ERIC Number: EJ1004673
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Feb
Pages: 3
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0031-921X
EISSN: N/A
A Resource for Using Real-World Examples in the Physics Classroom
Van Dongen, Janelle; Rieger, Georg
Physics Teacher, v51 n2 p105-107 Feb 2013
Physics Teaching for the 21st Century (://c21.phas.ubc.ca) is a free online resource for teachers who are interested in teaching physics concepts in real-world contexts. The materials on this site were developed by a team of physics faculty and graduate and undergraduate students at the Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of British Columbia, based on issues of great current concern--reusable energy, climate change, and medical advancement. Topics on the website also focus on applications of physics in the natural world around us. There are currently about 70 different topics on the website and it is not possible to justly give a sense of the website in total here. Instead we will present one complete example of the resources available on our website and show how it can be used in the classroom or in lecture. The example discussed here is suitable for a first-year university course and focuses on diffraction through a circular aperture and Rayleigh's resolution criterion by looking at the effect of pupil size on the minimum angle of resolution. The original idea came from reading a book on zoological physics, and a short example was later found in a first-year physics textbook. (Contains 4 figures.)
Descriptors: Physics, Science Instruction, College Science, Introductory Courses, Scientific Concepts, Optics, Web Sites, Educational Resources
American Association of Physics Teachers. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. Tel: 301-209-3300; Fax: 301-209-0845; e-mail: pubs@aapt.org; Web site: http://scitation.aip.org/tpt
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A