Demonstrations and Activities

All of the following activities were developed for the Summer Institute for Excellence in Math and Science "The Physics of Everyday Life" workshop held on the Clayton College & State University campus on June 12-16, 1995. This workshop focused on five key physical concepts: Newton's laws of motion, Bernoulli's equation, the 1st law of thermodynamics, Ohm's law, and Faraday's induction law. Through a demonstration and discussion format, the participants found ways to introduce and develop these topics using such activities as building a lever, flying an airplane, throwing a curve ball, boiling water, and turning on a light bulb. Economics, ease of building demonstrations to display these concepts, and safety were stressed.

Some demonstrations and experiments in this workshop have been borrowed and modified from many different sources. Some of these are Hands-On Physics Activities by Cunningham and Herr, Physics for Every Kid by Janice VanCleave, and The Flying Circus of Physics by Jearl Walker. Many of you might have even tried some of these experiments in your classroom. As you may have found out, some of these do not always work when the students are doing them. Each demonstration and activity is evaluated for success and caveats.

This workshop was made possible by a grant for the Eisenhower Grant Foundation.

Last Modified: February 7, 1996

For comments and suggestions, send messages to : jpratte@kennesaw.edu