The Physics Teaching Podcast

Tag: PhET

  • Modelling Electricity with Ben Rogers

    Modelling Electricity with Ben Rogers

    With Thomas still away on his travels, Rosie and Robin take the opportunity to catch up on all that’s been happening. Robin spills the beans on some new tips and tricks he’s picked up at his new school. Think hands-on modelling for sixth form—it’s practical, fun, and downright genius!

    We’ve also got a special treat for you—a guest appearance from none other than Ben Rogers, a brilliant friend of the podcast! Ben dives into his fascinating research on introducing primary school children to models for electricity, a topic that’s notoriously tricky but oh-so-important

    Links:

    Ben Rogers New Book – Primary Science in a Nutshell

    Ben Rogers Book – The Big Ideas in Physics and How to teach them

    The rope loop model – GCSE physics online

    Sweets and cups model – Open University

    Energy Ball – For circuits using students

    PHET circuit builder

    Join in!

    Please share ideas or successes – or indeed questions by messaging us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/physicstp.bsky.social .  You can also message us via our website contact form on every page of the web site at  the.physicsteachingpodcast.com, or email using the address given in the podcast (if we remember). We are moving away from X but can be found there as @physicstp.

    Join in!

    Please share ideas or successes – or indeed questions by messaging us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/physicstp.bsky.social .  You can also message us via our website contact form on every page of the web site at  the.physicsteachingpodcast.com, or email using the address given in the podcast (if we remember). We are moving away from X but can be found there as @physicstp.

    Music

    The music is used under the Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License

  • PhET

    PhET

    Thomas and Robin meet outside, at an appropriate social distance, to remember Tim Hardingham and introduce an interview with the PhET Head of Development Ariel Paul (@DrArielPaul). Surely all physics teachers have heard of this outstanding free source of simulations and demos provided by the University of Colorado Boulder.

    Support PhET!

    PhET was the brainchild of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Carl Wieman, and the 158 interactive SIMS are racing towards a billion downloads. Ariel tells us about the herculean efforts that go into developing new sims and keeping them up to date. It’s resource-intensive work and desperately needs your support. If you’ve used PhET sims, please do show them your appreciation.

    You can donate directly or pay 89p for their official app for the HTML5 sims (and encourage all your students to buy it too).

      Google Play Badge

    John Travoltage

    Brazil Nuts

    Thanks to Sophie Constantine for this excellent video that explains why Brazil nuts are not especially radioactive.

    https://youtu.be/Pt-SMAVN898

    Join in!

    Please share ideas or successes – or indeed questions by messaging us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/physicstp.bsky.social .  You can also message us via our website contact form on every page of the web site at  the.physicsteachingpodcast.com, or email using the address given in the podcast (if we remember). We are moving away from X but can be found there as @physicstp.

    Music

    The music is used under the Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License