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United States24761 Posts
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steal stuff from my old physics teacher, hes awesome, for more info you can pm me
warning massive amounts of climate denial
actually scratch that
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Wait, you're a high school physics teacher? WTF?
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United States24761 Posts
Useless! Now I have to throw a bowling ball out the window and say 'that is projectile motion'
+ Show Spoiler +Don't worry I am done making the lesson lol
On October 29 2008 11:56 Faronel wrote:
Wait, you're a high school physics teacher? WTF?
JESUS CHRIST HOW CAN THIS BE
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Make StarCraft analogies and fail them if they don't understand.
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in schafer's class we're building a contraption to press a 'that was easy' button. it's awesome.
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hey we're not little children! 
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One experiment which I remember from those years involved a competition among the class. People would break into groups of two and each was given a 45° triangle bit, a big, rather floppy spring, ruler, and newton meter. The teacher had a box at the front of the class and everyone had to first analyse their spring to determine the spring constant and then to use the 45° triangle thing, along with the mass of the spring, to try to fire their spring into the box at the front of the class. It's a great experiment because it draws on gravity, springs, projectile motion - a few concepts have to work together for it to work out. Making it competitive helps to motivate the students into outdoing their peers - makes it fun.
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United States24761 Posts
Well without TL's help the lesson was a major success XD
On October 30 2008 03:04 jgad wrote:
One experiment which I remember from those years involved a competition among the class. People would break into groups of two and each was given a 45° triangle bit, a big, rather floppy spring, ruler, and newton meter. The teacher had a box at the front of the class and everyone had to first analyse their spring to determine the spring constant and then to use the 45° triangle thing, along with the mass of the spring, to try to fire their spring into the box at the front of the class. It's a great experiment because it draws on gravity, springs, projectile motion - a few concepts have to work together for it to work out. Making it competitive helps to motivate the students into outdoing their peers - makes it fun.
Hm interesting activity. You have to trust the kids not to shoot springs into their own eyes though :o
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Why? What better way to learn than through trial and error? 
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17053 Posts
Ugh.
You could've rigged up a cannon of sorts to a dropped object and demonstrated that the only acceleration in the vertical direction was 'g'. You could've shown that if you aim the cannon at the object and shoot/drop the object at the same time, you'd hit it. It's how shooters do it in competitive shooting.
We killed Gumby so many times that one day in introductory physics. Especially since my lecturer (Werner Tornow...you might hvae heard of him. Director of TUNL for a while) has a heavy German accent and started the demonstration off with "NOW HOW DO WE CALL THIS CREATURE?!?!"
XD
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United States24761 Posts
On October 30 2008 07:58 Empyrean wrote:
Ugh.
You could've rigged up a cannon of sorts to a dropped object and demonstrated that the only acceleration in the vertical direction was 'g'. You could've shown that if you aim the cannon at the object and shoot/drop the object at the same time, you'd hit it. It's how shooters do it in competitive shooting.
We killed Gumby so many times that one day in introductory physics. Especially since my lecturer (Werner Tornow...you might hvae heard of him. Director of TUNL for a while) has a heavy German accent and started the demonstration off with "NOW HOW DO WE CALL THIS CREATURE?!?!"
XD
Monkey Hunter problem would be too advanced 8o
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Can you do all my physics assignments?
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17053 Posts
On October 30 2008 08:19 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On October 30 2008 07:58 Empyrean wrote:
Ugh.
You could've rigged up a cannon of sorts to a dropped object and demonstrated that the only acceleration in the vertical direction was 'g'. You could've shown that if you aim the cannon at the object and shoot/drop the object at the same time, you'd hit it. It's how shooters do it in competitive shooting.
We killed Gumby so many times that one day in introductory physics. Especially since my lecturer (Werner Tornow...you might hvae heard of him. Director of TUNL for a while) has a heavy German accent and started the demonstration off with "NOW HOW DO WE CALL THIS CREATURE?!?!"
XD Monkey Hunter problem would be too advanced 8o
Really? It fits right into
"5.1f The path of a projectile is the result of the simultaneous effect of the horizontal and
vertical components of its motion; these components act independently."
and it's a standard problem for introductory physics courses.
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So, what happens if everyone in your class does not get a b+ or above? Do you get fired?
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United States24761 Posts
On October 30 2008 09:03 Empyrean wrote:Show nested quote +On October 30 2008 08:19 micronesia wrote:On October 30 2008 07:58 Empyrean wrote:
Ugh.
You could've rigged up a cannon of sorts to a dropped object and demonstrated that the only acceleration in the vertical direction was 'g'. You could've shown that if you aim the cannon at the object and shoot/drop the object at the same time, you'd hit it. It's how shooters do it in competitive shooting.
We killed Gumby so many times that one day in introductory physics. Especially since my lecturer (Werner Tornow...you might hvae heard of him. Director of TUNL for a while) has a heavy German accent and started the demonstration off with "NOW HOW DO WE CALL THIS CREATURE?!?!"
XD Monkey Hunter problem would be too advanced 8o Really? It fits right into "5.1f The path of a projectile is the result of the simultaneous effect of the horizontal and vertical components of its motion; these components act independently." and it's a standard problem for introductory physics courses.
It's a somewhat advanced application (relatively speaking). AP students would surely be exposed to that.
On October 30 2008 09:33 Hippopotamus wrote:
So, what happens if everyone in your class does not get a b+ or above? Do you get fired?
Well it's not about their grade for the year as much as their grade on the state-wide exam. But, if not enough students pass, then it definitely can cause the teacher to get fired (my five or so predecessors have been fired sequentially for that very reason)
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17053 Posts
On October 30 2008 09:55 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On October 30 2008 09:03 Empyrean wrote:On October 30 2008 08:19 micronesia wrote:On October 30 2008 07:58 Empyrean wrote:
Ugh.
You could've rigged up a cannon of sorts to a dropped object and demonstrated that the only acceleration in the vertical direction was 'g'. You could've shown that if you aim the cannon at the object and shoot/drop the object at the same time, you'd hit it. It's how shooters do it in competitive shooting.
We killed Gumby so many times that one day in introductory physics. Especially since my lecturer (Werner Tornow...you might hvae heard of him. Director of TUNL for a while) has a heavy German accent and started the demonstration off with "NOW HOW DO WE CALL THIS CREATURE?!?!"
XD Monkey Hunter problem would be too advanced 8o Really? It fits right into "5.1f The path of a projectile is the result of the simultaneous effect of the horizontal and vertical components of its motion; these components act independently." and it's a standard problem for introductory physics courses. It's a somewhat advanced application (relatively speaking). AP students would surely be exposed to that. Show nested quote +On October 30 2008 09:33 Hippopotamus wrote:
So, what happens if everyone in your class does not get a b+ or above? Do you get fired? Well it's not about their grade for the year as much as their grade on the state-wide exam. But, if not enough students pass, then it definitely can cause the teacher to get fired (my five or so predecessors have been fired sequentially for that very reason)
What a stupid concept. If students don't perform well enough to standards, then it's pretty much their fault. You could always just curve the course. Hell, the class average on our last physics midterm was 63.5. If the school fires teachers because students aren't getting the grades they want, then the school's only hurting the students by not preparing them for college.
Seriously. There shouldn't be fixed, arbitrary numbers that are invariant and independent of the exams that determine grades. Why should the teacher make tests that always attempt to conform to the same "objective" difficulty? You shouldn't be forced to make sure that all tests basically have the same average. And distribution of scores? Another problem. I honestly can't believe that schools that that ridiculous policy that ties your hands so much.
(and as an aside, I got a 94 on that exam. -smug look-  ...of course, by saying that, I just jinxed myself. I'm bound to fail the next one now )
EDIT: And your state has state-wide exams in physics? I think that's actually pretty cool. I only had state-wide math/English exams and to be honest, they were pretty stupid. I think requiring every student to have at least a basic grasp of physics is a great idea.
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United States24761 Posts
On October 30 2008 10:09 Empyrean wrote:Show nested quote +On October 30 2008 09:55 micronesia wrote:On October 30 2008 09:03 Empyrean wrote:On October 30 2008 08:19 micronesia wrote:On October 30 2008 07:58 Empyrean wrote:
Ugh.
You could've rigged up a cannon of sorts to a dropped object and demonstrated that the only acceleration in the vertical direction was 'g'. You could've shown that if you aim the cannon at the object and shoot/drop the object at the same time, you'd hit it. It's how shooters do it in competitive shooting.
We killed Gumby so many times that one day in introductory physics. Especially since my lecturer (Werner Tornow...you might hvae heard of him. Director of TUNL for a while) has a heavy German accent and started the demonstration off with "NOW HOW DO WE CALL THIS CREATURE?!?!"
XD Monkey Hunter problem would be too advanced 8o Really? It fits right into "5.1f The path of a projectile is the result of the simultaneous effect of the horizontal and vertical components of its motion; these components act independently." and it's a standard problem for introductory physics courses. It's a somewhat advanced application (relatively speaking). AP students would surely be exposed to that. On October 30 2008 09:33 Hippopotamus wrote:
So, what happens if everyone in your class does not get a b+ or above? Do you get fired? Well it's not about their grade for the year as much as their grade on the state-wide exam. But, if not enough students pass, then it definitely can cause the teacher to get fired (my five or so predecessors have been fired sequentially for that very reason) What a stupid concept. If students don't perform well enough to standards, then it's pretty much their fault. You could always just curve the course. Hell, the class average on our last physics midterm was 63.5. If the school fires teachers because students aren't getting the grades they want, then the school's only hurting the students by not preparing them for college. Seriously. There shouldn't be fixed, arbitrary numbers that are invariant and independent of the exams that determine grades. Why should the teacher make tests that always attempt to conform to the same "objective" difficulty? You shouldn't be forced to make sure that all tests basically have the same average. And distribution of scores? Another problem. I honestly can't believe that schools that that ridiculous policy that ties your hands so much. (and as an aside, I got a 94 on that exam. -smug look- ...of course, by saying that, I just jinxed myself. I'm bound to fail the next one now ) EDIT: And your state has state-wide exams in physics? I think that's actually pretty cool. I only had state-wide math/English exams and to be honest, they were pretty stupid. I think requiring every student to have at least a basic grasp of physics is a great idea.
If all the students were reasonably prepared for the course and motivated to pass, then that wouldn't be that big of a deal. But, when many of the students are being forced to take physics against their will, and are being told they are not allowed to drop the course even though they don't need it to meet any requirement for graduation, and they don't care if they pass or fail (in some cases) then it becomes tricky. I end up having to choose between 'drill and kill' or 'interesting and canned'
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17053 Posts
On October 30 2008 10:46 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On October 30 2008 10:09 Empyrean wrote:On October 30 2008 09:55 micronesia wrote:On October 30 2008 09:03 Empyrean wrote:On October 30 2008 08:19 micronesia wrote:On October 30 2008 07:58 Empyrean wrote:
Ugh.
You could've rigged up a cannon of sorts to a dropped object and demonstrated that the only acceleration in the vertical direction was 'g'. You could've shown that if you aim the cannon at the object and shoot/drop the object at the same time, you'd hit it. It's how shooters do it in competitive shooting.
We killed Gumby so many times that one day in introductory physics. Especially since my lecturer (Werner Tornow...you might hvae heard of him. Director of TUNL for a while) has a heavy German accent and started the demonstration off with "NOW HOW DO WE CALL THIS CREATURE?!?!"
XD Monkey Hunter problem would be too advanced 8o Really? It fits right into "5.1f The path of a projectile is the result of the simultaneous effect of the horizontal and vertical components of its motion; these components act independently." and it's a standard problem for introductory physics courses. It's a somewhat advanced application (relatively speaking). AP students would surely be exposed to that. On October 30 2008 09:33 Hippopotamus wrote:
So, what happens if everyone in your class does not get a b+ or above? Do you get fired? Well it's not about their grade for the year as much as their grade on the state-wide exam. But, if not enough students pass, then it definitely can cause the teacher to get fired (my five or so predecessors have been fired sequentially for that very reason) What a stupid concept. If students don't perform well enough to standards, then it's pretty much their fault. You could always just curve the course. Hell, the class average on our last physics midterm was 63.5. If the school fires teachers because students aren't getting the grades they want, then the school's only hurting the students by not preparing them for college. Seriously. There shouldn't be fixed, arbitrary numbers that are invariant and independent of the exams that determine grades. Why should the teacher make tests that always attempt to conform to the same "objective" difficulty? You shouldn't be forced to make sure that all tests basically have the same average. And distribution of scores? Another problem. I honestly can't believe that schools that that ridiculous policy that ties your hands so much. (and as an aside, I got a 94 on that exam. -smug look- ...of course, by saying that, I just jinxed myself. I'm bound to fail the next one now ) EDIT: And your state has state-wide exams in physics? I think that's actually pretty cool. I only had state-wide math/English exams and to be honest, they were pretty stupid. I think requiring every student to have at least a basic grasp of physics is a great idea. If all the students were reasonably prepared for the course and motivated to pass, then that wouldn't be that big of a deal. But, when many of the students are being forced to take physics against their will, and are being told they are not allowed to drop the course even though they don't need it to meet any requirement for graduation, and they don't care if they pass or fail (in some cases) then it becomes tricky. I end up having to choose between 'drill and kill' or 'interesting and canned'
That's depressing...though I'm not sure I know what you by canned.
Are there accelerated courses you could be teaching?
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United States24761 Posts
On October 30 2008 10:57 Empyrean wrote:Show nested quote +On October 30 2008 10:46 micronesia wrote:On October 30 2008 10:09 Empyrean wrote:On October 30 2008 09:55 micronesia wrote:On October 30 2008 09:03 Empyrean wrote:On October 30 2008 08:19 micronesia wrote:On October 30 2008 07:58 Empyrean wrote:
Ugh.
You could've rigged up a cannon of sorts to a dropped object and demonstrated that the only acceleration in the vertical direction was 'g'. You could've shown that if you aim the cannon at the object and shoot/drop the object at the same time, you'd hit it. It's how shooters do it in competitive shooting.
We killed Gumby so many times that one day in introductory physics. Especially since my lecturer (Werner Tornow...you might hvae heard of him. Director of TUNL for a while) has a heavy German accent and started the demonstration off with "NOW HOW DO WE CALL THIS CREATURE?!?!"
XD Monkey Hunter problem would be too advanced 8o Really? It fits right into "5.1f The path of a projectile is the result of the simultaneous effect of the horizontal and vertical components of its motion; these components act independently." and it's a standard problem for introductory physics courses. It's a somewhat advanced application (relatively speaking). AP students would surely be exposed to that. On October 30 2008 09:33 Hippopotamus wrote:
So, what happens if everyone in your class does not get a b+ or above? Do you get fired? Well it's not about their grade for the year as much as their grade on the state-wide exam. But, if not enough students pass, then it definitely can cause the teacher to get fired (my five or so predecessors have been fired sequentially for that very reason) What a stupid concept. If students don't perform well enough to standards, then it's pretty much their fault. You could always just curve the course. Hell, the class average on our last physics midterm was 63.5. If the school fires teachers because students aren't getting the grades they want, then the school's only hurting the students by not preparing them for college. Seriously. There shouldn't be fixed, arbitrary numbers that are invariant and independent of the exams that determine grades. Why should the teacher make tests that always attempt to conform to the same "objective" difficulty? You shouldn't be forced to make sure that all tests basically have the same average. And distribution of scores? Another problem. I honestly can't believe that schools that that ridiculous policy that ties your hands so much. (and as an aside, I got a 94 on that exam. -smug look- ...of course, by saying that, I just jinxed myself. I'm bound to fail the next one now ) EDIT: And your state has state-wide exams in physics? I think that's actually pretty cool. I only had state-wide math/English exams and to be honest, they were pretty stupid. I think requiring every student to have at least a basic grasp of physics is a great idea. If all the students were reasonably prepared for the course and motivated to pass, then that wouldn't be that big of a deal. But, when many of the students are being forced to take physics against their will, and are being told they are not allowed to drop the course even though they don't need it to meet any requirement for graduation, and they don't care if they pass or fail (in some cases) then it becomes tricky. I end up having to choose between 'drill and kill' or 'interesting and canned' That's depressing...though I'm not sure I know what you by canned. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=canned
Are there accelerated courses you could be teaching?
Yes there is also AP. Currently I do the regular and the other teacher does AP, but we can swap around in the future. Also, I have some much better classes this year in terms of motivation/behavior/interest, even if their base skills are still weak overall.
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EPT
