This month, "The Early Years" is focusing on magnets. The predicting and testing students do in this month's activity also relate to "Science and Children's" theme this issue, teaching the nature of science. Magnets are typically included in early childhood science curriculums because they are irresistible to children. Also, understanding that…

Investigates the behavior of a bar magnet with a steel ball bearing on one pole as it approaches another bar magnet. Maps the problem onto electrostatics and explains observations based on the behavior of point charges near an isolated, uncharged sphere. Offers a simple demonstration of the method of images in electrostatics. (Author/NB)

Two science questions are answered: (1) How can someone have one brown eye and one blue eye?, and (2) Why are magnets attracted to some metals, but not all metals? It is very rare that a human will have two irises of different colors. This condition, heterochromia, can be a normal variant or the result of an ocular disease. Heterochromia can…

Some naturally occurring minerals possess a permanent magnetization. Certain processes such as sedimentation or kiln-firing can cause the particles in structures made of such materials to align themselves with the direction of Earth's magnetic field at the time. This direction has varied over the last few thousand years in ways that can be traced…

Prior work has proposed different theoretical mechanisms to explain students' course-taking patterns in schools. On the one hand, there are oversocialized accounts that claim that rules, social background factors, and supply-side factors shape observed career patterns. On the other hand, there are undersocialized accounts that claim that the…

This paper reports on a student summer project performed in 2006 at the University of Frankfurt. It is addressed to undergraduate students familiar with the basic principles of relativistic quantum mechanics and general relativity. The aim of the project was to study the Dirac equation in curved spacetime. To obtain the general relativistic Dirac…

This book is designed to be a quick and easy resource for anyone teaching physics for the first time. Written after extensive research, this book is filled with reliable labs, demos and activities that work well in the classroom. Also included are lesson plans, diagrams, and teacher notes for every activity. The book is not the end--it is just a…

A science toy sometimes called the "magnetic spinner" is an interesting class demonstration to illustrate the principles of magnetic levitation. It can also be used to demonstrate Faraday's law and a horizontally suspended physical pendulum. The levitated part contains two circular magnets encased in a plastic housing. Each magnet stays…

Anchored in the narrative inquiry tradition, this article examines commonly held beliefs about curriculum dissemination from the perspective of a teacher whose campus participated in a major school reform initiative. Through the presentation of a constellation of fine-grained stories revolving around the teacher's curriculum making as an art…

Describes the serendipitous discovery of paths left by charged particles in the magnetic deflection unit outside of a cyclotron. Offers suggestions for their occurrence. (CP)

Describes the process of high gradient magnetic separation which gives promise as a method of large scale removal of colloidal impurities including bacteria and viruses. Examples and diagrams are included. (GH)

This monograph was written for the Conference on the New Instructional Materials in Physics, held at the University of Washington in summer, 1965. It is intended for use by college students who are non-physics majors. The approach is phenomenological and macroscopic. The monograph contains three chapters. Chapter 1 discusses Faraday's experiments…

Presents a broad overview of magnet schools in New York State. Describes their effectiveness in various cities, and focuses on Rochester's successful publicity campaign to increase enrollment. Asserts that magnet schools, although more expensive per student than regular schools, enhance student achievement and provide a palatable form of…

Local school boards have traditionally assigned the school that a child is to attend. Only by selecting their neighborhoods have parents exercised their choice of school. In recent years, this tradition has slowly given way to magnet schools, inter-district choice programs, charter schools, voucher programs, and many other forms of choice,…