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Re: PHYS-L Digest - 8 Jun 2003 to 9 Jun 2003 (#2003-188)



PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu writes:

I'm a 10th grade conceptual physics teacher ("Physics First") -- new =
to the group. I'm curious if anyone has any ideas/suggestions for a =
culminating or final project in physics that somehow involves say all=
of a semester's main concepts in one meaningful, tied-together, mult=
iple part, theme?

When I taught highschool physics, I would have a final project with my
ninth-grade conceptual physics class, which I called 'dissection'. At the
beginning of the school year, I'd send home a note to all the students'
families, asking if they ever had an appliance or device that was broken
and they were going to throw away, to instead send that in to me. Over the
year I would accumulate computers, kitchen appliances, TVs, VCRs, hair
dryers, cameras etc. Then near the end of the year, we'd spend a few days
taking all these things apart. The kids loved it (some had never used a
screwdrivers) and we would discuss how the various things works:
mechanics, thermodynamics, electrical/electronic, energy storage, optics.
Some items you have to be careful about from a safety perspective, notably
TVs that can store a lethal charge for some time -- make sure it's
discharged! They'd learn how to identify transformers, capacitors, fuses,
etc. and anything useful (fuses, gears, springs, speakers, lenses, even
screws, bolts and washers) I'd have them pull out to add to our stockroom.
At the end, I'd have a "lab practical" quiz just like biology classes
often do, where I'd have them ID parts. I thought this was a great way to
tie the theoretical with the practical, make physics relevant to their
everyday lives, review a year's worth of learning, and hopefully remind
them of some physics occasionally when they use these things in the future.

If you're trying to do this at the last minute, you might have to scrounge
around for things to take apart. Try the local dump, perhaps?

Jeff

Jeffrey R. Regester 781-283-2708
Whitin Observatory jregester@wellesley.edu
Wellesley College fax 781-283-3667
Wellesley MA 02481 www.wellesley.edu/Astronomy