Physics of the Mundane
Weeks XIII - Finals
Assigned Readings:
C Handout: ANo Such Thing as a Dumb Question@ (Sagan)[1]
C Handout: AIntroduction B Recommendations for Science Literacy@ (AAAS)[2]
C Handout: ASelf-confidence and the Process of Conceptual Change@ (Maria)[3]
C Handout: AScience teacher takes the fun and excitement out of scienceA (The Onion)
Schedule:
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Week XIII: 11/22 |
Smoothing out the ripples: Waves debriefed
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Thanksgiving Holiday |
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Week XIV: 11/29 |
Getting a charge out of physics:
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Review of electricity and magnetism:
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Week XV: 12/6 |
What if you were Einstein?
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Debriefing and discussion. Science education: Why and how? Response paper and lab notebooks due! |
Suggested reading response questions (although you are free to address another issue(s)):
As part of your liberal arts education, you are required to take a certain amount of science courses. Why? What should be taught in such science courses, if those who are taking them are not going to be specifically employed as scientists? What are the goals of science courses? Why would it be important to have a society that is Ascientifically literate@?
What should science education look like, if it is to fulfill the goals you might prescribe? How do these contrast/correspond to the views of Sagan, AAAS, or someone else?
Lab problem for the week:
Imagine that you are in a glass box that is moving very very fast – close to the speed of light. With you in the box are two electrons, one just above the other in the palm of your hand. Compare the forces that you observe for the electrons to the forces that your physics instructor observes for the electrons while he is standing on the ground, outside your very very fast glass box. Based on the difference of forces, compare how quickly each observer witnesses the electrons to separate; and based on this, compare the amount of time that each observer measures for the same event. (i.e., Is time the same for each observer, and if not, who measures more time for the same event to occur?)
Final presentation
During our final exam period, you will be presenting your final projects to your peers. This presentation will be relatively informal, yet informative, and should take about 5-10 minutes. With so little time, you should focus on the main thrust of your project, possibly presenting any general conclusions that you could come to. Charts, graphs, demonstrations, etc. are all encouraged. If you need any special presentation equipment (projector, demonstration, cement truck, etc.) please let me know.
[1]Sagan, C. (1996). The Demon-haunted World, (pp. 319-36). New York: Random House.
[2]American Association for the Advancement of Science (1990). Science for All Americans: Project 2061, (pp. xiii-xxiii). New York: Oxford University Press.
[3]Guzzetti, B. & Hynd, C., Eds. (1998). Perspectives on Conceptual Change, (pp. 7-16). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.