Describes the Capacitor-Aided System for Teaching and Learning Electricity (CASTLE) project which is a high school electricity curriculum developed by high school and college physics teachers. The project is motivated by research on students' conceptual difficulties in electricity. The instructional materials developed allow students to challenge…

Critiques the Capacitor-Aided System for Teaching and Learning Electricity (CASTLE) curriculum. Criticism is made of the model's use of a compressible-fluid model to demonstrate charge conduction. An alternative model is proposed. (ZWH)

Describes high-speed photographic methods used to demonstrate that the tip of a snapped towel does break the sound barrier. (ZWH)

Describes the use of chromatic musical instrument tuners to make frequency measurements of sound waves and as an exercise in the conversion of pitch to frequency. (ZWH)

Discusses a study designed to investigate pupils' conceptions about fluids and particularly liquids in equilibrium, with reference to the concept of pressure. Based upon the results obtained, several mental models of how pupils understand liquids in equilibrium were proposed. (ZWH)

Discusses evaluation methods applicable to exploratory research areas, provides an overview of qualitative and formative methods for exploratory research on intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) and describes an exploratory study in ITS knowledge acquisition which involved working with three educators to build an ITS for high school physics.…

Describes an activity, bungee jumping, that is fun and effective in illustrating energy transformation. The activity incorporates biology, physics, and calculus into one unit. (ZWH)

A variety of examples are given from different areas of biology to illustrate the general applicability of matrix algebra to discrete models. These models of biological systems are concerned with relations between processes occurring in discrete time intervals. Diffusion, ecosystems, and different types of cells are modeled. (KR/Author)

Described is a baton that consists of an unbreakable transparent tube with three inserted light-emitting diodes (LED) and terminal impact buffers that hold batteries and counterweights. The concepts of projectile motion and parabolic paths can be shown by analyzing the path of a thrown baton. (KR)

Discussed is how a high school physics class designed and built a human-powered hovercraft. (KR)

An activity in which students compare the sun's brightness with that of a light bulb of known luminosity (in watts) to determine the luminosity of the sun is presented. As an extension, the luminosity value that the student obtains for the sun can also be used to estimate the sun's surface temperature. (KR)

An activity in which students practice vector addition and interact with every other student in class is described. Directions for playing the game and a copy of the vector name tag needed to play the game are included. (KR)

Two computer-generated star charts that can be used as overlay transparencies to show an expanding universe are presented. Directions on how to use the star charts to determine the Hubble constant and the age of the universe are provided. (KR)

The effect of background color on the perception of color by students is discussed. Explanations on why students only see certain colors when viewing colored marks on a blackboard through different color filters are provided. (KR)

Described is a situation where students are allowed to enlist the aid of a computer graphing program to produce graphs for their lab reports. (KR)