This is a companion to our previous paper in which we give a published example, based primarily on Perry's work, of a graph of ln "y" versus "t" when "y" is an exponential function of "t". This work led us to the idea that Lord Kelvin's (William Thomson's) estimate of the Earth's age was…

Friction is an important phenomenon in everyday life. All children are familiar with playground slides, which may thus be a good starting point for investigating friction. Motion on an inclined plane is a standard physics example. This paper presents an investigation of friction by a group of 11-year olds. How did they plan their investigations?…

Theory predicts that an egg-shaped body should rest in stable equilibrium when on its side, balance vertically in metastable equilibrium on its broad end and be completely unstable on its narrow end. A homogeneous solid egg made from wood, clay or plastic behaves in this way, but a real egg will not stand on either end. It is shown that this…

In past issues of this journal, the late H. R. Crane wrote a long series of articles under the running title of "How Things Work." In them, Dick dealt with many questions that physics teachers asked themselves, but did not have the time to answer. This article is my attempt to work through the physics of the crystal set, which I thought…

The Gravity-Powered Calculator is an exhibit of the Exploratorium in San Francisco. It is presented by its American creators as an amazing device that extracts the square roots of numbers, using only the force of gravity. But if you analyze his concept construction one can not help but recall the research of Galileo on falling bodies, the inclined…

We describe the main principles of the framework theory approach to conceptual change and briefly report on the results of a text comprehension study that investigated some of the hypotheses that derive from it. We claim that children construct a naive physics which is based on observation in the context of lay culture and which forms a relatively…

Much has been written and debated about the Coriolis force. Unfortunately, this has done little to demystify the paradoxes surrounding this fictitious force invoked by an observer in a rotating frame of reference. It is the purpose of this article to make another valiant attempt to slay the dragon of the Coriolis force! This will be done without…

Physics offers a cross-discipline perspective to understanding other subjects. The purpose of this paper is to provide examples of physics in literature that physics and astronomy teachers can use to give students an indication of the relevance of science as depicted in the humanities. It is not possible to cite the thousands of examples…

This research is driven due to significant role of textbooks possessed in a country. The purpose of this study is to analyse the Malaysian Form Two Science textbook as this learning tool may acts as one of the reason that affects national Science education. The textbook was analysed based on content element adapted from Florida University…

Student grades and motivational outcomes in introductory physics courses can influence their retention in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines and future career aspirations. We surveyed students in mandatory large introductory level algebra-based physics courses for bioscience majors at a large research university. The…

Background: There is widespread agreement that participation in post-compulsory physics needs to be widened and increased, particularly among women and under-represented communities. This paper contributes to understanding of the processes that produce unequal participation, Methods: The paper undertakes a Bourdieusian analysis of longitudinal…

Trends in contemporary science education emphasise the benefits of out-of-school learning experiences to help schools link science with everyday life (Tho, Chan, & Yeung, 2015). With the help of state-of-the-art technology, mobile devices--particularly smartphones--have the ability to work as data-logging tools for students to perform…

To prepare physics students for future careers, educators need to understand the skills and other factors necessary for entry and success on the job. Often these insights are based on CEOs, HR personnel, and managers, who provide broad perspectives regarding successful attributes of new hires. However, such insights are often more general and…

E-learning media is one effective solution as a learning tool that could be implemented anytime and anywhere. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) approach through the use of e-learning is expected to develop students Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS). This study aimed to measure students HOTS abilities through the use of…

How, when and what kind of learning takes place are key questions in all educational environments. School graduates are expected to have reached a development level whereby they have, among many fundamental skills, the ability to think critically, to plan their studies and their future, and to integrate knowledge across disciplines. However, it is…