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PhET Blog

Energy Skate Park: Basics Lab


Energy Skate Park

This inquiry-based lab, written by PhET’s Noah Podolefsky, is great to teach Middle Schoolers about kinetic energy, potential energy and conservation of energy–before they hit the skate park for real over the summer!

Friday

May 11

2012

PhET Selected to Receive 2nd Place 2012 SIGOL Online Learning Award


SIGOL Award

We’re excited to announce that we have been chosen as the 2nd Place Winner in the 2012 SIGOL Online Learning Awards. This award recognizes innovative educators worldwide for their leadership and creativity in providing e-learning opportunities for elementary through university students. As part of the award, come see us at ISTE 2012 June 24-27th in San Diego, CA.

Monday

May 7

2012

Don’t Forget: Workshop on Using PhET in HS Chemistry on June 7th in Centennial, CO

On Thursday, June 7th from 9-12:30 PM, Trish Loeblein, PhET K-12 Specialist and Evergreen High School physics & chemistry teacher, along with a chemistry post-doc from PhET will be holding a workshop at the Instructional Support Facility (ISF) for the Cherry Creek School District in Centennial, CO on how to incorporate PhET into your high school chemistry class.

Space is limited. Please contact Mary Bartholomew at mbartholomew@cherrycreekschools.org to register for the workshop.

Cost: $10 (pay at door)

Location Details:
Instructional Support Facility (ISF)
Cherry Creek School District
5416 S. Riviera Way
Centennial, CO 80015

Monday

Apr 30

2012

New “Real Molecules” Tab in Molecule Shapes Sims


Molecule Shapes

Check out the new tab, “Real Molecules,” in the Molecule Shapes or Molecule Shapes: Basics sims. By clicking on the tab, you can compare the VSEPR (Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion) model to real molecules.

Tuesday

Apr 24

2012

PhET Webinar on Tuesday, April 24th at 3:45 PM PDT

Teachers, join us for a free introductory webinar on how to use PhET.

The presentation will be about 35 minutes with some time for questions. Sponsored by Oregon Virtual School District, the webinar is free and open to everyone.

Date: Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Time: 3:45 pm, Pacific Daylight Time (San Francisco, GMT-07:00)
Meeting Number: 928 566 534

To join the online meeting:
1. Go to https://oregoned.webex.com/oregoned/j.php?ED=180718897&UID=0&RT=MiM0
2. If requested, enter your name and email address.
3. This meeting does not require a password.
4. Click “Join”.

To view in other time zones or languages, please click the link: https://oregoned.webex.com/oregoned/j.php?ED=180718897&UID=0&ORT=MiM0

To join the audio conference only:
To receive a call back, provide your phone number when you join the meeting, or call the number below and enter the access code.
Call-in toll-free number (US/Canada): 1-877-668-4493
Call-in toll number (US/Canada): +1-408-600-3600
Toll-free dialing restrictions: http://www.webex.com/pdf/tollfree_restrictions.pdf
Access code:928 566 534

Wednesday

Apr 18

2012

Please Help! We Need Your Input….


Molecule Shapes

Teachers, we need your input!

We have been experimenting with the addition of a new “Teacher” menu in our simulations. See “Teacher” along the upper left hand navigation in Molecule Shapes or Molecule Shapes: Basics. There you can change the background color to white.

Can you let us know how you might use this new Teacher menu and/or “white background” option in the comments below?

Thursday

Apr 12

2012

Gas Properties Activities for Middle School


Gas Properties

These inquiry-based activities are ideal for Grades 5-8. Through these activities students will be able to describe what air looks like at a microscopic level, explain how air applies pressure, and predict how various changes affect the pressure.

Tuesday

Apr 10

2012

Teacher Activity for Pendulum Lab


Pendulum Lab

This inquiry-based activity enables students to design their own experiment where they learn how to determine the gravitational acceleration on Planet X.

Wednesday

Apr 4

2012

Texas Instruments to Preview Adaptations of PhET Sims at NSTA Booth #336

TI will preview adaptations for a selection of PhET simulations, that when used with the TI-Nspire CX’s interactive graphing capabilities, color screen and computer software, will bring middle school physical, life, and earth science concepts to life. These activities will be available through TI’s Science Nspired online resource center, free of charge, in Summer 2012.

See these new adaptations at Texas Instrument Booth #336 at the 2012 National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) National Conference in Indianapolis, March 29 – April 1.

Wednesday

Mar 28

2012

Thank You Texas Instruments…

Thank you Texas Instruments for supporting PhET through a generous donation.

If you want to become a sponsor, go to CU Foundation PhET Project Fund. Or, e-mail kathryn.dessau@colorado.edu. Depending upon the level of sponsorship, your logo can appear on our website which has had over 70 million sims served!

Texas Instruments

Tuesday

Mar 27

2012