Physix in Images 2013-2014

First: I apologize for the lack of activity in my blog.

Second: There were precious moments in Physics (3 sections) & Astronomy (new section) and I thought instead of blabbering about them I should just let some pictures convey the extent of the fun as well as learning.

The Smiles of Pride! :-)

Tip of the Hat to Sir Isaac Newton!

When Physix meets Art; only Coolism ensues! :-)
A Cool Student PhysArt Project

Nothing beats the connectedness between Physix concepts!
Mechanical Systems (spring/mass) in Series/Parallel to contrast with Electrical Systems In Series/Parallel

Students love it when Experts present their work!
Dr. Brian McNamara discusses his work on Supermassive Black Holes & Exploding Galaxies!

Star Gazing Extravaganza wraps up a Cool First Year of Astronomy, look at the wide smiles! :-)

Optics meets Art! Backyard of our classroom with the Physix room acting as a Camera Obscura!

iPad used to generate Motion Diagrams. How cool is that?

Physix of Motion meets Art! iPad used to generate the corresponding Motion Diagram.

Testing Hypotheses about Combinations of Human Electric Generators (Take I)

Testing Hypotheses about Combinations of Human Electric Generators (Take II)

Taking the concept of Combinations of Human Electric Generators to its Ultimate Finale!

Students getting close & personal with Optics, Lens Equation Lab!

Physix meets Art, slide from a student's project presentation!

Physix meets Art (refer to previous image!)

Astronomy Lab on Plasma & Light Spectra, Sweet! :-)

Astronomy class experiencing Motion Diagrams (look closely to see the blue dots!)

Third: I hope the above excite you to share your own cool images from last year of Physics or Astronomy.

Thank you for taking the time to view/read the post and I hope you would be kind to leave some comments.

Thank you and take great care! :-)

Geometry of Number Lines Makes Uncertainties Visible

Introduction:

Uncertainties tend to give students a hard time. So, I decided to approach this vital concept of Physics a bit differently this year by emphasizing the use of number lines as visual aids. This, would enable students, to not deal with uncertainties as pure abstract numbers only, rather they would graph them on number lines to reach better conclusions regarding uncertainties. 

The Nuts & Bolts:

In this experiment, a precursor to the actual Free Fall lab, the students dropped rulers to determine their respective reaction times and then, using their group's collective uncertainty number line (see images below) they decided (as a group) which student should be their stopwatch timer for the subsequent main lab activity. In addition, the students had to provide at least one complete sentence detailing their justification as to why they picked their respective group's timing person.

Following is a sample of my students' initial rough dabbling with such new approach. I am proud of them and the genuine effort they devoted to the activity!

This is Group 3's take on the matter & it is so easy for students to see unusual outcomes this way! Coolism! :-)

This is Group 4's take on the matter. The language is a bit more precise (pun intended) than I have ever had in previous years. The potential of this method is promising! Coolism! :-)

Reflections:

Of course, this visual approach may not be earth shattering but the beauty of it is in the following touches:

1) It makes the invisible, visible! Pedagogically speaking, this should improve understanding.

2) The connection this approach establishes with a math concept (number line) that students would rarely see/use outside of their math class. Physics adds Coolism to math!

3) This approach already seems to offer students a better and slightly more sophisticated way of expressing their thoughts vis-a-vis terms they need to learn to use carefully in their lab analyses such as accuracy, precision, uncertainty.

Coolism Request:

Please, add to the Coolism, by commenting on this approach and suggesting adjustments you would make to allow it to be more useful to our students conceptually speaking. 

In addition, share your own successful approaches so that together we enrich our respective students' experience with the concpet of uncertainties. 

Thank you