This post describes a project that follows the Energy… Part 2 unit. If you haven’t read about that (new!) unit yet, this post will probably be confusing. This project was created in collaboration with Allie Boyd at the Energy & Equity summer workshop (link takes you to the portal; find the current workshop info through links on… Read More Your Own Energy Story Mini Project
It is impossible to separate science from the sociopolitical. As I think about updating my courses this summer, this idea is one that I keep coming back to and wanting to find additional ways to make explicit in my classes. Last summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the Energy & Equity summer… Read More Energy… Part 2 — Science is Sociopolitical
In November, I tried this lesson (below) in my 10th grade physics classes. I’ve joined an “anti-bias task force” at my school made up of teachers from all divisions (lower, middle, and high school) who are looking at their curriculum and implementing lessons or other changes to work on removing bias and improving what and… Read More Values and Beliefs about Doing Science and Physics Class
One new change to my intro physics class this past school year was to replace the set of FBD practice problems with a card sort that would be done in groups. The card sort gives students a chance to practice FBDs with some scaffolding (especially choosing between options rather than creating everything from scratch), and… Read More Force Diagrams — A Card Sort
In my Physics 10 update/upgrades, I built a new paradigm investigation for the Constant Acceleration Particle Model. The activity described here gets at the same things as my older activity, but it allows groups to do the investigation rather than the entire class together, and it gives more structure and space to the discussion. The… Read More Building the Constant Acceleration Particle Model (New Paradigm Investigation)
After the success of my balanced forces problem-set-replacing mini lab practicum stations, I wanted to design a similar activity for my unbalanced forces unit. One might think that this would be more challenging (or even impossible) to do since these stations need to involve objects with changing velocities (so the handy flip-up index cards wouldn’t… Read More Problem Solving Lab Stations for Unbalanced Forces
In refreshing the design of my 10th grade Physics course, one thing I have been attempting to do is find new ways to replace worksheets or problem sets with different sorts of activities, especially ones that promote more group work and discourse within groups. (See kinematics card sort, momentum card sort.) For my Balanced Forces… Read More Problem Solving Lab Stations for Balanced Forces
After my first card sort activity, I was eager to design more. Quick heads up—this card sort is VERY different from the kinematics one that I designed. Some Inspiration I had this tweet from Brian Frank in mind as I started to work on my revised packet for the Momentum Transfer Model. Leaning toward trying… Read More Multiple Representations of Momentum Transfer — The Card Sort
I’ve been making major updates and changes to my materials in the intro physics course this year. It is the first year we are teaching a yearlong physics class to everyone (10th graders) in my school as the result of a big curriculum redesign in science, and the first time back to teaching a course… Read More Stacks of Kinematics Curves as a Card Sort
One of the best things about my current school is that the students push me to rethink practices that I’ve taken for granted in the past. They even push me to rethink practices that I’ve put lots of effort and intention into developing, like my final exams. “Can we have a group test?” I’m in… Read More “Can we have a group test?” Alternative Assessments in Science Classes (Part 1)
Physics! Blog! 