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FizziksGuy

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Blog Entries posted by FizziksGuy

  2. FizziksGuy
    <p>It’s been awhile since I’ve gotten a good reflection up here. I’ve been swamped finishing up the <a href="http://aplusphysics.com/ap1">AP Physics 1 Essentials</a> book, getting it converted to all the various formats (Kindle, Nook, iBooks, etc.), while simultaneously continuing work on the interactive iPad version. As these projects are slowly beginning to conclude, I’ve been working on a presentation for the STANYS 2013 (Science Teachers Association of New York State) conference here in Rochester, NY. My presentation is on Utilizing Technology to Support Differentiated Learning, where I take a quick look at three strategies all designed to promote independent learning in students while providing opportunity for those students to self-differentiate by skill level in specific areas as well as interest.</p>
    <p>Since one of the three strategies involved flipping the classroom (along with self instruction and blogging), it seemed only right that I make a “flipped class video” version of the presentation. I’m still massaging the presentation, but here’s the first take:</p>
    <p><iframe width="480" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/DqdNzb0JelA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
    <p><iframe width="480" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gqf-414P-is" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
    <!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PhysicsInFlux/~4/uoWE28hvCiM" height="1" width="1"/>

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  3. FizziksGuy
    <p>Finally, after several years of research, organizing, outlining, re-outlining, writing, re-writing, writing again, and so on, I’m thrilled to announce that <a href="http://aplusphysics.com/ap1">AP Physics 1 Essentials: An APlusPhysics Guide</a> has been released!</p>
    <p><img style="float: right;" title="3d-book.png" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/3d-book.png" alt="3d book" width="430" height="314" border="0" /></p>
    <p>AP1 Essentials is jam-packed with the knowledge and content required for success on the AP Physics 1 Exam. More than 500 problems and deeper understanding questions, examples, and explanations. Tons of illustrations and diagrams to make the book clearer and enjoyable to read. And, of course, it’s interconnected with the <a href="http://aplusphysics.com">APlusPhysics</a> website, with video mini-lessons, online tutorials, student blogs, discussion forums, homework help, a video repository, downloads, you name it. I believe this will be an extremely valuable resource for students undertaking their AP Physics 1 courses beginning in fall 2014 when the course officially begins.</p>
    <p>Having said all that, though, I want to make a few items clear up front, as critics love to hammer certain points. Number one, this book is a resource (as are the videos, web tutorials, etc). Just that, and nothing more. It’s not intended to replace strong classroom instruction, student exploration, hands-on activities and labs, deeper problem solving practice, critical thinking, and writing as thinking. It’s another tool in the toolbox. The giant change in the AP Physics course is a focus on building true student understanding rather than plug-and-chug problem solving, something that is VERY difficult to do in a short easy-to-read book. Those skills need interactive discussions, refinement, challenges, and that’s where our job as teachers come in. This book was never intended as a textbook for the course, nor as a teacher replacement for a “do-it-yourself-at-home” situation. It’s designed to complement the course, driving home <strong>essential</strong> concepts and knowledge. True mastery will require much more, however. Applications both tangible and on-paper. Further deep dives into what these concepts really mean and how they intertwine. In short, strong professional instruction.</p>
    <p>Second, this is a review/guide book. For reasons of clarity, the organization of topics and chapters may not be what a student would typically see in a classroom setting. Physics topics interconnect, and it’s very difficult (and perhaps downright incorrect) to teach any given topic in isolation. What is kinematics without dynamics? How do you have a chapter on work and energy when the entire course is about energy? And for reasons of clarity, the order of chapters and material in chapters is not always what I would recommend as the order a teacher take in the classroom. Interconnectedness and a re-entrant strategy through a course is highly prized and effective, but deadly confusing in a review book. So the book is organized in such a fashion that a linear progression through the books hits the major topics in an order that requires a minimum of backtracking, yet may not be the most effective path to take in the classroom or the first-time through the material. Again, this is designed as a review / guide book, another weapon in the arsenal to build understanding, not a stand-alone solution.</p>
    <p>Third, students and teachers all have differing styles. Many teachers are moving to the “modeling” curriculum, which is strongly supported by the new AP-1 course. Many teachers are moving to “flipped classroom” strategies. Others teach with inquiry and project-based learning. None of these is the “silver bullet” that fixes all problems, and all of these have benefits and drawbacks. I think it’s important for each instructor to develop their own style that works for them, while also recognizing that each student is different, and what works for one student may not work for another. I try hard not to promote or criticize any single style of instruction. There’s a time and place for all of them. Instead, I recommend finding what works for you, and then each and every day, consider how you can stretch beyond what is comfortable to try something else and see if it works for you. Teaching is a process, not just a profession. To that end, I incorporate facets of modeling in the book and my classroom, I utilize some flipped class strategies in my classroom, though I wouldn’t call my classroom a “flipped class.” I utilize inquiry, project-based learning, and tons of other strategies, as I see fit to best meet the needs of my students and my goals for that day/lesson/unit. I even use direct instruction (oh my, he said it, didn’t he!!!) at times, though it is by no means the backbone of my courses. And this book is designed as a complement to any/all of them, not an answer to any single one.</p>
    <p>I wrote this book as a book I would want my students to have access to. Of course, it would be supplemented with a number of other resources. First off, I still promote the use of a legitimate full-length textbook. You may not use it everyday, but I think it’s important students learn how to read and utilize a complex text. In every class I teach, regardless of level, we work toward the day where we take one entire unit and work through it as an independent unit, where students are required to make use of the text productively, investigate a number of lab activities independently, and test their own understanding. Secondly, the problems in this book are designed to provide essential concept understanding. I highly recommend the use of additional problems sets, especially freely-available questions from past AP exams, as well as more open-ended and design-type questions where students aren’t just solving for a numerical answer, but are writing explanations as they think through problems and apply those basic concepts to new situations. That is a major focus of the AP paradigm shift, and I believe is beyond the scope of any single text to promote in isolation, as building these skills is a highly interactive process.</p>
    <p>So, a long-winded explanation of what to expect, and my recommendations on how I would use it. Just the $.02 of a physics teacher who loves his job. I want to again thank the many contributors to this work, and all the folks who have supported and encouraged this work. It’s been by far the hardest writing project I’ve undertaken, and I think it delivers on all of the goals we initially set out with. I hope you enjoy it!</p>
    <!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PhysicsInFlux/~4/g9b9sVJI4bg" height="1" width="1"/>

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  4. FizziksGuy
    <p>After many, many long hours and tons of great feedback from physics teachers across the globe, I’m thrilled to announce the AP Physics 1 Essentials, a guidebook / review book for the upcoming AP Physics 1 course, is due for release in late August. I began work on this project in the summer of 2010 when conversations at the AP Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., led to a number of different teachers talking about the need for a detailed course breakdown to support the change, followed by discussion of what the true cost of the change would be in terms of instructor hours, curriculum rewrites, resource revisions, etc. It was obvious there was going to be a need for a guidebook for the course, and my goal was to provide a short “everything you need to know” book that was easy-to-read, fun, engaging, and inexpensive so that students could pick this up as a guidebook/review book without having to purchase entirely new textbooks to support the changing course.</p>
    <p>I quickly picked up a following of fans eager to see the project succeed and more than willing to contribute what they could, from early draft versions of the Division of Content plans (which only vaguely resemble the final curriculum guides), to proposed and/or recommended formula sheets, to technical reviews, editing, “wish lists,” etc. I’ve been amazed at the positive response and helpfulness of so many, that has allowed this project to progress through multiple obstacles, from revised content and organizational issues through technical hurdles such as a corrupt book file caught nearly 80% into the rough draft. I guess this qualifies as checking the ”nothing worthwhile is easy” box on the project.</p>
    <p><img title="AP1Cover.jpg" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/AP1Cover.jpg" alt="AP1Cover" width="550" height="452" border="0" /></p>
    <p>I’m grateful to my family for allowing me the many hours early in the morning, late in the evening, and during the summer to work on this effort. As I write this, for example, I’m on vacation with my family. It’s almost 6 am, I’m watching the Allegheny River flow past, and just saw a bald eagle fly up the river, not 30 feet from where I sit typing. I also must thank the many physics instructors across the globe who have contributed in so many ways, from editing to hints to encouragement… but I need to say a special thank you to the APlusPhysics community. The website began as a tool to use in my own classroom, and quickly grew so popular that I felt compelled to continue to expand it at the request of its users. With more than 30,000 students using it EACH MONTH, I’ve been absolutely floored by the number of thank-you messages, letters of encouragement, and success stories contributed voluntarily by community members. You guys set me on this path, made the site and the books successful, and it’s your encouragement and support that have kept me at this project through the wee hours of the night and long hours of frustration.</p>
    <p>Moving on to the final product… I’m proud to say the book is finished. Sure, it has a few more edits to make, a few more tweaks here and there, but everything is on track for a late August 2013 release. My long-term goal was to have the book released one year before teachers began teaching the revised AP course, and it appears we’ll hit that deadline on the nose (with special thanks to the AP for delaying the change a year from the date I was originally told back in the summer of 2010). I’m hoping you find it valuable to your courses and studies. This book was written as the guidebook I would want my students to have for the course. Not a full standard physics textbook, because my students don’t learn and fully read their physics textbook (except in snippets), but rather a book designed to be used as written, read AND understood, with tons of example problems and solutions.</p>
    <p>Thank you so much for your tremendous support. I hope you enjoy AP Physics 1 Essentials as much as I enjoyed the opportunity to work with you and so many other amazing people on this project.</p>
    <p>Make it a great day!</p>
    <!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PhysicsInFlux/~4/DnWJQ6JEW_o" height="1" width="1"/>

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  5. FizziksGuy
    After many, many long hours and tons of great feedback from physics teachers across the globe, I'm thrilled to announce the AP Physics 1 Essentials, a guidebook / review book for the upcoming AP Physics 1 course, is due for release in late August. I began work on this project in the summer of 2010 when conversations at the AP Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., led to a number of different teachers talking about the need for a detailed course breakdown to support the change, followed by discussion of what the true cost of the change would be in terms of instructor hours, curriculum rewrites, resource revisions, etc. It was obvious there was going to be a need for a guidebook for the course, and my goal was to provide a short "everything you need to know" book that was easy-to-read, fun, engaging, and inexpensive so that students could pick this up as a guidebook/review book without having to purchase entirely new textbooks to support the changing course.

    I quickly picked up a following of fans eager to see the project succeed and more than willing to contribute what they could, from early draft versions of the Division of Content plans (which only vaguely resemble the final curriculum guides), to proposed and/or recommended formula sheets, to technical reviews, editing, "wish lists," etc. I've been amazed at the positive response and helpfulness of so many, that has allowed this project to progress through multiple obstacles, from revised content and organizational issues through technical hurdles such as a corrupt book file caught nearly 80% into the rough draft. I guess this qualifies as checking the "nothing worthwhile is easy" box on the project.

    I'm grateful to my family for allowing me the many hours early in the morning, late in the evening, and during the summer to work on this effort. As I write this, for example, I'm on vacation with my family. It's almost 6 am, I'm watching the Allegheny River flow past, and just saw a bald eagle fly up the river, not 30 feet from where I sit typing. I also must thank the many physics instructors across the globe who have contributed in so many ways, from editing to hints to encouragement... but I need to say a special thank you to the APlusPhysics community. The website began as a tool to use in my own classroom, and quickly grew so popular that I felt compelled to continue to expand it at the request of its users. With more than 30,000 students using it EACH MONTH, I've been absolutely floored by the number of thank-you messages, letters of encouragement, and success stories contributed voluntarily by community members. You guys set me on this path, made the site and the books successful, and it's your encouragement and support that have kept me at this project through the wee hours of the night and long hours of frustration.

    Moving on to the final product… I'm proud to say the book is finished. Sure, it has a few more edits to make, a few more tweaks here and there, but everything is on track for a late August 2013 release. My long-term goal was to have the book released one year before teachers began teaching the revised AP course, and it appears we'll hit that deadline on the nose (with special thanks to the AP for delaying the change a year from the date I was originally told back in the summer of 2010). I'm hoping you find it valuable to your courses and studies. This book was written as the guidebook I would want my students to have for the course. Not a full standard physics textbook, because my students don't learn and fully read their physics textbook (except in snippets), but rather a book designed to be used as written, read AND understood, with tons of example problems and solutions.

    Thank you so much for your tremendous support. I hope you enjoy AP Physics 1 Essentials as much as I enjoyed the opportunity to work with you and so many other amazing people on this project.

    Make it a great day!
  6. FizziksGuy
    Hi Gang,
    I ran across this dark and early this morning and thought it might be of interest to juniors and seniors, especially given how often I see students worrying about carrying files on thumb drives, e-mailing things to themselves, etc.
    This service is called Copy, and what it does is places a folder on your computer called COPY. You can also access it over the Internet. Anything you put in that COPY folder is automatically sync'ed to all of your accounts. So, for example, if you saved a file to your COPY folder at school, then go home and open your COPY folder, all your documents will be there, available at home, and up to date. It includes apps for Mac, Windows, as well as mobile devices, and is quite easy to use. Could be mighty useful for those of you going off to college next year as you work on your personal computers, in school computer labs, etc., as well as those in the high school doing group work and projects.
    Hope you find it valuable -- just for signing up you get 15 GB free, and another 5GB when you install the app/folder on your computer.
  8. FizziksGuy
    <p>Hi Folks,</p>
    <p> At least once or twice a week I receive an e-mail asking how I make my screencasts, and given these posts are a couple years old, and I’ve adjusted my methodology a bit in the past few years, it seems high time I provided an update on my recommendations for screencasting. So, here goes.</p>
    <p><a href="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Screen-Shot-2013-05-29-at-8.20.40-AM.png"><img src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Screen-Shot-2013-05-29-at-8.20.40-AM-300x166.png" alt="Screen Shot 2013-05-29 at 8.20.40 AM" width="300" height="166" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-613" /></a></p>
    <p> For those using Windows PCs, not much has changed terribly. I still highly recommend <a href="http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html" target="_blank">Camtasia:Studio</a> as one of the most cost-effective and easy-to-use software packages for screencasting (make sure you choose Education pricing for a 40% discount). It allows you to record what’s occurring on your screen, as well as your face (via webcam), and puts it all together with a variety of output options. It is my go-to tool when using a Windows system. Typically I create my presentation in Powerpoint, then load up Camtasia to record my walk-through of the presentation, and do a majority of post-processing in Camtasia. Finally, I upload to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/FizziksGuy" target="_blank">Youtube</a> and also to the APlusPhysics.com site (many schools block Youtube, so having the videos in a separate place helps teachers provide access to all their students, regardless of location or device). A good example of a video created in this manner is the <a href="http://www.aplusphysics.com/courses/regents/videos/KinEqns_Reg/KinEqns_Reg.html" target="_blank">Kinematics Equations Regents Physics Tutorial</a>.</p>
    <p> About 18 months ago, however, I switched from the Windows platform to the PC platform. The “why” of the change is a long story, and probably not of interest to most readers here, but the transition was much smoother than I expected, and although I realize you pay a premium on the hardware end, I’m much happier with the transition than I initially anticipated. Initially I tried quite a few different methods championed by other teachers using Macs, but everything I tried was either flaky, too complex, or required too much “work” during the presentation — and when I’m creating the screencasts, I want to focus as much of my attention as I can on teaching the material as effectively as I can, with as little focus as possible on technical aspects of screencasting. For those who have been making screencasts, you realize how challenging it is to try to take a lesson, concept, or problem-solving approach and condense it down into just what the students need to know to get started. My goal in my videos isn’t to replace the classroom or teacher, but rather take the repetitive basic content and condense it down into something the kids can do at home, leaving us more time in class for hands-on activities, exploration, extension, and challenge work.</p>
    <p> Without digressing TOO much further, I soon decided I had to come up with my own method. After a bit of trial and error and the purchase of several software packages that just didn’t work out for me, here’s the method I came up with (and am quite happy with). First, I create my presentation materials in either Powerpoint or Keynote (I prefer Keynote on the Mac to Powerpoint on the Mac just for level of integration, but they’re pretty much equivalent). Once my presentation slides are complete, I export them in PDF form. Then, I import the PDF presentation into a wonderful Mac software package known as <a href="http://www.zengobi.com/products/curio/" target="_blank">Curio</a> (HIGHLY recommended and comes with amazing developer support), “Spread” the PDFs out onto various pages, and I use <a href="http://www.zengobi.com/products/curio/" target="_blank">Curio</a> as my background software when I run my screen capture.</p>
    <p><a href="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Screen-Shot-2013-05-29-at-8.50.34-AM.png"><img src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Screen-Shot-2013-05-29-at-8.50.34-AM-300x170.png" alt="Screen Shot 2013-05-29 at 8.50.34 AM" width="300" height="170" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-616" /></a></p>
    <p> For the actual screen capture work, I went back to Techsmith’s <a href="http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html" target="_blank">Camtasia:Mac</a>. It doesn’t have quite as many features as the Windows version, and post-processing is considerably less intuitive if you want to zoom, scroll, etc., but for the basics it’s pretty slick, and it also has one more GREAT feature that I love — the ability to remove a color from your recorded webcam video. This means you can do some basic “green screen” or “chromakey” work right in <a href="http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html" target="_blank">Camtasia:Mac</a>. I’m not thrilled with the level of control of this feature, as there’s definitely some room for improvement, but it’s a great start and its easy integration right into the regular workflow makes it quick and easy to implement. The <a href="http://www.aplusphysics.com/courses/ap-c/videos/APC-Gauss/APC-Gauss.html" target="_blank">AP Physics C: Gauss’s Law video</a> demonstrates a screencast created with this workflow. As an added bonus, <a href="http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html" target="_blank">Camtasia for Mac</a> is also considerably cheaper than the Windows version, currently about $75 for an academic license.</p>
    <p> Which leads us into the tricky part, the hardware. The most important part of your setup, from my perspective, is your writing input device. On the Windows side, for years I’ve used a Tablet PC (not an iPad or similar device, but rather a laptop computer that has a screen you can write on). These tend to be rather pricey (prices typically start around $2K for a decent system), and I haven’t had the greatest luck with them as far as reliability goes, despite attempts at buying high-end systems. What I consider a better alternative is the purchase of a separate input device, so that you can always upgrade / swap out the computer itself as needed, but continue using the input device from system to system.</p>
    <p> Initially I started working with a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Intuos4-Wireless-Pen-Tablet/dp/B0035ERQ6O/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1369834340&sr=1-6&keywords=Wacom+Intuos+Tablet+Wireless" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Wacom Intuos tablet</a>. It does what it’s supposed to, but I had a heck of a time looking at a separate screen while drawing on a separate input device. My handwriting was awful (even more awful than when I write directly on the screen), and I found myself stressing about the technicalities of the screencast as I worked. It just wasn’t comfortable at all. So, the barely-used system is sitting under my desk waiting for me to either put it up on eBay, loan it to another APlusPhysics contributor, or sell it for pennies on the dollar.</p>
    <p> Shortly thereafter, I decided to take the plunge and purchased a Wacom Interactive Pen Display, model <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-DTU-1631-Interactive-Pen-Display/dp/B003RHX03M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369832737&sr=8-1&keywords=dtu-1631" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">DTU-1631</a>. I use this in my classroom each day as well, projecting the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-DTU-1631-Interactive-Pen-Display/dp/B003RHX03M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369832737&sr=8-1&keywords=dtu-1631" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">DTU-1631</a> screen on a digital projector, and writing my notes directly on the screen. This has the extra advantage of allowing me to capture all my class notes and publish them directly to our Regents Physics and AP Physics C blogs. It’s not the greatest monitor as far as overall image quality, and it’s certainly priced above where I think it should be (~$1000), but it works, and has become my everyday workhorse in the classroom. I’m pleased to see Wacom is coming out with some considerably upgraded interactive pen displays this summer, which may provide some further options.</p>
    <p> I also invested in a system for home use this past fall, saving me the hassle of lugging the DTU-1631 back and forth from school to the home office regularly. Without the need to project the monitor, I decided on the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-CINTIQ-22HD-Pen-Display/dp/B008HB5K5O/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1369832961&sr=1-1&keywords=Cintiq+22hd" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Wacom Cintiq 22HD</a> system. Again, the monitor image characteristics leave a bit to be desired in a high resolution monitor, but the ability to write directly on the screen at high resolution takes all the technical hassle out of creating screencasts. It’s not for the dabbler, however, as discount price is typically right around $2000.</p>
    <p><div id="attachment_620" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 140px"><a href="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/BlueYeti.jpg"><img src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/BlueYeti-130x300.jpg" alt="Blue Yeti USB Microphone" width="130" height="300" class="size-medium wp-image-620" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Blue Yeti USB Microphone</p></div></p>
    <p> As far as audio and microphones go, I continue to use a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zoom-H2-Portable-Stereo-Recorder/dp/B000VBH2IG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1369833015&sr=1-1&keywords=Zoom+H2" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Zoom H2 Digital Recorder</a> at home, which does a nice job of capturing audio cleanly at a price point around $180 with a bit of searching, but a year or so ago I purchased a separate <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Yeti-USB-Microphone/dp/B002VA464S/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1369833190&sr=1-2&keywords=Blue+Yeti" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Blue Yeti USB Microphone</a> and I absolutely love it. It’s easy to use, has a tremendous cardiod mode, and provides awesome sound in a cheap, reliable manner. At a price point of roughly $100, I don’t think you can beat it, and it wouldn’t take much for me to trade in my more expensive <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zoom-H2-Portable-Stereo-Recorder/dp/B000VBH2IG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1369833015&sr=1-1&keywords=Zoom+H2" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Zoom H2</a> for a second <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Yeti-USB-Microphone/dp/B002VA464S/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1369833190&sr=1-2&keywords=Blue+Yeti" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Blue Yeti</a> for the home office.</p>
    <p> As far as webcams to capture the instructor’s face, just about any Logitech-type USB webcam will do. I’ve used a number of different webcams, most recently a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Portable-Webcam-Autofocus-960-000733/dp/B004YW7WCY/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1369833374&sr=1-1&keywords=Logitech+C615" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Logitech HD Webcam C615</a> (due to its Mac compatibility). They do a decent job. For the higher-end videos using the chromakey (green screen) technology, I wanted something a little better, and found an outdated <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Canon-ZR850-MiniDV-Camcorder-Optical/dp/B000M4JDQQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1369833546&sr=1-1&keywords=Canon+ZR850" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Canon ZR850</a> sitting in our closet. This mini-DV camcorder didn’t see much use in our house due to the advent of all the flip cam technologies, iPhones, etc., but I found that by connecting to my Mac through its firewire connections, I could get high quality, stable images fed directly into the computer and compatible with Camtasia. Certainly not a necessity, but a nice little extra.</p>
    <p> Finally, in the interest of full disclosure, I do just a touch of post-processing on my videos outside of Camtasia. Although Camtasia has noise reduction algorithms built in, I had already purchased a license for the full <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Collection-Student-Teacher-Edition/dp/B007S03070/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369834182&sr=8-1&keywords=Adobe+CS6+Teacher+Master" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Adobe Creative Suite (Master Edition)</a> to build the <a href="http://aplusphysics.com" target="_blank">APlusPhysics</a> website, so thought I might as well use as many features of the software as I can. I use <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-65159072-Audition-CS6/dp/B007PMNVWA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369834380&sr=8-2&keywords=Adobe+Audition" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Adobe Audition</a> to tweak the audio input from my microphones just a touch before final processing. This allows me to easily standardize volume levels, pull out 60Hz hum from the electrical system, and even remove a bit of the HVAC noise from my recordings. Certainly not necessary for a good screencast, but a little extra since I already had the software on my system.</p>
    <p> There are certainly cheaper ways to do screen casting, and many great free to nearly-free alternatives. I’ve chosen this route with the goal of spending my time and resources up front to create high quality videos that I can use for years and years, tweaking and re-doing individual videos on a piecemeal basis to continually improve the quality of the video collection, as opposed to redoing the course year after year. There are certainly other strategies and workflows, but I’m hoping this may provide at least a start to others who are interested in screencasting without having to travel down all the mistaken paths I had to in developing this methodology. Make it a great day everyone!</p>
    <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PhysicsInFlux/~4/wOxY6Xaw0PI" height="1" width="1"/>

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  9. FizziksGuy
    <p>Now, this took some research, some planning, and a number of tries, but matching up orbits for docking IS possible…</p>
    <p><img title="docking1.jpg" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/docking11.jpg" alt="Docking1" width="600" height="456" border="0" /></p>
    <p>But certainly not easy. Took a bit of practice (and perhaps a minor bounce off the station…)</p>
    <p><img title="docking2.jpg" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/docking2.jpg" alt="Docking2" width="600" height="340" border="0" /></p>
    <p>But in the end, the Kerbals prevailed.</p>
    <p><img title="docked1.jpg" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/docked1.jpg" alt="Docked1" width="600" height="293" border="0" /></p>
    <p>Once docked, a fuel transfer was initiated to verify the process. After that, it was party time. The Kerbal who’d been manning the space station decided he needed to get out after going a bit stir crazy. Time to ride the rocket for a spell.</p>
    <p><img title="dockedrider.jpg" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/dockedrider.jpg" alt="Dockedrider" width="600" height="338" border="0" /></p>
    <p>This, of course, left the space station unmanned, so one of our newly arrived Kerbonauts transferred himself over to the space station to take the helm.</p>
    <p><img title="crewtransfer.jpg" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/crewtransfer.jpg" alt="Crewtransfer" width="600" height="379" border="0" /></p>
    <p>So, it’s doable. Who’s next?</p>
    <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PhysicsInFlux/~4/zWn13xgl9-M" height="1" width="1"/>

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  10. FizziksGuy
    <p>I’ve been playing around with the Kerbal Space Program recently because (1) it’s fun and (2) I want to know enough to be able to help my kids during their post-AP project, at least from a technical / computer perspective. My mission — have a Kerbal walk on the moon (and return home safely).</p>
    <p>The first step was designing the vehicle. I went with a one-man capsule, a small engine, and lots of extra fuel (to give me plenty of room for mistakes on my first landing mission.</p>
    <p><img title="screenshot11.png" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/screenshot111.png" alt="Screenshot11" width="600" height="337" border="0" /></p>
    <p>I made sure to add landing struts, a ladder to allow Jebediah a quick EVA, and, of course, a parachute for the command pod. The launch vehicle itself was designed in two stages, four large engines and fuel tanks to get the craft past 10 km, and another single large tank and engine to easily push into orbit, leaving the lander vehicle itself fully fueled in orbit.</p>
    <p><img title="screenshot12.jpg" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/screenshot12.jpg" alt="Screenshot12" width="317" height="600" border="0" /></p>
    <p>The launch was very straightforward. I controlled the engines carefully under 10 km to keep the velocity below 200 m/s and avoid overheating. At 12 km I performed an orbital tilt to 45 degrees, got speed up, and then coasted to the highest point in the path, at which point I turned again on an orbital maneuver.</p>
    <p><img title="screenshot14.jpg" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/screenshot14.jpg" alt="Screenshot14" width="600" height="495" border="0" /></p>
    <p><img title="screenshot15.png" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/screenshot15.png" alt="Screenshot15" width="600" height="337" border="0" /></p>
    <p>Separation was clean.</p>
    <p><img title="screenshot17.jpg" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/screenshot17.jpg" alt="Screenshot17" width="600" height="288" border="0" /></p>
    <p>This left me with the landing craft fully fueled in a stable Earth orbit, ready to begin maneuvers to head to the Mun.</p>
    <p><img title="screenshot18.jpg" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/screenshot18.jpg" alt="Screenshot18" width="600" height="371" border="0" /></p>
    <p>As I approached the moon I adjusted my orbit to bring me down near “the bright side,” and set my orientation to maintain a retrograde orbit.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p><img title="screenshot5.jpg" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/screenshot5.jpg" alt="Screenshot5" width="600" height="411" border="0" /></p>
    <p>After a few minutes of sweating with a light hand on the thrusters while maintain a retrograde orbit, I finally had the lander down on the ground (and even remembered to extend the landing struts!)</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p><img title="screenshot7.gif" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/screenshot7.gif" alt="Screenshot7" width="323" height="377" border="0" /></p>
    <p>The external tanks were just barely empty (I hadn’t separated them during the descent as I thought perhaps the extra fuel might be nice for the Mun launch. However, upon reaching the surface, they were just barely drained. Easy quiet separation. Now for the EVA. I extended the ladders and Jebediah had himself a short stroll on the Mun before climbing back in for the trip home.<img title="screenshot8.gif" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/screenshot8.gif" alt="Screenshot8" width="481" height="423" border="0" /></p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>From there, a simple launch to get back into Mun orbit, then an orbital transfer back to Earth, which brought Jebediah down nice and safe and ready for his next mission!</p>
    <p>Key Learning — having all that extra fuel was nice, but next time I could do things MUCH more efficiently at the landing stage, allowing me to launch a much lighter landing vehicle. Next challenge – Landing on Minmus and returning safely!</p>
    <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PhysicsInFlux/~4/o920EKmKED0" height="1" width="1"/>

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  11. FizziksGuy
    <p>A couple weeks ago I had this crazy idea for a four-week project to do with my AP-C students after their AP exams. Typically we embark on a number of individualized, small-team projects, coupled with a study of semiconductor physics. This year, however, I wanted to change it up. I want to build excitement for the sciences and engineering. I want to try and truly capture the kids’ interest. So, taking a lead from a physics teacher tweet, I began exploring the Kerbal Space Program.</p>
    <p><iframe width="350" height="197" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RkDOOsGg-9I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
    <p>I first wrote about some basic ideas around the program last week in <a href="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/aplusphysics/kerbals-in-space-gamifying-the-physics-of-space-exploration-physics-physicsed-ksp/">Kerbals in Space? Gamifying the Physics of Space Exploration</a>. Since then, with the help and guidance of a variety of folks ranging from our school’s IT experts all the way to Kerbal Space Program enthusiasts from around the world, I think we have a pilot program (pun intended) ready to launch (pun still intended). As we blast into this new foray, my larger goal is to explore whether something as simple as the Kerbal Space Program or other “gamified” simulation has the potential for implementation earlier in the K-12 curriculum. If it works with seniors, could it be used with juniors? With freshman? With junior high students? With 5th and 6th graders? All with the ultimate goal of launching students into the challenge and excitement available in STEM disciplines.</p>
    <p>We need to grab the attention of our up and coming society at an early age, and allow them to observe the need for math, science, writing, communication, and technology, and how these skills open doorways for them to engage in such fun and challenging activities. There are tons of good programs out there promoting interest in STEM, from robotics programs to alternative fuel teams to green teams… I’m hoping the excitement of space, presented in such a fun way, allows students to reach some key conclusions on their own. First, just playing the sim is fun. For a while. Then you realize no matter what you do you tend to crash into things and can’t make it to any moons or planets. It’s time to pull out paper, pencil, calculator, and jump on the Kerbal WIKI to do some research and learn about dynamics, energy, transfer orbits, staging, etc. In this way, the students themselves are driving their own learning with a purpose, a pull system, so to speak, as opposed to pushing information out to them and then asking them to apply what they’ve learned.</p>
    <p>It’ll be a fun experiment. I’ve completed the<a href="http://www.aplusphysics.com/projects/kerbal.html"> Kerbal Space Program Education Project definition page</a>. We’ll see how it goes from here, and if anyone wants to join us on this exploration, we’d love to have you along!</p>
    <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PhysicsInFlux/~4/qrDRqz4Oaag" height="1" width="1"/>

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  12. FizziksGuy
    <p>So last year I took every single question from the last 17 NY Regents Physics exams, organized them by topic, and printed them neatly into worksheet / workbook formats for myself and others to use. They’ve been pretty popular, but have also been a fairly high maintenance item, as I have been receiving at least 10-15 e-mails per week about the worksheets. Some requests have come from teachers asking if I have created an answer sheet to go with them. Other requests have been from students looking to check their answers. Some have even been from students posing as instructors attempting to find the answers to the worksheets. But far and away, the most popular question has centered around whether I might offer a print version of the worksheets.</p>
    <p><a href="http://aplusphysics.com/regents/wb"><img style="float: right;" title="RegentsQA-500-TranspBkgd.jpg" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/RegentsQA-500-TranspBkgd.jpg" alt="RegentsQA 500 TranspBkgd" width="300" height="203" border="0" /></a></p>
    <p>It’s taken awhile, but I’ve finally cleaned up all the sheets, arranged them into a workbook format, solved every single problem, added answer sheets, and sent them off for publication. The result — yesterday, <a href="http://aplusphysics.com/regents/wb">The Ultimate Regents Physics Question and Answer Book</a> was released.</p>
    <p>I’m planning on leaving the individual worksheets available for download on the APlusPhysics site — the book is merely provided as a convenience for those who’d rather have a hard copy, bound compendium of all the worksheets, with the answers included. Because these sheets are also popular as homework assignments, quizzes, etc., I don’t plan on posting the answer sheets publicly… that’s just making things a little too easy for students hoping to avoid productive work. The list price on the book is $11.99, which (typically) Amazon discounts within a few weeks of publication. I think that’s a reasonable price for a resource that took me many, many hours to compile, with the goal of hopefully recouping the costs required to publish the book within a year or so if all goes well.</p>
    <p>Having said that, last night I received a troubling e-mail. Before even one copy had sold, I received a request asking if I would donate copies of the workbook to cover an entire physics course at a school. Now, I understand there’s no harm in asking, so I politely responded that the cost for any donated/promotional copies come directly out of the pocket of a high school teacher (me), and that the entire content was already available for download and printing direct from the APlusPhysics website. The follow-up, however, left me troubled. The response stated that the copies were for an inner city school and therefore computers and Internet access to download and print the files wasn’t reasonable.</p>
    <p>Maybe I’m being naive, but I have trouble believing that there are school districts (and individual schools) that are SO poor that there isn’t a single computer with an Internet connection anywhere in the school. Or let’s say that there aren’t ANY computers in the school — how can not one teacher have access to a computer and Internet to obtain the files on their own time? And in what world is it reasonable that I should pick up the costs to print and ship a volume of copies to a school where they can’t find a way to download and print freely available files (which I also pay to host)?</p>
    <p>Rant ended. I’m more than happy to give away a ton of my work (and time) for free, but there are some costs associated with making these resources available. The software to create the site, the hosting fees, publication costs, licensing costs, etc. Almost all of the content in the books is already freely available on the site for educational use, and I LOVE when folks make use of these resources. But, the reality is that all of these things have some cost, and if I want to continue to build a terrific physics resource for our students, a few of the items on the site have to generate enough income to cover the costs of the site.</p>
    <p>Now, with that out of the way, I’m excited to be diving into the next project at full speed — review / guide books for the new AP-1 and AP-2 courses. Background work / development has been going on for over a year, and, if all goes as planned, the first draft should be underway within a couple weeks!!!!!</p>
    <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PhysicsInFlux/~4/ttfO5au910Q" height="1" width="1"/>

    Source
  13. FizziksGuy
    So last year I took every single question from the last 17 NY Regents Physics exams, organized them by topic, and printed them neatly into worksheet / workbook formats for myself and others to use. They've been pretty popular, but have also been a fairly high maintenance item, as I have been receiving at least 10-15 e-mails per week about the worksheets. Some requests have come from teachers asking if I have created an answer sheet to go with them. Other requests have been from students looking to check their answers. Some have even been from students posing as instructors attempting to find the answers to the worksheets. But far and away, the most popular question has centered around whether I might offer a print version of the worksheets.


    It's taken awhile, but I've finally cleaned up all the sheets, arranged them into a workbook format, solved every single problem, added answer sheets, and sent them off for publication. The result -- yesterday, The Ultimate Regents Physics Question and Answer Book was released.

    I'm planning on leaving the individual worksheets available for download on the APlusPhysics site -- the book is merely provided as a convenience for those who'd rather have a hard copy, bound compendium of all the worksheets, with the answers included. Because these sheets are also popular as homework assignments, quizzes, etc., I don't plan on posting the answer sheets publicly… that's just making things a little too easy for students hoping to avoid productive work. The list price on the book is $11.99, which (typically) Amazon discounts within a few weeks of publication. I think that's a reasonable price for a resource that took me many, many hours to compile, with the goal of hopefully recouping the costs required to publish the book within a year or so if all goes well.

    Having said that, last night I received a troubling e-mail. Before even one copy had sold, I received a request asking if I would donate copies of the workbook to cover an entire physics course at a school. Now, I understand there's no harm in asking, so I politely responded that the cost for any donated/promotional copies come directly out of the pocket of a high school teacher (me), and that the entire content was already available for download and printing direct from the APlusPhysics website. The follow-up, however, left me troubled. The response stated that the copies were for an inner city school and therefore computers and Internet access to download and print the files wasn't reasonable.

    Maybe I'm being naive, but I have trouble believing that there are school districts (and individual schools) that are SO poor that there isn't a single computer with an Internet connection anywhere in the school. Or let's say that there aren't ANY computers in the school -- how can not one teacher have access to a computer and Internet to obtain the files on their own time? And in what world is it reasonable that I should pick up the costs to print and ship a volume of copies to a school where they can't find a way to download and print freely available files (which I also pay to host)?

    Rant ended. I'm more than happy to give away a ton of my work (and time) for free, but there are some costs associated with making these resources available. The software to create the site, the hosting fees, publication costs, licensing costs, etc. Almost all of the content in the books is already freely available on the site for educational use, and I LOVE when folks make use of these resources. But, the reality is that all of these things have some cost, and if I want to continue to build a terrific physics resource for our students, a few of the items on the site have to generate enough income to cover the costs of the site.

    Now, with that out of the way, I'm excited to be diving into the next project at full speed -- review / guide books for the new AP-1 and AP-2 courses. Background work / development has been going on for over a year, and, if all goes as planned, the first draft should be underway within a couple weeks!!!!!
  14. FizziksGuy
    So, not long ago I came across a sandbox simulation software package / game called Kerbal Space Program. It allows you to build space vehicles on the fictional planet of Kerbal, launch the vehicles, attempt to put Kerbals into orbit, help them travel to other planets, etc. etc. Cute. But as I looked into it a little more, it has quite a bit of scientific and educational merit. The physics modeling is pretty good, the game is extremely addictive, and I believe it could be a great way to help students in my AP Physics C course transition from pure physics to applied physics and engineering in our last few weeks of school following the AP Exam. So I bought the game. Or, rather, I bought a copy, and the school bought five copies for the kids!



    Right now I'm still working out the details of the project. In general, though, I think it'd be fun to have the kids work through the simulation with a set of challenges as part of a "space race." Each group of 3 students will form their own space exploration team. With safety of all Kerbals as their prime directive, they will be asked to complete a series of tasks, documenting and analyzing their work along with each design and launch, and sharing their findings with the other teams through the use of blogging. In this manner, we'll begin to combine technical writing, project management, and even risk management with an addictive game centered around physics principles!
    I'm thinking their challenges may look something like:
    Launch an unmanned rocket
    Launch a manned rocket safety
    Safely put a Kerbal in orbit (and bring him home)
    Safely land a Kerbal on the Mun (and bring him home)
    Safely land a Kerbal on a distant planet (and bring him home)
    etc.


    In just playing with the sim for a few minutes tonight, I managed to put a Kerbal in orbit, but them promptly left him there as I played around with an extra-vehicular activity walk… and then couldn't bring him back in as my command pod was out of fuel. Should be a hoot to see how the kids do, and if anyone else has played with the sim, wants to join us in our "experiment," etc., we'd love to work with others!
  15. FizziksGuy
    <p>So, not long ago I came across a sandbox simulation software package / game called Kerbal Space Program. It allows you to build space vehicles on the fictional planet of Kerbal, launch the vehicles, attempt to put Kerbals into orbit, help them travel to other planets, etc. etc. Cute. But as I looked into it a little more, it has quite a bit of scientific and educational merit. The physics modeling is pretty good, the game is extremely addictive, and I believe it could be a great way to help students in my AP Physics C course transition from pure physics to applied physics and engineering in our last few weeks of school following the AP Exam. So I bought the game. Or, rather, I bought a copy, and the school bought five copies for the kids!</p>
    <p><img style="float: left;" title="screenshot0.png" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/screenshot0.png" alt="Screenshot0" width="300" height="168" border="0" /></p>
    <p>Right now I’m still working out the details of the project. In general, though, I think it’d be fun to have the kids work through the simulation with a set of challenges as part of a “space race.” Each group of 3 students will form their own space exploration team. With safety of all Kerbals as their prime directive, they will be asked to complete a series of tasks, documenting and analyzing their work along with each design and launch, and sharing their findings with the other teams through the use of blogging. In this manner, we’ll begin to combine technical writing, project management, and even risk management with an addictive game centered around physics principles!</p>
    <ul>
    <li>I’m thinking their challenges may look something like:</li>
    <li>Launch an unmanned rocket</li>
    <li>Launch a manned rocket safety</li>
    <li>Safely put a Kerbal in orbit (and bring him home)</li>
    <li>Safely land a Kerbal on the Mun (and bring him home)</li>
    <li>Safely land a Kerbal on a distant planet (and bring him home)</li>
    <li>etc.<img style="float: right;" title="screenshot2.png" src="http://aplusphysics.com/flux/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/screenshot2.png" alt="Screenshot2" width="300" height="168" border="0" /></li>
    </ul>
    <p>In just playing with the sim for a few minutes tonight, I managed to put a Kerbal in orbit, but them promptly left him there as I played around with an extra-vehicular activity walk… and then couldn’t bring him back in as my command pod was out of fuel. Should be a hoot to see how the kids do, and if anyone else has played with the sim, wants to join us in our “experiment,” etc., we’d love to work with others!</p>
    <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PhysicsInFlux/~4/9oHkx50l8qE" height="1" width="1"/>

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  16. FizziksGuy
    Hi Everyone,
    As you may have noticed, progress on the AP-1 / AP-2 videos has stalled over the past few weeks… let’s just sum it up by saying that if it could have gone wrong, it did. First we had a database “miscue” with our previous web server host, in which we lost the better part of 9 months of posts from this blog. grrrrr. Then a stomach bug went through our house. And as I had all sorts of time to grumble over the increasingly poor response times of our site and the loss of the data (despite regular backups), I finally made the decision to switch hosts and get us our own virtual private server.
    What does all that mean, you may ask? First off, instead of sharing a bunch of computing resource power with hundreds of other websites, we’ve purchased a set amount of storage space, RAM, and CPU cores on a server that only services a couple web sites. Lots more resources devoted to our site means much more stable performance, and considerably improved loading speeds. It also adds a bit of complexity on my side, as well as a considerable increase in annual costs. I’m thinking about potential ways to offset that in the future, but in the meantime, I’m thrilled to have the site up and running the way it should be.
    Along with the server upgrade, we had quite a bit of “migrating” of programs, settings, and data to do. MOST of it went smoothly. One program, however, did NOT like the change at all, our Forums/Blogs software. I was already somewhat frustrated with the support and performance of our old system, so after a few days of beating my head against the wall (and getting mighty fired up at the technical support line), I bit the bullet and upgraded our system to the “Cadillac” of forum and blogging software. This, also, took a bit of time to setup, and because we’d already invested so much in all the student posts and work, I was able to hire an expert to assist in migrating all the data we could (what hadn’t been nutzed up by the previous software) into the new system. And he was gracious enough to give us a great price with amazing service due to the nature of our site (Thank you so much!!!).
    To help differentiate the old software from the new, and highlight some of the features of the new software, I’ve renamed the “Discussion” area on APlusPhysics “Community,” because really that’s what we’re trying to build. Not only do we now have forums (with some cool new features), and blogs (which even more cool new features), we also have a file repository where we can share electronic documents and programs with each other, we have an online chat system, we have tremendously improved calendars, the ability to better integrate “blocks” of content across the entire site, the ability to create custom pages (such as featured posts, highlighted material, etc. — I’ll turn this part on soon), the ability to incorporate e-books with direct downloads right from the site (instantaneous help!), even the ability to let members promote their good works to others across the entire site. Quite a few of these options I’ll be working on over the coming months, but as of today we have at least as much functionality as the old site, a much prettier graphic interface, and a fast, responsive, reliable site with a support team I have much more confidence in.
    So what’s next? Well, my first priority is finishing the “skin” of the system. It’s almost there. By the way, did you know you can adjust the color scheme of the site? See that little rainbow grid in the upper right of the community? Click on it and choose your color — whatever mood you’re in, the system can handle!
    Next, I have some behind-the-scenes work to do to tweak what shows up on the various pages… upcoming calendar events, latest files, users online, etc. They work currently, but I’d like to make their integration just a little more smooth. Nothing major, just have a bit of reading to do.
    Third, I’ve had quite a few requests to take my Powerpoint slides from the video series and make them available for teachers to use. This may be a bit more involved, as there are some licensing restrictions I’m working with the appropriate parties on, but I’m hopeful we can get something worked out in the not-too-distant future.
    Fourth, I’d like to get the featured content / topic pages built out. This will be an ongoing “as time allows” effort. This new system has tremendous potential to pull and organize information from a wide variety of sources, the question is “am I smart enough to make it work?” I’m hoping the answer is yes.
    Fifth, I’d really like to work to promote the downloads section as an area where we as physics instructors can share the best of what we put together for our students. There are both public and educator-only folders, and I think this has tremendous potential to be a great resource for us all, but I’m betting there will be quite a bit of legwork to “sell” this concept to other physics teachers across the world, so that it becomes not just a place for folks to download my work, but a place where we can all collaborate and share with each other. In this, I definitely need your help. If you would, take a minute or two and find one original lesson, worksheet, lab, hands-on activity, whatever… upload it to the “Downloads” section and share it with the rest of us. Can you imagine what a wonderful resource we’d have if each physics teacher shared just one or two amazing activities? Imagine if we then started building off of those… then again and again… we’d have the greatest teaching resource of any discipline (and we’re already well on our way!)
    Sixth, work hasn’t stopped on the physics videos. I have to admit I’m a touch burnt out after finish the AP Physics C series this year (both Mechanics and E&M), and completing an entire AP-1 / AP-2 sequence for Educator.com (which is currently branded as AP-B but was set up with the new courses in mind). I’m continuing to plug away on the optics section of AP-B, and have a few more pieces to fill in. Once I get through this week my hope is to complete at least one more video per week for the foreseeable future.
    Last, but not least — I’ve spent the past year doing pre-work for an AP-1 / AP-2 guide book for students (in the vein of Honors Physics Essentials, but specifically directed toward AP-1 / AP-2). As we get to the end of the school year, I want to focus on the BIC (butt in chair) strategy to get a first draft underway. I have tons of notes, outlines, and materials, and from past experience once you get rolling it’s not so bad, but I need to take those first few steps. I just want to make sure I have all my other “gotta get done’s” out of the way before I dive headfirst into this one for the summer.
    Thanks for all your support, and I look forward to seeing you on the new APlusPhysics Community (by the way, if you haven’t tried it out yet, we’d love to see you! Shoot me an e-mail if you’re a professional physics instructor and I’ll get your access upgraded so you can see into the “teacher-only” parts of the site as well)!


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  17. FizziksGuy
    Hi folks,
    As you may have noticed, the last 9 months or so of posts have disappeared… this occurred due to a combination of web hosting problems as well as operator (my) error in restoring backups. Thankfully, only those 9 months worth of posts have been lost, and I’m actively beginning efforts to migrate the entire site to a new host that should not only minimize the possibility of something like this recurring, but should also dramatically speed up the entire site while allowing much more room for future growth. My apologies for the inconvenience, and my thanks for your understanding.

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  18. FizziksGuy
    I’m thrilled to announce that Physics: Fundamentals and Problem Solving has been released for the iPad today. This book, which is for the iPad only, is an algebra-based physics book featuring hundreds of worked-out problems, video mini-lessons, and other interactive elements designed for the introductory physics student.
    Topics covered include vectors and scalars, kinematics, dynamics, momentum, circular motion, gravity, rotational motion, work, energy, power, fluids, thermal physics, electrostatics, circuits, magnetism, microelectronics, waves, sound, optics, and selected topics in modern physics.
    Physics: Fundamentals and Problem Solving is integrated with the APlusPhysics.com website, which features free online discussion and help forums, student and educator blogs, interactive quizzes, thousands of supplemental problems, and even a student-created physics wiki.
    The book requires an iPad and the iBooks 2 application. The non-interactive version, known as Honors Physics Essentials, is available for other iOS devices through the iBooks store; for the Kindle and other devices running the Kindle App through the Kindle Store; for the Nook through the Barnes and Noble Nook Store; and in hard copy format from Amazon.com as well as Barnes and Noble.
    Check out some screenshots from the book below:


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  20. FizziksGuy
    As we close in on the end of our year in high school physics, I thought it’d be helpful to myself (and perhaps to others) to put together a compendium of some of the best Regents/Honors Physics resources to assist students in preparing for their final exams. Without further ado, and in no particular order:

    APlusPhysics: Dan Fullerton’s (my) site to assist students and educators specifically around the NY Regents Physics curriculum, which has been expanding and generalizing to curricula outside the state as well. The Regents Physics section of the site, however, is by far the strongest and most complete. This site includes online tutorials covering the entire Regents Physics course, interactive quizzes pulling from a database of hundreds of old Regents Physics Exam questions, video tutorials of every major topic covered by the exam, and is also tied in quite closely with the Regents Physics Essentials review book. In addition, every Regents Physics questions from the past 16 exams has been pulled into worksheets by topic to allow for highly directed practice.
    ScienceWithMrNoon: Brendan Noon‘s physics site has a wide variety of great content, including topic-based interactive quizzes and tons of great physics videos. His course calendar, as well, is loaded with tons of great resources by topic!
    St. Mary’s Physics: Tony Mangiacapre‘s site, full of great lessons and interactive simulations across the entire Regents Physics curriculum. I’m especially fond of the Photoelectric Effect simulation — makes for a great computer-based lab activity! This site is also closely linked with Tony’s 123physics.com, featuring more than 1300 Regents Physics Exam questions broken down by topic for students to practice, as well as more great videos.
    RegentsPrep.org: The Oswego City School District (with Dr. Tom Altman) has pulled together a strong collection of resources broken into Explanations, Demos, Labs, and Quizzes to assist students and educators in preparing for the Regents Physics exam.
    Altman Science: The charismatic Dr. Tom Altman provides real-life demonstrations and explanations of physics concepts in action as part of the High School Physics Project. Further, he’s broken down a number of old Regents Exams and walked through solutions to each and every question in video format, page by page. In addition, his laser videos are “wicked cool” as well!
    Past Regents Exams: The name says it all — an amazing archive of old Regents Physics exams!
    Regents Physics Essentials: I’d feel negligent in my feeble attempts at self-marketing if I didn’t point out the Regents Physics Essentials review book I put together at student urging a few years back. There are a number of great review books to help students get ready for the exam, but this book takes a slightly different twist by providing students a straightforward, clear explanation of the fundamental concepts and more than 500 sample questions with fully-worked out solutions directly integrated in the text. As stated by my physics teaching cohort in crime at our high school, “the best review book is the one students will actually use,” and this was written to be friendly, fun, and concise. Plus, if students/teachers want extra problems without solutions given, the worksheets are available free online! You can check out the book’s free preview on APlusPhysics or use Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature!

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  21. FizziksGuy
    Hello high school physics teachers! My name is Rob Pearson, and I’m director of microelectronic engineering programs at Rochester Institute of Technology.
    I really like what I do and I want to tell you why. I also want to tell you why I am sharing this with you. I bet you would like to see students more engaged with the concepts you teach and the math employed in your courses. I am an engineer, so I think about problem solving (applications) first and basic science second. But like any good engineer (think MacGyver, to use an outdated reference) I know that I need to be handy with tools like math and physics if I am going to do anything useful. Come to think about it, why didn’t MacGyver ever say he was an engineer? What if your student could help solve challenging problems, use math and science every day, and have a rewarding career and also make a good salary? Typical bachelor of science graduates of RIT’s microelectronic engineering program receive multiple job offers with average starting salaries in the $60-70k range.
    Now back to what I do as an electrical engineer. Some aspects of electrical engineering can be dry and theoretical, but I fabricate semiconductor devices — millions of them on a chip and billions of them on each silicon wafer. The process of making these “magical” semiconductor systems is intricate and uses lots of physics, optics, mechanics, chemistry, you name it. So how does this relate to your physics course? Let me give you some examples. You teach about the Lorentz force and the right-hand rule. You could use a motor winding to illustrate the usefulness but I can give you another example the mixes physics and chemistry. We introduce elements from groups III and V on the periodic table into silicon (group IV) to change the conductivity of the silicon and make our devices. One way to introduce these elements is by ion implantation. Ion implanter functionality is based on the Lorentz force. We use tunable electro-magnets to sort ions in a vacuum by mass to charge ratio and then accelerate them using a variable high-voltage (200,000 V) supply. There is plenty of physics to talk about in this tool. Another example is a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) device called an accelerometer. It consists of a tiny mass on a tiny beam and when the mass is accelerated it produces a proportional electrical signal.
    But wait, there’s more! It’s great that I can use these basic science courses and concepts in what I do, but what I really like is communicating the exciting possibilities of what has yet to be designed and built. Look at the changes that have occurred in our phones over just the last five years! They have touch screens, accelerometers, Global Positioning Systems, maps, computers, music players, TVs, videos (3D too!)… they can be video projectors, photo albums, and gaming systems. And that’s just one of many systems that rely on semiconductor products.
    What will your students do if they take up a career in this challenging field? Do you remember the tricorder that Dr. McCoy had on Star Trek? That portable medical lab in one compact unit is nearing reality. Great strides are being made in the intersection of electronics, biology, and chemistry. Further miniaturization of electronics is needed to take our current sci fi tech and turn it into practical high tech.
    The biggest challenge I face running an undergraduate college engineering program that focuses on microelectronics and semiconductor processing is finding bright young high school students who even know that this field exists. Please help us spread the word.
    I hope that maybe you can encourage an interested student or two of yours to go on to study microelectronics or nanotechnology in college, and invite you to learn more about our programs and microelectronics by visiting our web page at http://www.rit.edu/kgcoe/ue/.
    Sincerely,

    Rob Pearson, PhD
    Director, Microelectronic Engineering Programs
    Rochester Institute of Technology
    robert.pearson@rit.edu

    (Please note that further information about semiconductors and microelectronics in high school can be found as part of the Semiconductor Technology Enrichment Program materials available at APlusPhysics.com. Special thanks to Dr. Rob Pearson for submitting his article as a guest post to Physics In Flux.)

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  22. FizziksGuy
    Hi folks,
    As you may have noticed, the last 9 months or so of posts have disappeared… this occurred due to a combination of web hosting problems as well as operator (my) error in restoring backups. Thankfully, only those 9 months worth of posts have been lost, and I’m actively beginning efforts to migrate the entire site to a new host that should not only minimize the possibility of something like this recurring, but should also dramatically speed up the entire site while allowing much more room for future growth. My apologies for the inconvenience, and my thanks for your understanding.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PhysicsInFlux/~4/JQxfNznEwp0

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  25. FizziksGuy

    Acoustic Levitation

    By FizziksGuy,

    Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory have discovered a way to use sound waves to levitate individual droplets of solutions containing different pharmaceuticals. While the connection between levitation and drug development may not be immediately apparent, a special relationship emerges at the molecular level. Read more: http://www.anl.gov/articles/no-magic-show-real-world-levitation-inspire-better-pharmaceuticals


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