Quite often I come across a site that looks interesting, but I just don’t have the time to explore it in depth at that moment. And so I bookmark it in my favourites ‘to investigate’ file, and it waits until I find a few extra moments in my life. Quite often that file sits waiting for weeks, and sometimes even months. I recently found a moment or two, and so I scrolled through the websites that have been patiently waiting to be explored. I found a gem.
It is called Physics & Physical Science Demos, Labs, & Projects for High School Teachers. It is a blog of lessons, activities, experiments, assessment ideas, resource sites, and so much more. As I am a middle school teacher, my first thought was that as good as this site might be, I may not find anything for my particular needs. Thankfully, I was mistaken. There is plenty on the site for high school teachers, however there are many lessons and activities that are relevant for my curriculum, as well.
There are various ways to search this site. When you scroll down the right sidebar, you will find ‘The 10 Most Popular Posts’, which I did look through. Scroll a little further down, beyond the recent posts and comments, and you will find a category listing. I found this search tool to be most helpful. Even further down you can find an archive and tag list.
I spent most of my time on the physical science section, and in just a few moments I found a few posts that made my search worthwhile. They are the following:
100 Incredible /Amazing Physics/Science/Teaching Videos
This post links to 2 great sites – both of which highlight some incredible videos that will either teach you, or teach your students.
In this post the author describes how he allowed students to each pose one science question, and he was amazed by the calibre of questions that were raised.
Pulley Lab – Mechanical Advantage
Perhaps I liked this post because it is very relevant for me right now. I am currently teaching mechanical advantage to my grade 8 students, and so the timing was impeccable.
Introducing the Scientific Method
In this post the author describes a great way to introduce, or reintroduce, the scientific method.
Under his welcome note, there was a call for contributors for either original postings or comments on his ideas. Thus far, I have only been bold enough to write on my own site, and the thought of going beyond my own WordPress walls seems daunting. But two years ago I could never have imagined writing for any audience, and yet here I am. And so I realize that anything can happen.
