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Here you can find teaching resources for your physics and physical science classes.
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Featured Resource
PhET Simulation: Energy Forms and Changes
Build your own system to convert mechanical, light, or chemical energy into electrical or thermal energy.
Lesson Plan Central
Technology Tools
Concord Consortium: Energy2D - Interactive Heat Transfer Simulations for Everyone
Free, simulation tool developed to help students grasp underlying concepts necessary to approach and solve heat transfer problems.
Teaching Modules
Cirque du Circuit: A Model Unit on Electric Circuits
A turn-key module for grades 9-12: introduces learners to concepts of electricity through animated tutorials, online circuit building, and problem-based labs in which they apply their knowledge to build an alarm system and more. The unit culminates with a look at the life and legacy of Nikola Tesla.
News & Events
Free ONLINE course for teachers in Newtonian Mechanics from MIT
This Summer Mechanics Course is offered on the MIT-Harvard edX.org platform for teachers who want to increase their appreciation of Mechanics, their problem-solving ability, or who might consider using our pedagogy, automatically graded homework, and hundreds of other free online resources in their class. Those who only want to browse are also welcome.
This course targets physics teachers. There is a special discussion forum on how to teach this material, Massachusetts teachers can receive Professional Development Points, and all teachers can receive Continuing Education Units from the American Association of Physics Teachers at ½ of their usual rate. Instructors are encouraged to share this announcement with their colleagues and to suggest this course to accomplished students whom they think would enjoy or benefit from a more mature overview of mechanics and problem solving. Register: http://edX.org/courses (the course is 8.MRev)More Information: http://RELATE.MIT.edu or Rel
The Physics of Water in Trees
The physics of water in trees is so much more complicated than one would expect. Derek Muller's videos and this article use simple puzzles to help you to better understand some of mechanisms for water flow in trees.
Counting cracks in glass gives speed of projectile
Simple relationship between velocity and number of spokes in star-shaped fracture
New Exploratorium Opens in San Francisco
Science is comprehended not through abstract principles but through concrete experience. It is revealed not through speculation but through manipulation. We learn by exploring. two recently released free Exploratorium apps for iPads, one dealing with sound, the other with color. They show with compact simplicity how even commonplace sensations become sources of insight. Or look at the Exploratorium itself: drink deep from the water fountain shaped like a toilet. Sit in a chair holding a spinning bicycle wheel. See whether you and three other visitors with incomplete controls can collaborate on a game of Pac-Man. Wear a set of headphones that seems to swap your right and left ears. Climb into a kaleidoscope. It imbues a childhood wonder we all are born with - an excitement for science.
Scientists quietly announce a potentially huge discovery in physics
While there's still a lot of uncertainty about the nature of dark matter, it feels like physicists are closing in on the answer.
Recent Additions
| May 14: | NEED Project: Intermediate Energy Infobook |
| May 13: | NEED Project: Energy from the Wind |
| May 10: | NEED Project: Energy of Moving Water |
| May 9: | NEED Project: Science of Energy |
| Apr 26: | NEED Project: Energy Flows |
