This activity includes an assessment, analysis, and action tool that can be used by classrooms to promote understanding of how the complex current issues of energy, pollution, supply, and consumption are not just global but also local issues.
The transit of Venus is a rare astronomical event that has been well documented throughout history. The most recent transit occurred in June of 2004, and the one before that took place more than 100 years earlier in 1882. This site from the South African Astronomical Observatory provides information and first-hand observations of the 1882 event from Wellington, South Africa. Just prior to the event, an observatory was erected at the Huguenot Seminary for girls, and some of the historical observations made from that site in 1882 are provided here for your perusal.
An exercise on the effects of flooding that took place in the upper Mississippi River drainage basin in 1993, using before and after satellite images.
This dataset, created by Robin H. Locke of St. Lawrence University, describes 93 new cars for the 1993 model year with 26 variables, including price, mpg ratings, and engine size. It also illustrates a broad range of statistical techniques such as box-whisker plot, confidence intervals, difference in means, one-way ANOVA, contingency table, scatterplot, regression, and correlation. If further research is required the author has included a list of references.
This case study uses a PowerPoint (~1MB) combined with role-playing to present the epidemiology and pathophysiology of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Students learn about the etiology and pathophysiology of the disease, and then argue different health professionals' perspectives on a plan of action for dealing with its consequences. Developed for a pathophysiology course for undergraduates, the case could also be used in a microbiology course or in a course in public or international health.
This case study is based on another case in our collection, The 2000-Meter Row: A Case in Homeostasis, which emphasizes the metabolic, respiratory, and cardiac responses of a young athlete competing in a championship rowing event. In this modified version, the same event is viewed in a new light to explore the psychological ramifications of the stressful sports competition. The case was developed for a mixed undergraduate-graduate course in sport psychology.
The physically demanding sport of competitive rowing is the backdrop for this case about homeostasis in which students follow the physiological changes that occur in an athlete competing in a 2000-meter race. The case was developed for use in a second-year anatomy and physiology course. It would also be appropriate in exercise and sports science classes.
Midterm examination for a class at MIT covering game theory and its applications to economics. The one-hour-and-twenty-minute open book examination asks open ended theoretical questions. The exam contains questions and solutions.
Students are employees of a unit of the United Nations responsible for coordinating disaster relief after a major disaster (the 2004 Asian Earthquake and Tsunami) occurs. The agency needs to understand the situation in each country so that it can coordinate the work of various governments and NGO (nongovernmental organizations) working in the affected area.
This animation highlighting the phases of the Moon was released by the Scientific Visualization Studio at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
This interactive addresses the question if we can reduce CO2 emissions by 20% of 1990 levels and help avoid dangerous climate change? Users of this interactive can manipulate changes to various sources and uses (supply and demand) of energy with the goal of reducing C02 emissions in Great Britain by 80% in the year 2050.
This NOAA visualization on YouTube shows the seasonal variations in sea surface temperatures and ice cover from 1985 to 2007. The visualization is based on data collected by NOAA polar-orbiting satellites. El NiÃo and La NiÃa are easily identified, as are the trends in decreasing polar sea ice.
The University of Minnesota Biocatalysis/Biodegradation Database (UM/BBD) contains "microbial biocatalytic reactions and biodegradation pathways primarily for xenobiotic, chemical compounds." A new microbial enzyme-catalyzed reactions has been posted for 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid. 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) is used in cultivated agricultural areas, rangeland and pastures, forests, and homes or gardens, and is "a chlorinated phenoxy compound [that] functions as a systemic herbicide and is used to control many types of broadleaf weeds." The degradation pathway map includes organisms which can initiate the pathway. The pathway map provides detailed information on each hyperlinked step, including graphics, product/substrate reactions, and external links to further information.
This applet simulates the electric field of many charge distributions, including point charges, line charges, dipoles, cylinders, conducting planes and more. The color can be adjusted for field magnitude or potential. Equipotential or field lines are optional. The field strength and number of particles are adjustable. The field can be displayed as a velocity field or a force field. The description is also available in German.
The EJS 2D Ising model displays a lattice of spins. You can change the lattice size, temperature, and external magnetic field. You can modify this simulation if you have Ejs installed by right-clicking within the plot and selecting “Open Ejs Model” from the pop-up menu item. The 2D-Ising model was created using the Easy Java Simulations (Ejs) modeling tool. It is distributed as a ready-to-run (compiled) Java archive. Double clicking the ejs_stp_Ising2D.jar file will run the program if Java is installed. Ejs is a part of the Open Source Physics Project and is designed to make it easier to access, modify, and generate computer models. Additional Ejs models are available. They can be found by searching ComPADRE for Open Source Physics, OSP, or Ejs.
The applet simulates various vector fields, including spherical, radial, and constant plane. It is a generalized version of an electrostatic field simulation by the same author. The field strength and number of particles simulated are adjustable. Divergence, curl, and potential can be color-coded. Grid lines, potential lines, or streamlines can be displayed. Directions, specific links to the subject and source code are also included.
The Two Micron All Sky Survey at IPAC website provides an image gallery of the solar system's objects, Jupiter's moons, H II regions, star formation regions, and reflection nebulae, open star clusters, globular star cluster, young stellar objects, planetary nebulae, supernova remnants, various IRAS sources, galaxies, as well as galaxy groups and clusters.
On July 14, NASA announced the public release of a huge collection of images (1.9 million) from the Two-Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), the most thorough census of stars ever made. Using two automated, 51-inch telescopes, one in Arizona and the other in Chile, the three-year-old survey has so far taken images of half a million galaxies and 162 million stars. By its completion, the survey's catalogs will contain more than 300 million objects. A sampling of these images has been placed online at the 2MASS site at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) at the California Institute of Technology. The twelve-page gallery contains some amazing images, including the center of the Milky Way, the Sombrero galaxy, the Crab Nebula, and the Dark Nebula, offered as large thumbnails which link to a full-sized image. Users can learn more about 2MASS at the survey's homepages at Caltech and the University of Massachusetts.
Created by David Lane of Rice University, this applet simulates experiments using 2 x 2 contingency tables. You specify the population proportions and the sample size and examine the effects on the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis. The author provides instructions and then five different exercises to practice these concepts. Overall, this is a nice interactive resource that allows users a more hands-on approach to statistics.
This applet simulates the electric field and potential for various charge distributions, including point, line, dipole, spherical and other charges. There is also a simulation, with adjustable speed, of a charge moving close to the speed of light. The field can be displayed as a velocity or force field with particles following field lines, or as field or equipotential lines. The potential and fields can be displayed in 3-D or on a movable 2-D slice. The field strength and number of particles is adjustable, and the charge can be reversed. Source code and directions (also in German) are included.
This applet simulates various magnetic sources, including a line of current, a square loop, a magnetic sphere and a solenoid. Size, number of particles, and field strength are adjustable. Display options include particles in velocity or force fields, field vectors, field lines and potential vectors. The vectors and lines can be displayed in 3D or on a movable 2D slice. Charge can be reversed. Source code and directions are included.
Build your own polygon and transform it in the Cartesian coordinate system. Experiment with reflections across any line, revolving around any line (which yields a 3-D image), rotations about any point, and translations in any direction.
This simulation illustrates a wide range of 3D vector fields, including spherical, radial, and linear. The fields can be displayed as vectors, particle trajectories, equipotentials, and other options. The number of particles, vectors, or streamlines, and the field strength are adjustable. Directions and source code are also included. This is an extension of a 3D Electric and Magnetic Field viewer from the same author.
This java applet is a simulation that demonstrates scalar waves (such as sound waves) in three dimensions. It shows point sources, line sources, and plane waves, and also demonstrates interference between sources.
These zipped documents from MatEd provide information on designing a course on 3 Dimensional Digital Laser Scanning Fundamentals. At the end of the course, students will be able to identify applications for 3 dimensional digital laser scanning, operate a NextEngine brand 3 dimensional digital laser scanner, and have proposed a project to reinforce these concepts. The documents include a draft syllabus, contact information for the author of the course, a sample new course proposal form, and a course outline.
This web site, hosted by the University of Chicago Dept. of Astronomy and Astrophysics, is an image gallery of the Yerkes 40 inch refracting telescope--the largest refractor in the world. It includes views of the telescope, the machinery that turns it, and the observatory building. Links go to other parts of the Yerkes website.
In 1953, Gottfried Moellenstedt invented the electron biprism, more or less by accident, with the serendipity characteristic to him: Aiming at dark-field imaging in an electron microscope, he stretched a thin tungsten wire across the objective aperture to block off the zero beam. However, instead of a dark field image, because of inadvertent charging of the wire under the beam, he found two images of the ZnO-needles serving as an object. Instead of trying the dark field imaging over and over again, he asked what the effect would be if the obtained two images were superimposed. Is coherence given? Moellenstedt, educated by Walther Kossel in diffraction of electron waves, had a vision: Together with his PhD-student Heinrich Dueker, he developed the electron biprism, consisting of a 1 micron m thin wire deliberately chargeable by means of a voltage source, as a beam splitter for coherent superposition of the electron waves passing the filament on the right and on the left. In 1955 they published the first results showing biprism interference fringes [G. Moellenstedt and H. Dueker, Naturwiss. 42, 41 (1955)], which, since then, gave access to the understanding of electron waves and their use for analysis of object structures up to atomic dimensions. Target Audience: 2-4 Year College Faculty/Administrators
The main goal is to understand some basic laser theory and the method of creating a 532 nm (green) laser emission from an 808 nm (IR) laser. In the process you will learn the basics about laser diodes, pumping a gain medium, the purpose of special optical coatings, second harmonic generation, and the electronics / measurement tools for optical characterization. This lab can be constructed for under $1K with some creativity. Having introduced the lab already to students, they found it both interesting and fun to go through. Presented at the 2013 AAPT Summer Meeting in Portland, Oregon. W36: Advanced Labs Workshop
When a pair of scientists first introduced cold nuclear fusion in 1989 as a source of almost limitless energy, the scientific community quickly discredited the experiments. In some venues, these experiments are case studies in faulty scientific investigation. But now a respected scientist at SRI International is doing extensive research on the same process -- with promising results. This 12-minute investigative report by CBS 60 Minutes explores the renewed interest in cold fusion and its implications for society. This resource is available for free online viewing. A four-page text synopsis is also provided. It could be especially useful as a springboard for a lesson on the importance of objectivity in scientific experimentation.
This resource introduces students to the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, the largest area on the continent that is not covered by ice. Materials include a map and some brief facts about Antarctica and the valleys, such as size, location and physical properties (temperature, precipitation and others), and an online journal in which participants in the Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project discuss what it is like to live and work there. The journal entries include descriptions of some of the organisms that inhabit the extreme environments of the valleys, physical features of the valleys, and the strange mummified bodies of animals such as penguins and seals that have been preserved in the cold, dry climate. There is also a glossary of acronyms used in the project and a set of links to other websites with additional information about the Dry Valleys.
The AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science Atlas of Population and Environment is an important analysis of the relationships between human population and the environment. Through text, maps, and diagrams, the Atlas illustrates how population affects the world's ecosystems and natural resources both in the short and long term. Using sophisticated mapping and graphic techniques, the Atlas provides quantitative analyses of the important links between such factors as human population density, rates of growth, migration, resource consumption, and technologies, and the state of the global environment. These links are explored across the content areas of natural resources, land use, the atmosphere, waste and chemicals, ecosystems, and biodiversity. The Atlas draws on research and data from a number of academic institutions and international organizations, including the United Nations, its specialist organizations and agencies; the World Resources Institute; the Center for International Earth Sciences Information Network; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; U.S. Geological Survey; and the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre. The Atlas was produced to provide a concise, science-based compendium of information on the population and environment topics so important to the realization of a sustainable future.
Talk FC06 in the "Computational and Online Tools for Teaching Physics" session highlights the Open Source Physics (OSP) community of educators that engage, enable and empower teachers as learners so that we create DIY technology tools-simulation for inquiry learning. We learn through Web 2 online collaborative means to develop simulations together with reputable physicists through the open source digital library. By examining the open source codes of the simulation through the Easy Java Simulation (EJS) toolkit, we are able make sense of the physics from the computational models created by practicing physicists. We will share newer (2010-present) simulations that we have remixed from existing library of simulations models into suitable learning environments for inquiry of physics. We hope other teachers would find these simulations useful and remix them that suit their own context and contribute back to benefit all humankind, becoming citizens for the world.
This web page provides information and contacts for the New Faculty Workshop hosted by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), in conjunction with the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and the American Physical Society (APS). This annual conference helps new faculty understand how students learn physics and astronomy and suggests how this information can impact a new professor's teaching methods. The workshop is intended for faculty in the first few years of their initial tenure-track appointed at a four-year college or university. Materials from presentations at the 2005 workshop can be downloaded through the "View attached documents" link below.
This web archive contains news, deadlines, updates, and information about the AAPT. The AAPT NEWS is published monthly through the AAPT web site. Each issue appears on or about the 15th of each month. It also features recent news from the worlds of physics and teaching, current promotions and programs, and more.
In this activity from the PTRA Resource Guide "The Role of the Laboratory in Teaching Introductory Physics", students investigate the timing of a traffic light to see if it is appropriately set. This activity provides a real world example of the use of kinematics.
The American Association of Physics Teachers publishes a wide range of curriculum materials, books, instructor manuals, and other materials that can be used for teaching introductory physics.
This tutorial explains some of the techniques developed by astronomers to determine the distances of objects we see in the sky. Links to additional information are embedded in the text.
This site presents graphic plots of solar wind and magnetic field data from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft.
This special feature page from the American Chemical Society (ACS) showcases the up-and-coming field of "green chemistry," that is, the development of chemical products and processes that eliminate or reduce the use and generation of hazardous substances. A list of principles behind green chemistry, a searchable bibliography of green chemistry references, and green chemistry links (including conferences). This page comes from ACS's Green Chemistry Project, a three-year educational project to develop and disseminate green chemistry educational materials for graduate and undergraduate chemistry students.
As the carbon dioxide concentration of our atmosphere increases and our climate warms, the hay fever season seems to be getting longer and more severe. In this case study, students assume the a role of a public relations specialist contracted to communicate the link between climate change and pollen allergies. The activity focuses on the importance of scientific skills to careers outside science, and is most suitable for a lower-level introductory biology, human health, or environmental science course.