Presents a study that took place in an inner-city neighborhood school populated mainly by African American students characterized by poverty. Explores the discourse and practices of students and three co-teachers as a curriculum was enacted to provide opportunities for students to learn about the physics of motion through designing, building, and…

In this article, we will describe the results of a study of 6th grade students learning about the mathematics of change. The students in this study worked with software environments for the computer and the graphing calculator that included a simulation of a moving elevator, linked to a graph of its velocity vs. time. We will describe how the…

Former baseball star Jim Lefebvre (1983) claimed that hitting a baseball may be the most talked about but least understood skill in all of sports. Historically, hitting instruction has been based on intuitive thinking by "hitting gurus," rather than on scientific fact, which has contributed to this lack of understanding (DeRenne, Stellar, &…

We describe a project for calculus and differential equations students involving trajectories of a spacecraft whose propulsion system depends solely on muting gravitational effects of heavenly bodies. In particular, we consider the spacecraft imagined by H. G. Wells, and focus on getting his spacecraft from the Moon to the Earth. Cavorite, angular…

In this pilot study of 16 children, we evaluated the reliability and validity of three accelerometers (Mini-Motionlogger [MML], Computer Science Applications, Inc. Actigraph [CSA], and BioTrainer) as indicators of energy expenditure and vertical ground reaction force. The children wore 2 of each type of monitor while they walked, ran, and…

In light of the established validity of the pendulum as a topic in physics curricula (Matthews 2000), the study looked at the place of pendulum motion in the physics curriculum of the high school in Israel.The data is available through presenting results of the nationwide matriculation examination in its units of Mechanics and Research Laboratory…

General movements (GMs) are part of the spontaneous movement repertoire and are present from early fetal life onwards until the end of the first half a year of life. GMs are complex, occur frequently, and last long enough to be observed properly. They involve the whole body in a variable sequence of arm, leg, neck, and trunk movements. They wax…

A teaching--learning sequence is presented that is designed to help high school pupils gain awareness about the independence of the vertical and horizontal components of free fall motion. The approach we propose is based on the use of experimental activities and computer simulations designed specifically to help pupils reflect on the experiments…

The present study examined continuous and discrete bimanual drumming in response to different instructions in 10 adults with Down syndrome, 10 mental age-matched and 10 chronological age-matched groups. For continuous drumming, participants hit two drums with both hands at the same time following verbal (e.g., "up" and "down"), visual (e.g., video…

The purpose of the present study was to examine whether the teaching of creative movement and improvisation can influence the development of movement synthesis ability. Movement synthesis ability refers to the production of a movement composition. Twenty-five female freshmen, physical education students, participated in the study. They created…

This document presents activities in the physical sciences. Activities are grouped in the following chapters: (1) "Science and Measurement"; (2) "Measurement Units"; (3) "Introduction to Chemistry"; (4) "The Periodic Table"; (5) "What is Inside an Atom?"; (6) "Bonding"; (7) "Formulas and Equations"; (8) "The Bursting Atom"; (9) "Relationships…

Guided by Piaget's constructivist theory on how children learn, this book explores an innovative approach to teaching physical knowledge in preschool. Part 1 differentiates between "science education" and "physical-knowledge" activities, noting that physical-knowledge activities involve primarily movements of objects and changes in objects. This…

Unified Technical Concepts (UTC) is a modular system for teaching applied physics in two-year postsecondary programs. This UTC classroom textbook, consisting of 14 chapters, deals with physics for technicians. Addressed in the individual chapters of the guide are the following topics: force, work, rate, momentum, resistance, power, potential and…

The organization of behavioral episodes can be described at two levels: the physical level of movement and sound and the phenomenal level of action. Social perception theory and research generally operates at a phenomenal level of behavioral description. Movement and sound traditionally have been considered inadequately structured to provide much…

Explains a process wherein students construct a flickerbook that can simulate both transverse and longitudinal wave motion and can be used to demonstrate the relationship between velocity and frequency for constant wavelength. (GS)