Some may recall the article done a while back (actually there are three) on the Science teacher, Steve Dickie, from Dearborn Michigan, who is using some very clever Internet and other technology in teaching physics to High School students.
He’s not alone, many teachers are using the Web, but Steve seems very adept and progressive in the things he does. We need to encourage such efforts and help promote them, I believe. Spotlighting them whenever possible is one way, I can help.
He’s involved in a contest on a Website called Instructables.com. I propose that anyone interested in science education would learn a thing or two by visiting this website and do a good turn for a very deserving teacher and help further his educational goals by voting for it.
Note the link to several free, online software programs available for such instructional and personal use. Even the comments to his information page provide links to more free technical PC programs.
He has created several other projects, as you will see by visiting the site yourself.
Vote for his project, please!
Here’s Steve’s description of what “Cheap, Easy Light Probe” is and does:
I teach high school physics and I use a lot of expensive probeware to collect data. The only reason I can do this is my school has been collecting the probes over a number of years, building our collection slowly over time. For those who aren’t science teachers, probeware refers to a collection of interfaces used to connect a variety of sensors to a computer or graphing calculator. These interfaces can allow for real time data collection and graphing or can serve as data-loggers collecting data over time.
Not every school has the ability/money to do probeware based labs, however. So, here is a description of how to create a really simple probe that will allow you to see the fluctuations in light caused by alternating current or see the signal from a TV remote control (as well as do other things I’ll describe in a future Instructable).
Total cost is less than $5, but you need a computer with an oscilloscope program installed.
Visual Analyser – Free oscilloscope program for Windows. http://www.sillanumsoft.com/
Audacity – Can be used as a recording oscilloscope. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
There’s much more on the Instructables.com website. A peek into the Physics Zeigeist area will brighten the outlook of any pessimist who thinks our children are not involved in science projects!
