of applets. Could use in a project where students have to find their own simulations/ applets for a topic to share with the class. A project like this would also help me find the most effective applets to use with my students.

Reflection #10

Sinatra: Teaching Learners to Think, Read, and Write more effectively in content subjects

This reading was about teaching students to more effectively learn content material. It starts out by emphasizing the amount of different ways you can graphically organize material from an expository text chapter, or a unit of material. It also outlines a shift in teaching style that would be more beneficial for students.

I really liked the different concepts map included in this article. I know when I’m studying for a big test I organize my ‘study guide’ on un-lined paper in the form of a graphic organizer. I have not used this type of strategy in class. I teach mostly juniors so many of them have study skills that work for them, but definitely not all students do. When reading this article I also consider the limitations for drawing concept maps. I would need to emphasize to students that our concept map is not a end-all be-all but that we constructed this map in a specific context.

(For us, this could be in a unit which ignores air resistance. Our map for a later unit could include some of the same topics/concepts/nouns but with new and different relations.) Similarly, recognizing differences in concept maps throughout the year may also reinforce those constraints. For example, the acceleration in freefall is 9.8 m/s^2 only when there is no air resistance. It is an approximation when air resistance is ignored.

The article also notes that this strategy is useful for all age groups-- but may benefit low achieving low income students the most. I thought this might be a good opportunity to purposefully pair specific students together. If some students are already experienced graphic organizers I can pair them with a student who has lower reading comprehension or study skills.

Web Resource Review #2

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html

Hyper Physics

This resource can be used for students from ninth grade to college level. It is basically an interactive concept map. It includes all major topics in physics and a couple of related application topics.

(thermodynamics, mechanics, electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics, sound and hearing, relativity, nuclear physics, condensed matter, light and vision).

Some of the topics include value calculators where students can put in certain values and check their answer to the hyperphysics calculated answer. This also explicitly shows students what units should be used for each equation. Hyper Physics is really most useful as a reference. If students are working a problem that requires information from a previous topic they can refresh their memory using hyperphysics. The fact that it is laid out as a concept map can also help students organize their knowledge as we move through units.

One of the cons could be since it does include some calculus for certain topics, students could see unfamiliar symbols and quickly feel overwhelmed.

The site is not very commercial. It is maintained by Georgia State University and only has one column of ‘ads’ on the side. (Ad is for a live study group)

This website also has links to example problems (still building, not very big yet), and Physics concepts applied to other sciences: geophysics, biology, and chemistry.

Reflection #9

One of our readings this week was on Adolescents' motivation to read by Pitcher et al. These researchers surveyed and interviewed adolescent students to investigate their motivation to read what types of text and the influences affecting their motivation. One thing that stuck out to me was the influences Pitcher et al discovered to have the biggest impact. Some I thought were expected such as: reading material relevant to students, students being given a choice in what they read, and using different types of texts that students are already reading themselves (online material, magazines, etc). Some of the influences I had not already considered were teacher talk and modeling books and authors, teachers enthusiasm for reading and assignments, and modeling strategies for comprehension. These influences all make sense I just did explicitly consider them before. Modeling comprehension strategies I have read about as something teachers should do but it reinforces that idea to see it as a result of student interviews. As for the teacher enthusiasm I guess I figured all teachers should have this. Of course we are here for the students, but teachers should love their content areas too.

When I was browsing through the CCSS website one thing I thought was interesting was in the Algebra standards. It wanted teachers to use authentic math models for physical phenomena to teach algebra skills. This is really cool and all but the example it gave was V=IR. Very few students coming into high school physics have a good conceptual model for current, voltage, and resistance. Therefore, unless introduced and taught correctly I think teaching these topics too early or out of context can be harmful to students. This is also reflected in statement by Steve Robinson (reading not assigned in this class).

"Of course, knowing the subject matter is also important, and teachers who lack that knowledge can do serious harm. I would even go so far as to say that many of my students would be better off if they never had a science teacher before me because they have to unlearn so many bad things from elementary school teachers who were
afraid of science."

Text Set

E=mc^2: A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis

Reading Level: upper high school

In this book, David Bodanis uncovers the history behind the world’s most famous equation. Bodanis goes through the historical context of each symbol and variable in the equation. Most people recognize and can recite this equation but few of them know what it means or the years of scientific knowledge advancements which led to this final formulation.

I chose this text because it is a narrative about science rather than just the finalized formulation that we use today.

The Physics Classroom: Energy, Work, and Power

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/energy/u5l1b.cfm

Reading level: high school

This webpage gives some basic definitions and examples of Types of Energy, Work, and Power. It is also available as an iBook so students can download and use even without internet access. Part of the reason I chose this page is because it has practice problems with a ‘see answer’ button so students can check their own understanding.

Momentum, Work, and Energy

http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/lectures/momentum.html

Reading level: intended for lower level college, could be used in high school (no calculus)

This is a written lecture in physics. It covers momentum, work, and energy but only includes a few basic equations. Rather than focusing on example ‘problems’ it illustrates the conceptual side of our topic. It also has a few conceptual questions for the reader at the end. The reason I chose this text was because it also addresses the topic using everyday life experiences. It can also help students gain an introduction to the topic without being bogged down by the math involved later on.

Funderstanding Roller Coasters

http://www.funderstanding.com/educators/coaster/
Reading level: middle and high school
This is a PhET simulation of a roller coaster. You can simulate a roller coaster with or without friction and change the course of the coaster. Being able to ignore or use friction is particularly helpful to help students understand the fundamental laws in physics versus their effects in reality. Friction is something we commonly ignore in introductory physics, but the truth is that it plays a huge role in our lives.

Work and Energy Physlet Based Curriculum

http://webphysics.davidson.edu/physletprob/ch8_problems/ch8_3_work_energy/default.html
Reading level: 9-12
This webpage provides practice problems for our topic, and provides a simulation for each one. This gives students the opportunity to observe, test, and predict results based on mathematical models and then observe the simulation. This is particularly helpful for students when real experiments may not be practical. (How many students have a bowling ball at home they can swing from the ceiling?)

Energy Skate Park

http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/energy-skate-park

Reading level: 7-12
PhET simulation of a skater. This particular simulation isn’t as ‘realistic’ as some of the other texts I’ve chosen but still helpful. You can move the mechanical parts of his ramp and then observe how that affects the skaters motion. I use this in my classroom to illustration conservation of energy by relating the height the skater starts at to the height he could end at.

Kinetic Energy is NOT Momentum

http://www.batesville.k12.in.us/physics/phynet/mechanics/energy/KENOTMomentum.html

Reading level: 9-12. May be useful for upper middle grade students.
This page faces a common student misconception head on. This is also related to another common question students ask: why is momentum conserved and kinetic energy not? This page also includes some ‘thought experiments’ which I really like to expose students to. Gives them a better idea of science. It’s not all about calculating-- it’s about thinking.

Momentum and Energy examples with solutions

http://academic.udayton.edu/LenoPedrotti/examples/206Energy.pdf

Reading level: upper high school

The opposite of the conceptual readings I posted. This text focuses on the mathematical models for energy and momentum and how to apply those to solve questions in physics. Provides a little narration for the work. But does offer a comprehensive view of the problems we can solve after this unit.

Reflection #8

This week’s readings were on vocabulary instruction.

The Bromley reading, titled ‘Nine things every teacher should know about words and vocabulary instruction’ had information on the nature of vocabulary and useful information for teaching vocabulary. One of my favorite things from this reading was the comparisons between english and other languages, and the information on word stems. Some of the suggested activities involved using a thesaurus to substitute common words. I am a little wary of this approach because using a thesaurus can be risky business anyway and on top of that using it for someone else’s writing seems even riskier! I know I already use some word origin background information when teaching physics vocabulary. Students learn Newton’s 3rd law, ‘for every action there is an exact and opposite reaction..’ The word action meant something different to Isaac Newton than it means in everyday modern language. The current interpretation of action in that context is force. ‘Action’ otherwise is often interpreted as an event, which is often misleading to students.

The Baumann & Graves reading outlined current literature on definitions for academic vocabulary and related terms. This article did a good job on categorizing types of vocabulary and thought these classifications will be a good tool for planning cross-curricular instruction. Math and Science, Physics in particular, will vocabulary terms relevant to both subjects and by being aware of this I can be more knowledgeable about student prior knowledge. By making those cross-curricular connections students will also have a better foundation for new vocabulary terms.

Reflection week 7

This weeks reading was on building student vocabulary. Both readings spelled out strategies teachers can use in class (and some students can do at home.)

Contextual Redefinition was one of my favorite strategies because it was also a strategy students can use on their own when they are independently reading. This strategy I also thought would be more useful for a novel-type reading, not reading a type of textbook. Alot of reading I will assign in physics will have the content vocabulary words defined explicitly in the reading.

For this reason, the personal glossary strategy was another one of my favorites. This strategy was especially appealing because I already do something like this for myself. In the front of my notebooks for class I have a blank sheet of paper that I write word definitions on as I read through material. For me, I also include concepts/equations for certain things. I think this extension can be relevant to my students as well.

Etymologia was another one I would like to use, and have no experience with it before. Occasionally some of my teachers has used word meanings in class before and it was always something that stuck with me but never thought to look for word stems and meanings before. This idea even came up when I read about Levin’s Keyword method in the other reading. I thought using meaningless mnemonics to associate with words is not as useful as discussing word morphemes.