The Physics of...

Introduction

This segment of the project draws heavily on performance–based education strategies. High school physics students will be immersed in a project where they will have to research an area of interest and discover the physical phenomena that govern their area of interest. Students will make 10–15 minute presentations to the class using a variety of media.

Students who are engaged in this project will have the opportunity to

Method

Since this is the first time this project has been integrated into the curriculum there are no example products to show students what they are aiming for. In place of exemplary works the teacher made a presentation to the class on The Physics of YBCO Superconductors which is also a part of this project. In addition, a sample summary and sample bibliography were provided to illustrate such works.

Students were introduced to this project on the first day of the course as it is mentioned on the syllabus and during class. The prompt and rubric were distributed during the fourth week of school along with a crib sheet on preparing summaries and bibliographies in the APA style. During the tenth week of school (Nov. 9 and 12) students were given two days of class time in which to prepare their projects for presentation to the class.

The projects were to be completed any time before the winter holiday (Dec. 21, 2001). During the 11th week of the course (week of November 19, 2001) students were given the opportunity to schedule thier presentations for during the weeks of December 10 and December 17, 2001.

The other segments of this project work well with the Physics of... student project. Students may prepare PowerPoint presentations, conduct original scientific research, and use the whiteboard. In a way, the students are helping to test technology more commonly used by the teacher. This gives them the opportunity to see the limitations of our classroom resources and experience how difficult science research and science education can be.

Students are given a tremendous amount of latitude in their project selection. The very nature of physics is that of the most fundamental sciences. Everything humans experience can be boiled down to very simple terms. In fact, the universe experienced on the human scale is only constructed of three basic particles and only four fundamental forces. Anything that can be imagined should eventually be explained by physics.

There are many real benefits to this project:

1. Students are exposed to scientific literature during their research. This is probably the first time that they have seen scientific works and should become familiar with the writing style unique to scientists.
2. Students are taught to prepare papers following the MLA style exclusively in school. This project exposes them to a new writing style that they are most likely not familiar with, APA. When they reach college most papers written in the social, behavioral and natural sciences will be expected to be composed following the APA format.
3. It gives students the opportunity to make a live presentation to their fellow students. Having students speak before their peers enhances their communication skills and shows them that public speaking is not relegated only to speech class.
4. It brings a performance-based education project into the course. Pennsylvania requires more and more performance-based education in the new standards that are being adopted.
5. Students have the opportunity to prepare their findings on media they may not be accustomed to such as a PowerPoint presentation, a web site, a poster, or a live demonstration.
6. It breaks up the monotony of the course and infuses a short change in pace in the middle of the year. Most other courses require a major project or paper toward the end of the course. In order to avoid this overload, this project is timed to fall before a major break and not when other projects are likely to be due.

Evaluation

A clearly defined evaluation rubric was designed to aid students in preparing their projects. This criteria will be applied by the teacher to award points for the assigment. So long as students meet the criteria they will earn all of the available credit. Students not fully meeting the criteria will be awarded a portion of the available points as determined by the teacher.

Summary - 15 points
Clearly identifies the area of interest and reports on findings. Direct applications to physics must be evident. Should indicate that the student clearly understands the physics of the subject. At least one single space, typed page in length. Follows APA style.
Bibliography - 15 points
Cites at least three sources of information about the physics of the subject of interest. At least two different media should be cited (print, video, web, etc). Follows APA style. Typed.
Presentation - 70 points
Presentation is of substantial depth and indicates a solid level of understanding.The focus of the presentation should be an in depth description of the physical phenomena of study. Presentations may be given as web sites, PowerPoint Presentations, demonstrations, posters, or a combination of two or more styles. Projects given as papers should be substantial (5+ pages double spaced).