Mo Physics Mo Problems

  As I write this, NFL Kickoff Week is about to begin.  The NFL know how to stage an event to get people excited for the 5 month season ahead.  It’s a journey millions of people tune in for and have been waiting all year for.   This is the type of enthusiasm educators hope to generate in their students.  Incorporating a project based approach is one way I’m hoping to bring this enthusiasm into my physics classroom.  Sometime this kick-off event can be called an entry event. It is meant to generate thought not simply increase student engagement.  Entry events can take many different forms from field trips to a teacher presenting the class with a reading, statistic, or problem that elicits a reaction and curiosity. The driving question for our first term project asks students “How can I use physics to hack sports?”   Students will consider personal athletic events or sporting events that they enjoy.  They will examine 1 technique and examine the physics behind t

The morning of the third and final day of PBL 101, I was feeling kind of thought full. I think you may know what I mean. You have absorbed so much new knowledge that you don't have the ability to take on more before some time this reflect and break it down.  For those of you who have had a health course, think about how your liver handles alcohol in the blood. The liver breaks down alcohol in the bloodstream. But sometimes the liver can't keep up with the concentration in our bloodstream and this leads to the intoxicating effects of alcohol.   I say this to point out that I was feeling a little overwhelmed coming in to the last day I'd be attending PBL World.  The feeling quickly changed from overwhelmed to extremely engaged when I discovered that Alfred Solis was giving the keynote.  Ok, in all honesty it occurred when I learned exactly who Alfred Solis was.  A couple of years ago when I first tried to learn about what PBL was and how it tied to physics, I came across

I've been to a few conferences and conventions in my time. I've heard quite a few keynote speeches in that time.  But on day 2 of PBL World, I think I finally understood the purpose of a keynote speech and speaker is.  I could go on describing the keynote, but I won’t.  The keynote speaker was Stephen Ritz.  That’s all I'll say as preamble. Please take the time to watch the keynote and feel yourself empowered to get out of your chair and plan a project for change. Try to resist, you can’t. For more info on Stephen and his students, head to greenbronxmachine.org . So what was going through my mind during this presentation?  Well, my mind drifted to possible projects.  The driving question that came to my mind was “How can you cost effectively grow food in a room with no windows?”  My classroom has no windows so it would be perfect. Growing plants may be a perfect project for a biology classroom, but what place does it have in a physics classroom?  My co-tea