Describes Don Herbert's (Mr. Wizard) efforts in developing instructional films for teaching science to 9-13 year olds. Gives an account of Herbert's background through his 14 years on television's Watch Mr. Wizard" program. Briefly, describes four of the six films produced under the title Science 20." Presents Herbert's attempt in a few of these…

Describes a program where high school students developed a science presentation consisting of 10 demonstrations on wave motion. It is noted that the presentation was highly sought after by other schools. (MVL)

Proposes the science show as a means to increase science awareness and interest among middle school students to increase future student enrollment and interest in high school science. Provides eight steps to help ensure a successful program. (MDH)

This book is organized around a set of simple observational physics activities that stimulate questioning and answering and encourage the generation of answers to stimulate individual creativity. The activities integrate drawing, counting, measuring, predicting, recording, hypothesizing, and verifying. The activities are designed to sharpen…

This book shows how physics relates to daily life. Chapters included are: (1) "Physics of Fun" (dealing with the concepts of friction, Bernoulli's principle, lift, buoyancy, adhesion, cohesion, surface tension, gas expansion, waves, light, mirror images, and solar cells); (2) "Physics of Nature" (illustrating the concepts of inertia, static…

Reports on a high school egg dropping contest as a means of increasing student interest in science. (SL)

The Working Group on Women in Physics of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) subcontracted with the American Institute of Physics to conduct an international study of women in physics in two phases. The first part was a benchmarking study to identify reliable sources and collect data on the representation of women in…

Compared students' physics grades with their overall and other science grade point averages to determine teacher's grading severity in schools with a high and a low percent physics enrollment, and concluded the absence of apparent relationships between grading practices and low enrollments. (CC)

The use of independent experimental investigations of topics of the student's choosing is described in physics courses at Wittenberg University. Various projects which have been done are listed. (TS)

Discusses the general construction of an air track. Describes three demonstrations including elastic collision, forced oscillators, and coupled oscillators. Provides a diagram and four pictures. Suggests how a similar exhibit could be constructed with a modest budget. (YP)

Discusses the etymology of physics words. Provides a list of English words and their original meaning. (YP)

Presents a collection of suggestions, ideas, and reminiscences relating the first-day classroom activities of 13 different teachers at high schools and colleges. (YP)

Describes the physics displays at the University of Canterbury (New Zealand), including the facility, static displays, and interactive displays. Discusses the basic philosophy, general principles, and evaluation of the displays. (YP)

Proposes that physics teachers play the role of Galileo. Describes historical resources, costumes, materials, makeup, and objectives of the role-play. Provides three references on Galileo. (YP)

The first demonstration shows rolling balls on two tracks: one is straight and the other dips down and then comes back up. Discusses the reason why the former is slower than the latter. The second demonstration shows a rising cork inside a water tube flowing downward. (YP)