The Physics Front - teaching resources for Physics

The Physics Front is a free site that contains teaching resources on Physics and Physical Science. The resources are searchable and are arranged by level: K-8 Physical Science, Physics First, Conceptual Physics, Algebra Based, and AP / Calculus. Resources are then organized by topic.

It's part of the ComPADRE education community resources.

There are lesson plans, links to other resources, technology, links, and other resources to help educators when teaching Physics or Physical Science. It's another great resource to add to your collection.






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MyPhysicsLab - Free Physics Simulations

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Great Physics Resources for Students and Teachers

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SciencePrimer - free site with science resources and activities

SciencePrimer is a free web site that has some great science resources. The site has illustrations (animations with explanations) of concepts, practice questions and problems with hints and solutions, calculators and conversion tools, and a science glossary.

The illustrations are really good. They include interactive animations that let you change different specifications or characteristics, an explanation of the topic, and videos.

This site has some great resources that can help students understand and learn science resources.


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MyPhysicsLab - Free Physics Simulations

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MyPhysicsLab - Free Physics Simulations

MyPhysicsLab is a free site that contains, you guessed it, physics lab simulations. They are simple and created in Java, but illustrate the physics concept quite well. They are organized into topics: springs, pendulums, combinations, collisions, roller coasters, molecules. There is also a section that explains how they work and the math/physics/programming behind creating them.

Simulations are a great way to really explore and visualize a topic. Many times, a simulation is better than a hands-on lab because of the manipulations and visual ques that exist. I use simulations in combination with hands-on labs.

This is another great resource for physics students and teachers to use to explore and learn about physics concepts.

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PhET - excellent, free, virtual labs and simulations for science

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comPADRE - free resources for Physics and Astronomy students and teachers

comPADRE is a great resource for Physics and Astronomy teachers and students. It is a network and collection of free online resources for students and teachers. The collections are organized by Students, Teachers, and Faculty (higher ed). Resources include tutorial sites, games, research, career information, online magazine, teacher lesson resources, and much more.

Here are three collections for teachers, along with two other recommended ones.

There are also community resources where you can connect, collaborate, and share resources and tips with others. One of the resources they have in their collection is one of my favorite for Physics Students - the Physics Classroom. There are many other great resources here too.

If you teach, or take, Physics or Astronomy, or know someone who does, this is a great resource to use and share.


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Physion - free Physics Simulation Software

Physion is free Physics simulation software that can be used by educators to create physics simulations for their class or by students to create physics simulations to explore concepts or as part of a project. The teacher can even create experiments for the students to use in class (virtual labs).

You use the included tools to create physical objects, including gears, and joints (springs and pulleys) that obey the laws of the Physics. It is similar to software I used as an engineer.

Below is a video that shows how it works. It's easy to use and fun. Students can use it to explore all kinds of concepts on their own, as well as using teacher created simulations. It can be used on Windows and Linux OS's. A Mac OS version is in development.





Here is a video showing some of the complex simulations you can create using it:



This is a great resource for physics teachers to create virtual labs and investigations, as well as a tool for students to explore physics concepts and create their own labs. There are also scenes that others have created that you can download and use.

The site has a Wiki and Forums to find help and ideas.

Physion: http://physion.net/


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Simple and easy, but great, Physics Demo's for the classroom

Wired has an article that includes some great, easy, simple Physics demos, with descriptions and videos, that can be used by any teacher to demonstrate some Physics concepts. While the demo's are simple, they really show the concept well and can get students more engaged in the topic.

Demo topics include inertia and momentum, light and color, center of mass and friction, acceleration, fluids, circular motion and more. Each demo has a description, the concept behind it, and how to do it.

Wired is also a great site to follow, with technology, science, gadgets, and more among the topics it covers.




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Little Shop of Physics - great program and resources for education

Little Shop of Physics is a great resource on Physics. It's an outreach program from Colorado State University that won a Google RISE Award. The program teams is a group of science educators and science students based at Colorado State University that help students do science in creative ways.

The site has some great links, experiment and activity ideas and more, including some webinars.

It's great for any science teacher to get some great, creative ideas for teaching science.

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Viscosity Explorer - simple virtual lab on viscosity

Viscosity Explorer is a simple site that allows you to explore the concept of viscosity. It consists of two containers and two steel balls. You select the liquid you want in the container, then drop the ball and observe what happens. You can also change the temperature of the liquid. Students can easily compare the viscosity of two different substances side by side.

It's a great site for science classes, and much faster, cheaper, and less messy than doing this for real. I would, however, want to at least demo the real liquids and pour them from container to container to show how the flow of the fluids is different based on the viscosity.

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Mr. Energy visits my classes and shares some great info

Mr. Energy, aka Gerard Katz, is a former physics teacher who has over 32 years of experience in energy education. He does all kinds of school energy education programs around the country and visited my class last week.

He had contacted me because he was going to be at another school in my district and wanted to come and talk to my physics students. He presented to two of my classes and the students loved him. He's dynamic, energetic, entertaining and highly educational and informative. He even sings to them.

His presentations use live demonstrations, PowerPoint and lots of analogies and relates energy to things the students know. He has different programs, from 45 minutes up to full day programs. He did a great 45 minute presentation for my classes, explaining the concepts of energy, physics behind energy, energy sources, and the future of energy in our world. It is a really great presentation.

The presentation cost us nothing, as Mr. Energy gets his own funding from sources.

His website is The Great American Energy Debate. The site has more information on educational programs, funding, and contact information.

The National Foundation for Energy Education (NFEE) is committed to changing the current energy eduation scene and quadrupling the national level of energy knowledge.  To that end it has developed a unique and entertaining program grounded in science and hinges on student leadership.  The program is The Great American Energy Debate.   Student leaders conduct energy education activities either during the entire school year, or during a month, week, or day.

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Awesome Livebinder of Physics Resources

I recently found this Livebinder of Physics Resources. It has resources, lesson materials and activities, links, and more, all organized by Physics units and topics.

It is well organized with some great resources including video clips from the Mythbusters and other fun resources, simulations, and virtual labs.

It is a great resource for teachers or students, especially for a beginning teacher looking for some help getting their lessons organized and finding resources.

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Livebinders - organize materials in online binders

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