Physics Documentaries

Physics is a subject that has been developing since the beginning of time.  Physics is all about understanding the world around us, and since no one knows everything about the universe, physics is a subject that is constantly developing.  Being a student learning physics it is extremely important that the students know the history about how everything came to be discovered.  Now with the technology that we have there are countless documentaries that talk about many physicists upon how they contributed to physics.  This is great for students because many physicists come from all different kind of backgrounds and knowing about them can inspire students to believe that anyone can make big contributions to this world.

Nowadays many of the documentaries are easy to access online and are very entertaining to watch.  Many times students do not pay attention to these kinds of documentaries, but with the technology that we have now, the documentaries are inspiring to watch.  Especially with physics, it talks about very big things such as planets and very small things such as electrons and it is impossible to show all of these things without movies.  Documentaries and movies about physics allows for more students to be able to see more of what physics is and gives them the potential to want to learn about it.  Physics is extremely exciting and intriguing it focuses on life’s questions.  However without being able to introduce what physics is in an engaging way it does not give opportunities to students to want to learn about physics unless they already have a natural interest in it.  As a student I never wanted to learn physics because of all the scary things I heard about it from other students, but after I was forced to take a course in it and saw some documentaries I was hooked to learn more about it.

Clickers in the Classroom

I always felt that it would be great to make the classroom as interactive as possible.  These clickers work in a way where students can participate without raising their hands.  They can answer multiple choice questions that teachers ask.  This is extremely helpful for students who are scared to participate or who are shy.  Also it helps the teacher have everyone be engaged and not only the student that always raises his/her hand.  From the clicker teachers can get a better idea of how many students in the classroom understands the material and how many are not.  This is great because I remember many times being in the classroom where it seemed only one person knew the answer to the questions that the teacher was going over and because of that the teacher would continue onto the lesson.  However with clickers the teacher is always aware upon how many students know the material and can decide to move on or not from that assessment.

                I’m sure as a teacher many times it is confusing to see if the students really understand the material or not.  I have seen how many times students look like they are paying attention and seem to be taking notes, but when they are called to answer a question they have no idea what the answer is.  Clickers in the classroom get rid of this problem from having the teacher constantly guess if he/she is giving a good lesson or not, the assessment can easily be calculated from the clickers.  I know that this technology is expensive, but I feel it can great assist teachers to get more of an accurate assessment of how their class is doing instead of relying on their intuition.  These clickers also provide for the whole class to be constantly engaged, with these clickers it becomes easily noticed if not everyone is participating and it allows the teacher to know how many of the students are even listening. 

Technology Integration Plan

For my final project I used a lesson plan that I had recently made in my methods course.  It is an introduction into Newton’s Second Law.  This lesson works upon introducing the idea of “net force” in many different ways.  I wanted to have students learn about Newton’s Second Law from a lecture, demonstration, worksheet, computer games, and discussion.  Students will need to make sure to listen to me and take notes, along with being actively involved to get the full impact out of this lesson.  This lesson will end with students working on an online worksheet that will be due for homework if it is not completed, also the material learned from this lesson will be a large portion of the unit test.  As much as possible I wanted to have the students be excited.  Plus I wanted this lesson be able to have any type of student be able to learn from the many divergent ways of teaching

On my first row, this part of the lesson has the student go on a computer and go online and play a game that http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/physics/motion provides.  Through this creative game students will become familiar with how net force works.  This program is not only fun, but it explains the physics behind how you play the game.  It gives great scientific explanations that 5.1.12.A.1 and NETS-S is looking for.  Hopefully by becoming familiar with these game students will start to get a realistic feel of how Newton’s Second Law is applied in this world.  This is many times a challenge with physics because most of the times concepts are very abstract and confusing.  However I’m hoping with the students playing this game Newton’s Second is not just some words, but it is something that has meaning and is something that makes sense.

On my second row, with PowerPoint I will give a lecture on Newton’s Second Law describing what it is and giving real life examples of what it is.  Throughout this presentation I will be giving the students a lot of questions so that they will be engaged.  The students will also be solving some example problems that I will be going over in the PowerPoint presentation that they will need their calculators for.  Afterwards we will do a question and answer session from any questions that the students may have.  All of this will hit the points that satisfy 5.1.12.A.2, along with the communication and collaboration portion of NETS-S.

On my third row, we will be working on a short case study that I printed out, that has to do with Newton’s Second Law.  We will read this case study together as a class, and once we are done the students will pair up with each other and have a discussion on the scientific issues of the case studies.  Once the students are done talking with each other we will share together as a class if any of the students analyzed anything that is worth bringing attention to the class.  This case study will help students become aware of how Newton’s Second Law is applied in real life, and will have students be engaged upon real life scenarios such as, how friction applies to slippery roads after rainfall.  All of this will engage the students to be critical thinkers, understand and solve real issues, and make smart decisions from the research they analyze.  This is what 5.1.12.D.1 wants from the students and parts of NETS-S.

On my last row, I will be demonstrating an experiment that will show proof of the formula Force = mass x acceleration.  This will be a demonstration that will project 2 balls of different mass with the same force, and it will show that the acceleration on the ball with a smaller mass will be greater.  With this demonstration it will require that I measure the distance that each ball travels and calculate its acceleration.  This calculation will also need to be made with a computer program called Vernier, which records the motion of a flying object and can calculate its velocity and acceleration.  After this final demonstration the students will log onto Web Assign and will do a worksheet full of problems.  This will be their assessment that will judge how much of the information they were able to understand and how well they will be able to mathematically calculate the concepts that they just learned.  This demonstration is perfectly set up for 5.2.12.E.4 along with the NETS-S requirement for technology operations and concepts.

spread sheet

Youtube a Physics Teachers Best Friend

Being a physics teacher can be extremely complicating.  Many times the teacher needs to focus on advanced mathematics while also being able to explain abstract concepts.  It is not an easy job to constantly be able to do both.  Many times to help students understand and relate to abstract concepts the teacher would need to show demonstrations to help students learn.  However with youtube there are an unlimited amount of physics demonstrations that can be shown and explained.  This makes it easy to access videos to find a demonstration for almost any concept in physics.

This helps teachers to save a lot of time not having to set up demonstrations, and to create demonstrations.  Also many times schools do not have the best materials to properly show demonstrations.  However with youtube you can find demonstrations done in the best colleges to teach physics.  Of course live demonstrations are always the best, but it is not always possible to do that.  As a physics teacher I want to make sure to utilize youtube to help my students learn physics and make it a lot more fun and exciting.

This is a great advantage that teachers have with projectors and computers in every room.  Many times teachers do not use their computers to teach in the classroom, but youtube has so much potential to be a great tool for education.  More teachers should become familiar with youtube and use it more within the classroom.  Especially being a science major there are many things that can not be seen or shown within the boundaries of a classroom, but youtube really helps to get rid of this limitation.  I hope as teachers use youtube as a resource they can also be able to upload demonstrations and learning materials onto youtube for everyone else in the world to benefit.  Instead of constantly having to reinvent the wheel if teachers can share with each other their hard work we can all give the students the best education.

Online Grading

As a student I was always annoyed with never knowing what I was going to be receiving for my report card each marking period.  I seemed to always be guessing, and either become delighted or disappointed when the time came.  Nowadays most schools have a system where teachers can post grades online and students can receive their results as soon as the teacher grades them.  These grades can then be accessed by students and teachers right away.  When I first heard about this I thought it was a great idea for students, parents, and teachers.

As a student they will never be in the dark about how they are doing or what to expect in their coming report card.  They will be able to see what grades they have and also be able to know how much they need to study or how well they need to do on the next test to get the final grade that they desire.  The students would no longer complain or try to fight their grades, because the grades are all clearly shown online.  If ever the teacher makes a mistake recording a grade for a paper or forgets to record certain information the student can talk to the teacher about it and help him/her be aware of it.

From a parent point of view, when the report card finally comes into the mail it should never be a surprise what their child is going to receive.  The parent can constantly be aware of how their child is doing and help motivate them if they are falling behind or not doing well.  Also many times students do not report grades to their parents, but with online grading forging signatures is no longer a problem that parents need to face.  Lastly with certain online grading systems teachers can write comments upon each grade to help clarify and communicate the reason why an individual student received the grade that did, this would help not only the student realize what he/she needs to do in the future, but also the parent.

Phet: Interactive Science simulations

Phet is an online website that produces free online chemistry, physics, biology, and mathematic simulations.  Since I am a physics major this a great website to have students understand abstract concepts that they would have a hard time imagining.  Physics has many kinds of topics which are relatable and easy to understand, but there are also many concepts that are difficult to grasp, because many of the concepts have to do with invisible forces.  Because physics covers many topics which are intangible Phet is a perfect website that allows students be able to conceptual understand through simulations that this website provides.

For the high school level Phet has simulations for every topic a student would need to go over.  And many of the simulations are presented in a manner that is very fun and similar to playing a game.  I have only used it for the sake of physics, but it is a great way to have students understand the concepts behind the lessons that are being taught.  Phet is not a program where students can teach themselves physics, it does not really go over the math that is needed.  However many times in physics the biggest challenge could be that students do not understand the abstract concepts that the teacher is trying to explain.  Being able to have a resource such as this one can dramatically help students not only to understand physics better, but to come to be excited to learn about physics.  This I believe is one of the biggest benefits of having technology within the classroom; it gives teachers opportunity for every subject to be exciting and inspiring.  I believe once we can understand and learn to use the resources that technologies such as Phet provides it will make teachers jobs a lot easier along with being more exciting.

http://phet.colorado.edu/

Collaboration Canvas

With this new remixed canvas, I added the concept of Vectors.  Geometry is a perfect segue to Vectors, so when I saw this canvas I immediately thought how it would be perfect to introduce Vectors.  I kept most of the content that was on the original canvas I just mostly added new videos and pictures to further expand the subject and have the knowledge help learn about new concepts about physics.  Throughout the remix canvas I wanted to add videos and pictures that would perfectly relate the original canvas and it would not be confusing to anyone who originally liked the canvas.  To do this I got rid of some pictures that did not fit well with the new concept of Vectors.  Also I found videos that directly related to geometry, but still talked about vectors.  Math is closely related with Physics and so this was not difficult.  In the education system math and physics should be integrated more often.

Remix Canvas

Make Homework Online

As a teacher, they have many responsibilities that go beyond just the hours from 8:00am-4:00pm.  Teachers need to make lesson plans for each of the coming days, they need to think about projects and assignments to give out, they need to grade tests and homework, etc.  One of the most mundane and time consuming tasks that teachers need to go through is grading homework and papers.  With all of the tasks that teachers need to do it would seem that they should all have assistant that can complete all of the mindless work for them.  However since this is not the case, technology can really help to bring efficiency to teachers along with helping them to complete these mindless tasks.  So that teachers can all focus and put their energy into things that are important.

Webassign is one of these technologies that can greatly assist the teacher with homework.  Through an online program students can do their homework’s online, which can be immediately be graded and recorded for both the students and the teachers.  Along with having this technology save time for the teachers, Webassign can also help students to do their homework by showing videos that can help them to solve their problems.  Of course technology like this costs money, but is a great benefit to both teachers and students.  It is mostly available with math and science subjects, but there should be other kinds of technology that could give online homework just like Websassign.

Teachers have such a large amount of work that they need to do that demands a lot of creativity.  Mindless activities such as grading papers should be something that teachers would not have to deal with.  As education develops, all schools should have their homework be something that is graded and worked out online.   This would be something greatly beneficial to all students and teachers. 

Unit Plan Canvas

This was by far my favorite interactive activity I had to do in this class.  I admit it was the most complicating one as well and at times very frustrating, however it was very exciting to create such an appealing expression of a unit plan.  Newton’s Laws is not something many students find very interesting, however making this canvas I feel more confident that the students will feel more excited to learn about Newton’s Laws when they get to learn about it.  The videos and additional sources I was able to share will really help the students to understand the concepts when I start to teach them, because of how foreign physics is to many students.  In this unit students will be learning about Newton’s 3 Laws and how it applies to their everyday lives.  This unit will take around 3 weeks for students to come to understand.  It will be focusing on understand the concept of: inertia, force, and opposing reactions.  Students will be learning about this through lectures, videos, and many different kinds of labs and experiments.

Canvas: Newtons Law's

Online Education (coursera)

Online education is a part of the education field not everyone agrees with.  However if online education is free, this would be something only a small fraction of the people in the world would complain about.   www.coursera.com has over five million courses that are absolutely free, along with having them be given by some of the top countries in the world along with their professors.  Though some people may argue this is not the best form of education one can receive, most of us can see how websites such as these give opportunities to people with complicated situations.

I personally believe that online education is the future for the education system.  Especially since many times in school teachers are lecturing for most of the time, this does not have to be done repetitively.  Lectures should be given by the “best” professors and students should learn from those professors.  Education should be a place where students can digest the content and actually utilize all of the people that are gathered up and being interested in the topic.  Online education would not be replacing schools, but it will be changing the purpose of having everyone gather together.  During this precious time of having a group of people who are interested in the same thing, professors and teachers should use this opportunity to have students learn from each other and help each other to learn.

 Coursera does a wonderful job with allowing this to happen.  It gives the facts and the knowledge to students individually.  Once the facts and the knowledge is obtained the students can start to work on more of the fun things, such as analyzing or using their creativity.  Schools should start to weave online education more into the curriculum having students to learn independently.  Having students learn to be able to gain information on their own, and becoming confident to figure out problems that they come across.

This is a great TED talk that talks about this: http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning_from_online_education.html?quote=1807

Technology & Pedagogy

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhHP3jSZHVffdGlUTDU1dWU4V3N4b0o5T1hQalctZVE&usp=drive_web#gid=0

I chose this lesson plan, because I thought it was a humorous way to describe gravity.  Physics is the field I am studying in and I have often felt that teaching lessons that are humorous makes the assignments that much better.  The way that this lesson is constructed it gives a good simple way of discovering newton’s laws, while being able to see how it is applied to real life.  I would try to have most the lessons that I teach to be something that can be seen throughout life and relatable.

One of the biggest problems with this lesson plan is that it did not allow much for student centered learning.  It is mainly a lecture where students only listen to the teacher, and there was not much room for interactions.  Since gravity is something that we all experience I felt as though there should be more of a discussion within this lesson.  There also should have been a worksheet that was attached with the lecture; the students would need some time to grapple what they just listened to by solving problems on their own.

The video that was shown within the lesson is a great way for the visual learners to come to understand the concept of gravity.  Also with this video, if they were to watch it for homework they can watch the lecture again if they missed anything.  If the website had created some kind of game to go along with the lesson that would have made the lesson perfect, for the more active learners to understand the concept being taught. 

Physics terminology and smartphones

If you talk to the average high school student about physics, most of them will have an experience that is not very pleasant.  They will talk about how confusing it was.  However I believe one of the most confusing things about physics are not actually the concepts of physics, but the terminology of physics.  Not having the basics of understanding of the terminology makes the whole subject extremely difficult.  However with the internet being in most of our pockets things like terminology can be discovered in an instant.  From website like, http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/glossary.htm, students can easily understand what the teacher is actually trying to teach.

Especially since physics uses many words such as: work, energy, power, etc.  Many students think they understand the terminology, but physics terms like this are used in a very specific kind of way that is crucial to understand.  Many teachers view technology such as smart phones to be an enemy against the teacher, but it can be something that can be a powerful ally that has great benefits in assisting the teacher, if it is used correctly.  Instead of having the teacher go over all of these words and print out multiple papers for the students to learn the words, teachers should utilize students to teach themselves through technology and it is so easy now with the access of the internet.

Of course there are many flaws to this kind of statement for young students to be independent learners and to allow students to use their smart phones.  However with the right kind of learning environment and if the teachers are comfortable, teachers should start to see how helpful things like smartphones can be in the classroom instead of seeing it as something that is distracting and harmful to education.  I think the reason many teachers would not like this is because they do not trust their students to be using technology is the best way, but I hope that is something that can soon change, and we can all start to feel how exciting learning really is.   

Physics and the Ipad

This week I was talking to a teacher who is in charge of the science department in his high school.  When I was talking to him about physic teachers, he told me that none of the physics teachers in his school use textbooks in their classrooms.  He told me instead of buying textbooks they bought I-pads for each students, which was quite close to how much the textbooks would have cost anyway.

I was shocked when I heard about this.  After talking to him for some time I realized what an extraordinary idea it was to use I-pads instead of textbooks.  Many times in schools, kids are very confused and dread physics.  However by using the I-pad, you can make physics something that is totally relevant and interesting.  With the apps that the I-pads have, you can text video footage of different things, and be able to derive formulas out of real life experiences.  Such as shooting a basketball, playing bowling, pushing a chair, etc.  This creates physics to be something that is easy to grasp and understand.  Physics becomes something that is very real and something that is happening all around us.  With the use of the I-pad you can calculate velocity, measure displacement, and be able to see real results very easily.

I know when I first came to learn physics it was very difficult to understand and comprehend, but after watching some videos upon how physics can be taught with technology it looks extremely fun and tangible.   I hope when I become a teacher, I can use something like the I-pad to be able to make physics something that is more real than ever before.  It is amazing how powerful and inspiring technology can be if it is used in the right way.

If you have time please watch this video, and see what I am talking about:
http://www.vernier.com/products/software/video-physics/

 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vernier-video-physics/id389784247?mt=8

History of Technology in Physics

Calculator: Let's focus on something only a human can do

source: http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/05/computers-antiq.html

Physics and Technology

Many people in education are now hearing about online education.  It is becoming extremely popular especially at the college level.  There is a site called www.coursera.com that has close to 5 million free online courses, by some of the top colleges and professors in the world.  Physics like math is one of those courses that greatly benefit from these kinds of websites.  Since schools are a place where there are a lot of different minds and perspectives it should be utilized not for everyone to be learning the same thing, but it is a precious opportunity where everyone can be learning from each other.  Physics however especially in its early stages is not a subject that needs much interaction with other people or discussions, the fundamentals can be something that can be learned independently through books or online.  There are great websites such as www.khanacademy.org that have free lectures for students to learn science and math on their own.  People should really take advantage of sites like this where they can learn independently.  By learning online, students can go at their own pace, rewind if they need to, and be able to use the internet as an unlimited resource for any further confusion that they have.

Of course there are many downsides to online education.  There is no teacher or classroom to instill motivation or inspiration.  If you have a question that you are stuck on there is not a professional at your immediate request.  However I feel that independent learning is one of the best ways an individual can learn, and is something that sticks in your memory.  Though I do not believe physics should not be solely be taught online, I believe that more of how it is taught should be happening through the internet.

Physics has 2 sides to it.  The first is more of the theoretical and mathematical side; these are things that can most be learned independently and online.  The second is the science part of it, where experiments are created, and hypotheses are made.  This is the area where schools should focus on, where students can learn to work together and help each other to bring out creativity from the ideas that come from other students.  Much of the precious time that students are together is being wasted by having students learn material that they can be learning on their own. 
Not only in physics, but with all subjects schools need to focus more on using the potential that they hold in the classroom.  Much of the classwork that students are doing should be homework, and the projects and other social activities students do outside the classroom should be done in the classroom where everyone has already gathered up.
Of course these kind of thoughts are a bit extreme and have not yet been well thought out, but I think it is at least worth thinking about.

Technology Autobiography

1. Computer:

I remember receiving my first computer back in 1995 when I was 6 years old.  At that time the major influence it had on me was from computer gaming.  Computer gaming helped me to learn to work with other players, and practice how to accomplish goals that were given to me.  However since that time of 6 years old, computers have influenced me in many ways beyond computer gaming.  Instant messaging, emailing, facebook, and youtube are all a part of my daily life these days.  Without these components my life would be severely differently from what it is now.

Positive influences of Computers:  
- Allows me easy connection to people from all over the world
- Gives me unlimited ways to express myself
- If there is any information or anything I want to find, I feel confident to find it through a computer
- Entertainment can be found in an instant
- Gives me resources to feel equal in the amount of oppertunites that I have
- It feels like everything I need is at my fingertips

Negative influences of Computers:
- At times lose confidence to communicate face to face
- Too many opinions and information don't know what to trust
- Causes a lot of miscommunication
- Creates a lack of genuine relationships
- My mind becomes shaped to the popular culture being advertised

Computers have helped me drastically in the way I learn new information.  Unlike school, with the computer their is an unlimited amount of ways that information can be expressed(video, presentations, facts, etc).  Also with the computer all the information is at your fingertips and could be found the instant you have any kind of desire.  The biggest problem is that the information that is being given is many times biased in some way.


2. Television:

Positive influences of Television:
- Has provided with the latest and most popular information
- Gives a basis for common base that I can share with other people
- Allows itself as a connection for many of my relationships
- Provides many opportunities for information I am seeking
- Am able to receive information that inspires me to act

Negative influences of Television:
- Becomes brainwashed to start thinking the same way everybody else is
- The charming people sharing information manipulates my own thought process
- Many times information is given without much motivation to do anything about it, and become jaded
- The information that is being shared is many times not being shared entirely and am mislead


3. Radio:

Positive Influences of Radio:
- Listen to the songs that help me stay connected with people
- Gives me energy to do the things that I want
- Some songs instill inspiring thoughts

Negative Influences of Radio:
- Conforms me to be listening to the same music and that brainwashes me to live the kind of cultural the social media is trying to influence
- Many of the songs give out information that is just unpleasant and dirty


I feel that many the things I mentioned were quite similar to what the children mentioned in the video.  We both shared about how it could be a creative outlet and how information can be attained rapidly and in many forms.  However the children in the video did not share anything negative about how technology is effecting them..