Electromagnetic phenomena and devices such as motors are typically unfamiliar to both teachers and students. To better visualize and illustrate the abstract concepts (such as magnetic fields) underlying electricity and magnetism, we suggest that students construct and analyse the operation of a simply constructed Johnson electric motor. In this…

Late in 2006, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) released the first report in this series, "Building Minds, Minding Buildings: Turning Crumbling Schools into Environments for Learning." This second report, which covers the green schools movement is a natural follow-up; it highlights the work of AFT members and affiliates involved…

Suggests a first-order experiment that can be used to establish the Lorentz transformation without considering the constancy of light velocity or the full set of Maxwell's equations. Involves the use of a long solenoid to create an electric field in a moving magnetic field. (LC)

Contends that the equations of electromagnetism, whether in rationalized or non-rationalized form, express an invariant set of physical relationships. The relationships among corresponding symbols are given and applied to precise statements about the relation between the oersted and the amphere per meter, the abampere and the ampere, etc.…

The Walt Disney Magnet School Tot Lot, part of the school and park complex in Chicago, is designed for younger children. (Author/MLF)

We examine high concentrations of poverty in public schools by comparing economic segregation in schools and in their corresponding attendance boundaries. To do this, we assign poverty rates from the 2000 census to maps of school attendance boundaries for 21 of the largest school districts and link this with data enumerating the number of poor…

By June 2007, at least 30 percent of the public school minority students residing in Hartford will have an educational experience with reduced isolation through three voluntary programs: (a) Interdistrict magnet schools; (b) Open Choice (also known as Project Choice); and (c) Interdistrict cooperative grants. Project Choice is a voluntary program…

The research is to understand the historical sociopolitical context of the emergence of school choice, more specifically magnet schools, and the consequences of this choice on student enrollment patterns. The approach is a critical examination of Neoliberalism as an ideology and polarizing sociopolitical movement and the intersection of this…

School choice reforms have been proposed as ways to enhance efficiency, equity, and effectiveness in education. This study examines the consequences of participating in public high school choice in Chicago, a city with a wide variety of choice programs, including career academies, charter schools, magnet schools, and selective test-based college…

Considers health hazards that may be associated with the electromagnetic effects produced by high voltage electric transmission lines. (GS)

Discusses the question posed by some that the earth's magnetic field may reverse. States that rocks magnetized by ancient fields may offer clues to the underlying reversal mechanism in the earth's core. (TW)

If oxygen is attracted to a magnet, is there more oxygen in the air near the north magnetic pole? Explains why the answer to this question (posed by a high school physics student) is "no." (JN)