Looking for a Summer job?

Hey Everyone!

The Governor's office just created a new website for students who are searching for summer jobs--check it out!!! If you need help with completing applications, writing resumes or if you need a reference for a position, let me know.

Northglenn's First Annual GO (Girls Only) Engineering Day...are you in?!

AP Physics 1 Blog Assignment: Centripetal Force and Universal Gravitation

Write a blog post in which you address one of the following questions (including claim, evidence & reasoning to support your answer):

Option A: If the sun is constantly pulling the Earth toward it, why is it that the Earth doesn't collapse into a fiery ball of death and disaster?

Option B: If the sun suddenly died, what would happen to the Earth?

Option C: If a comet or other cosmic object collided with the Earth and caused a change in its mass or speed, what would happen to the Earth?

AP Physics 1: Egg Helmet Design & Drop Report

For your blog, you need to:
* Provide a Name for your Report
* Explain the problem you were asked to address
* Describe and show (in pictures) your initial product (name, 3 design features) and provide an analysis of the first drop test
* Describe and show (in pictures) your improved product (name, specific design improvements) and address how your design improvements will affect the egg's chances of survival based on the idea the relationship between force, time and impulse.
* Report on the results of your second drop test.
* Provide an analysis of why your egg did/did not survive based on what you know about helmet design, crush/crunch zones, and the relationship between force, time and impulse (change in momentum).
* Evaluate the impact of your specific design improvements, describe the major problems that we saw during the drop tests, and describe any other changes you would suggest making in the future to improve your product.

AP Physics 2: Extra Credit Blog Post

I forgot to post this on Friday, so I will make this extra credit.
Write a blog post in which you explain what the Northern and Southern Lights are, what they're caused by and how electromagnetism is involved. Your post should include at least one image (with credit given to the photographer) and AT LEAST 3 sources (cited).

Boulder Mini-Maker Faire 2015: Exploring Awesome.

As a Teacher Advisory Board member for RAFT, I was recruited to volunteer this weekend at the RAFT booth at Boulder's Mini-Maker Faire.  Although I'm relatively familiar with the Maker movement, I wasn't terribly sure what the event was all about.  As soon as I started reading about the event, and the accompanying Innovation in Education (IED) Summit, I was itching to go! 

Although I'd intended to take several workshops, we ended up spending most of the day exploring all of the exhibits and project and whatnots.  What a wealth of ideas!

 Read on for some of the highlights!

* Muscle Wire:
Learning about Muscle Wire at CU's Science Discovery booth.  Muscle Wire (aka Nitinol or Flexinol) is a material that contracts when heated and relaxes when cooled, simulating the motion/structure of muscle.  This material is one of the coolest advancements for robotics, as it can be used for controlling motion, and in load-bearing machines.  I wish we'd known about this material before implementing the prosthetic hand project. 

* Screen Printing with Boulder Public Library
Boulder Public Library had a fantastically awesome booth--with three different activities:  1) taking awkward family photos (with a host of different props!); 2) making LED bookmarks; and 3) screen printing your own t-shirt.  Steve and I both got to choose our own designs and bombard the crew with questions about how to DIY.  I think we're both psyched about creating our own set-up in the future--for home and/or school!

* Athletic Interpretations:  

Meeting and talking with Eris and David from Athletic Interpretations was awesome!  They were at the Faire to share their innovation for boxers which uses a photogate to measure the rate of speed bag punches.  Their company is based in Fort Collins, and they said they'd be willing to come talk with our kids about their project and process.  What a cool application of the circuits we've been learning about in physics, coupled with optic tools!  The guys tried to teach us how to use the speed bag...Steve did significantly better than I did!

*  Learning to Solder with Clear Blue Engineering

Clear Blue is a local company that had a booth to teach basic soldering...even though they were targeting kids, they kindly allowed me to partake!  Steve enjoyed the glasses...

and the product...

*TinkerMill Creations

* Boulder Fire Rescue Pulley Systems:

Boulder Fire Rescue demonstrated how they use pulley systems for mountain rescues, discussing the physics of the tension forces and load analysis.  I need to keep these guys in mind for future guest speakers about the everyday applications of physics!

* Launcher Ideas:
Goalie stick trebuchet?  Yes, this will definitely happen sometime soon!  And, why did we never think to add a toilet seat to make our launchers a bit more cozy?!

* Decibullz Ear Buds & Ear Plugs
Decibullz is a company that creates custom-fit ear buds using a plastic that is pliable when heated in hot water...kinda like mouth pieces. They were selling the blunt end bits from their manufacturing and had a station set up for kids to create their own ear plugs.

CU Teach Engineering Mini-PD (Winter 2015)

After attending CU Teach Engineering's PD over the summer, I was psyched to participate in another training with this group.  On Thursday, a small group of us met and built two different apparati to possibly use in class.  First, we each received a lens to use with a smart phone or tablet in order to use the device as a microscope.  We just taped these on for the afternoon, but you could set up a small contraption with a variable stage--similar to the one pictured here (check out Instructables for basic instructions). 
We had fun exploring textures around the room and checking out skin cells!

The other apparatus that we built was a lego colorimeter (check out the ACS article for specific instructions).  You can saw off the tops of legos to create perfectly-fit cuvette holders, use two small blocks with holes as LED holders, and then use the bricks to create a dark box for measuring light absorption/transmission .  Two cuvettes are used to provide a longer path length for the device.  Then, LEDs are used as both a light source (hooked up in series with a battery and a small resistor (35-65 ohms).  A second LED is set up on the other side of the cuvettes to serve as a light sensor (did you know they could act as a light sensor? This was news to me!), attached to a multimeter to measure voltage.  While this was intended as an engineering activity for chemistry, I can see this as a fantastic activity for physics as well--it takes away the "black box" nature of many devices (specs, etc) and shows students how light and and electricity can be used to create tools for measuring a variety of things.  This is a nice step toward understanding how waves are used in many medical devices.   Also, because different colored LEDs can be used, it provides a nice discussion for light and color absorption/transmission.

Side View:  Left side shows the leads for the light-detecting LED--these connect to a basic multimeter or voltmeter. 

 

Note butt-end/base of LED stuck in hole of a small/thin block with leads protruding outward--identical LED insertion on other side of apparatus. 

View of the LED light source--you can see the leads coming out of the LED, connected to a 65 ohm resistor and a small watch battery. 

LED light source illuminating sample.

View of the LED light detector (note:  there is no sample between light source and the light detector)

View from above of cuvette holders, light source (on Right) and light detector (left). 

 

AP Physics 1: Winter Break "Blog"

Hello, my wonderful Physics Pholks!  

I hope this finds you each enjoying vacation!   For your next blog post, you're actually not going to write a blog post...instead, you're going to set up a webpage--yay!  Your website will be your digital portfolio for future digital products you create in class.

The web program that I'd like you to use is Weebly.com.  Weebly is a free website creation tool that allows you to drag and drop elements to customize your web page--no coding needed.  (However, if you're a coder, you can also modify your templates, etc).   To create your webpage, you will first need to sign up for a Weebly account.  Then, get designing! 

***NOTE:  When you create your site, BE SURE YOU DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR FIRST AND LAST NAME ANYWHERE.  When you are asked to create your subdomain, you will be setting the URL / web address that someone would need to get to your site.  DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR FIRST AND LAST NAME in your domain...and, make sure it is professional and appropriate--you never know when you might want to share your work with someone and you don't want your web link to be embarrassing!***

Your website should include:
* Homepage with basic information about your site
* Page/tab that links directly to your blogger site
* "Resources" page (you will add links to useful resources)
* "Screencasts"  page (you will be adding your screencast videos or links to your videos on this page)
* "Physics News" Blog page (you will use this to post new physics ideas/articles/cool things)

AP Physics 2 Blog #7: Tesla vs. Edison--Which will you choose?!

Hello, my wonderful physicists!  Ready for your next blog?!

When most people think of electricity, light bulbs, and electrical innovation, inventor Thomas Edison (or possibly Ben Franklin) probably comes to mind.  Yet, he isn't the only great mind in the realm of electricity.  For those in the know, another name that probably comes to mind is Nikola Tesla. 

Your task:  
Research the work and contributions of Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, then write an argument (in the form of Claim-Evidence-Reasoning) for which scientist you think made the most significant contribution(s) that affect our modern, current lives.  Alternatively, you could also argue that someone else altogether should be considered the King of the Electrical Lab. 

If you include any data from your research in your blog, be sure to properly cite your sources. 

Game on!

AP Physics 2 Blog #6: Why Study Kinematics?

Hello, Physics Pholks!  

Since you've been practicing some kinematic calculations, it seems like the prime time to think about why and how kinematics might be useful in the real world.

Your task:  
1) What is "Kinematics"? Define this field of physics.

2) Choose three of the following articles/links to read.  Write a brief summary of how physics is involved in each real-world application of kinematics.  

Articles/Links/Videos:  Choose 3

Option 1:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhCR0UbW13Y

Option 2:  http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/action/crashreconstruction.cfm

Option 3:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tCajbgJgpI

Option 4:  http://www.iri.upc.edu/research/kinematics

Option 5:  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cyborg-beetles/

                 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/31906641/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/military-developing-robot-insect-cyborgs/#.VJO1icPAc

Option 7:  http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/03/24_octopus.shtml

Option 8:  http://www.wired.com/2012/09/the-physics-of-nike-hyperdunk-2/
Option 9: http://www.wired.com/2012/05/the-physics-of-the-hulks-jump/

Option 10:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaCGdBfcoMo

Option 11:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vN57XseOpw

Option 12:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhCR0UbW13Y 

Option 13:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BOUohniyJU

AP Physics 1 Semester 1 Final Blog Post (Blog #7): AP Physics 1 For Freshmen?

Hello, my wonderful, lovely AP Physics 1 Physicists!

Can you believe we're already about to wrap up the first semester of your high school career?  Crazy how time flies when you're having phun!

For this last blog post, please answer the following questions:

Should Northglenn continue to offer AP Physics 1 for freshmen?  Explain.
* Did you apply to be in AP or were you "placed" in AP physics?  Were you surprised to be in AP?  Excited?  Disappointed?  Why?
* Do you think AP physics is/was the right place for you?  Or, would you prefer to be in CP physics?  Why?  Explain. 
* What has been the most challenging aspect of AP physics?  What has been the least challenging (easiest) aspect of AP physics?
*  What do you think Ms. Dykstra could/should do differently to better support you (or future freshmen) taking AP physics?
*  If Northglenn continues to offer AP physics 1 for freshmen, what do you think the requirements/prerequisites should be for enrolling students in the class?
*  If Northglenn does NOT offer AP physics 1 for freshmen, how should we provide skill/ability-appropriate classes or coursework for all freshmen to better fit each students' math proficiency? 
*  Any other thoughts/perspectives that you would like to share on this topic.