Physics is Phun !

This section is intended for my physics teacher colleagues, but all are welcome to browse.
An aritst, a writer, a mathematician and a physicist where travelling together on a train in Scotland. The artist looked out the window and saw a lamb grazing on a hill side, and exclaimed, "all the sheep in Scotland are black!" The writer responded, "no, only some of the sheep in Scotland are black." The mathematician chimed in, "no, you only know that one sheep in Scotland is black." Then the physicist said, "actually, my friends, all we really know, is that one sheep in Scotland is black on one side, some of the time!"

"Creation of the Universe"

This is without a doubt, the finest science/physics video ever produced! If you are a science teacher, and you haven't seen this program, you are missing an extremely enriching experience. I love this film. One of my missions in life is to get physics teachers who haven't seen this film to see it. It is still available for $19.95! It is hosted by Timothy Ferris, an award-winning science writer and communicator. To get you to see it, I'll send you a copy of the first 25 minutes so you can see for yourself how good it is. I have some extra copies of the Teacher's Guide (10 pages), and the Student Handout (8 pages) that was available when it first aired on PBS. Check out the details to get yours! Even better, why not have a Physics Party! with your class and show it then!
To my mind there must at the bottom of it all be an utterly simple idea. And to me that idea, when we finally discover it, will be so compelling, so inevitable, so beautiful, that we will all say to each other, 'Oh, how could it have been otherwise?'" -- John Archibald Wheeler

Probably the most exciting aspect of physics today is the worldwide race to develop a unified field theory--a single, elegantly simple expression of reality that will explain the working of the entire universe, form the wheeling of galaxies to the quantum jumps of electrons.... (from the Teacher's Guide.)

"Physics History" from C.E.R.N.

 Here it is! Some of the original film from one of the premier atom smashers on earth. One day while attending an O.A.P.T. (Ontario Association of Physics Teachers) meeting at Carlton University in Ottawa, professor Peter Watson mentioned that he had some rolls of old C.E.R.N. film. I thought it would be fun to make this available to physics teachers. When you get to the section in your text on nuclear physics and your students see the pictures of the tracks left by the "flying pieces", pull out a ten foot piece of the real thing, and pass around a frame for every student to see "up close and personal"! I have enough for the first 100 teachers who e-mail me! I'll also send along a wonderful two page explanation that Cliff Swartz wrote as his editorial for the January '92 issue of "The Physics Teacher", titled, "Seeing Atoms - Believing is Seeing" suitable as a class handout.

Physics Demos! Everybody loves a good demonstration!

 Here is a collection of demos that I have used over the years and they all work! Browse around... you might see something that's new to you. None of the physics is new, but everyone puts a spin on demos that make them unique. I hope you find something you can use.

My Three MAGIC physics words.

 Here is a secret weapon that you can keep ready for one of those dull days when your students need a motivational boost. When you've just handed back a test with a wide range of results, and you're going over one of the tougher problems, and you hear that plaintive cry from the back of the room, "but you didn't teach us that!" With a twinkle in my eye, I launch into my little "Tom Peters - Pursuit of Excellence" routine. Here's what I tell 'em...

Make yourself a pair of TUNA-PHONES!©

Here is an extension on the "world's simplest speaker" demo. It's a lot of fun, simple, cheap, and they work! Your students can make their own. Just click the picture :-)

More fun stuff ....

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