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High school physics course notes, with JavaScript simulations

landgreen.github.io

21–30 of 66 posts

Re: High school physics course notes, with JavaScript simulations

#24
Congratulations! These look really nice! If you wanted to make them more useful and inspiring to other teachers, it would be wonderful to pair them with an essay on how they can be used effectively in class. Do students use them to explore, like microworlds? Do you use them during classroom discussions, for posing hypotheses or consolidating several ideas? Do students use them as evidence during debates? Do students get used to having these and think up others they wish they had? Do they become touchstones students use to remind themselves of something they previously understood?

Supporting social practices is an important part of a technology--folks without experience in schools (or informal learning environments) sometimes picture educational technologies being used alone in a vacuum, the mooc high school. I'm pretty hopeful about using educational technologies to help teachers grow their teaching practices.

Re: High school physics course notes, with JavaScript simulations

#26
post #15

I had outlandishly good access to a solid physics curriculum in high school, because (a) I had a teacher who cared deeply about his students and (b) I attended a new and well-funded charter school that had funds to throw at materials. For all that, our books were still, well, books: dry, static, and squinty-small print. This approach to teacher's notes (and the obvious care that went into it) would've changed my appr…

Had the same thing at my public school. The physics teacher was a physics prof who wanted to do something more chill during the back 9 of his life.

Re: High school physics course notes, with JavaScript simulations

#28
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What did you use to make the static diagrams, for example on the Newton's Laws page? https://landgreen.github.io/physics/notes/force/1-intro/inde...

The svg is simple and the coordinates are round numbers, so they were probably hand-written: m F F F

Yep I enjoy hand writing the SVG, it makes recycling sections a bit easier.

Re: High school physics course notes, with JavaScript simulations

#29

I love the circuit simulation that shows the field. I've never seen that before and its super neat. Its cool how you can see what looks like random electrons occasionally flying off and coming in from outside the 'wires' as well.

That's my favorite simulation so far, but I also like the one on wave propagation.

Re: High school physics course notes, with JavaScript simulations

#30

Congratulations! These look really nice! If you wanted to make them more useful and inspiring to other teachers, it would be wonderful to pair them with an essay on how they can be used effectively in class. Do students use them to explore, like microworlds? Do you use them during classroom discussions, for posing hypotheses or consolidating several ideas? Do students use them as evidence during debates? Do students…

Good idea, I'll add in a section for teachers over the summer. I might link to some of the labs and worksheets.
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