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! :-)

Repurposing

In a talk that Punya Mishra gave at Interlochen Arts Academy back in April of this year, he stated "Only repurposing makes technology educational." I fell in love with the word repurposing for I think it allows the use of technology to be malleable enough to fit each educator's pedagogical immediate objectives and long term goals.

Here is an example of repurposing in action [Note: I used this repurposing scheme long before Dr. Mishra's presentation and this is why the terminology resonated with me.]

Eye Chart Pro for iPad on the iTunes App Store is a cool app that eye doctors may use and so would laymen as a an eye chart for what it was set for. But, here is how I used it in my Physix classes. 

Students doubt that the image of an object is behind a plan mirror at a distance equal to the distance of the object from the mirror. So, I fire the app, ask volunteers to read the chart that is set at the same level as the mirror and keep moving away until a certain line of letters is barely discernible to the volunteer. I then set the iPad next to the volunteer's face and turn the iPad to face the mirror, randomize the letters (a nifty function of the said app), engage the mirror mode of the app (cool feature also), and then ask the volunteer who is still standing at the same distance away from the mirror to read the most recent and barely discernible row of letters displayed by the app. The reaction has always been cool to say the least. Repurposing in this case made a medical app a Physix app! How cool is that?

Share your repurposing Coolisms in the comments. Thank you