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Physics as a Second Language
One of my dorm buddies gifted me his old Physics book so I could see how they teach Physics here in Jordan… in Arabic. I now have even more respect for what my students are doing, learning all this...
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Physics Extra Credit: Rube Goldberg Machine #1
EXPERIMENT: I decided to offer a year end extra credit assignment for my students, an option for which was to make a Rube Goldberg machine. I’m sure you know what it is even if you haven’t heard the...
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Physics Extra Credit: Rube Goldberg Machine #2
A machine to blow out the candles on your birthday cake. The person blowing you hear in the background is because it didn’t exactly work.
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Physics Extra Credit: Rube Goldberg Machine #3
This is my favorite one, really hilarious. This is from two of my absolute favorite students, both of whom have very good (and somewhat devious) senses of humor. I couldn’t post the whole video because...
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Physics Extra Credit: Lightning? Wow is that magic?
And the extra credit hilarity didn’t stop with only the Rube Goldberg machines. One student submitted a report on how lightning works with the following cover page: Points to note: This is from a guy...
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Physics Memories
We do many things during a 45 minute class, but I am always surprised at how little things seem to stick unless you go through a calculated process. When I’m teaching skills and we’re not doing...
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Looking the Part
I often find myself playing the game “If you had told me five years ago that I would __________ I would have _________.” You fill in the first blank with details about your life and then the second...
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My Next Job: Mall Photographer
If this teaching gig ever stops working out, there is one job that I think I would be pretty good at: Mall Kid’s Photographer. Their job is to distract children into smiling while they take pictures of...
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End of the Year Projects
I have found that my best lessons and assignments arise from the shortest questions. To end the year in both Calculus and Physics I had the students do an open ended, investigative project, which is...
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Physics Extra Credit: Rube Goldberg Machines 2011
Just like last year, I decided to offer a year-end extra credit assignment for my students, an option for which was to make a Rube Goldberg machine. I’m sure you know what it is even if you haven’t...
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