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.

Reflection week 6

D&Z Ch. 11: Help for struggling readers narrated real situations where teachers successfully implemented strategies for helping students with reading. The first narrative, placed in a physics class, started with students who had trouble visualizing material they read. I’ve noticed this multiple times tutoring physics, but always thought it was something unique to the subject. I thought it must have something to do with students closing their mind to the subject because of disinterest. I never considered the possibility that the student might be struggling with reading. The issue of unfamiliar content is minimized in my mentor’s classroom, however. He writes the majority of his problems and examples himself, often making them specific to something about Farragut High School. (ie: the physical speed limit of FHS’s circular parking lot, given a satellite photo with dimensions and a mustang skid pad test results.) This also reminded me of an article I read about students in hawaii and their performance on standardized tests. Most standardized tests are written for white students in the NE and so when questions involving something as familiar leaves changing colors-- students in hawaii are often stumped or distracted by wondering what changing seasons and falling leaves would be like.

One of the most brilliant suggestions to me was having students record themselves reading primary sources aloud. In addition to helping them gain fluency- the side effect of building a teacher’s collection of tape recordings could be a huge help for future classes. This could also be an excellent use of technological resources.

Reflection 5

This weeks reading Content-Area Literacy ch 6 included strategies for improving comprehension. It went over examples for multiple content areas. One of my favorite was Doodle Diagrams. This strategy was to expand/restructure knowledge and enhance learning and memory. This strategy could be particularly useful for visual learners who can recall the information easier with a visual association.This may also help students think meaningfully about the material in order to choose an appropriate doodle. Another favorite was The Anticipation/Reaction guide. I’m glad the author included the ‘Reason’ section in addition to the agree/disagree response. For science, I think I would use this more often to face misconceptions and fuel curiosity but could also utilize it for scientific controversies (ie solutions to energy crisis and renewable energy sources.) This strategy can also cover multiple target reading objectives.  One strategy I kind of already use is the Text Appetizer. My mentor teacher also starts class off with a question of the day. It is usually a question that makes the physics we are learning relative for students’ lives (ie what is the physical speed limit for the clover interesting at I-40 and Pellissippi Parkway?) He does not have these introductions written the way BBR suggests but it would be easy to transform these questions of the day into Text Appetizer introductions.