With Spring finally here and rainbows soon to follow, explore PhET’s Bending Light simulation and learn why rainbows are ROYGBIV.
In the middle of modern physics? Try our “Intro to Photoelectric Effect Interactive Lecture.” These lecture notes include many concept questions and an interactive lecture demo, for a 2-3 day introduction to the Photoelectric Effect.
Have you seen our latest video Using PhET in Lecture: Going Beyond Demos?
See how to use PhET simulations in powerful ways that engage a whole class in a large lecture setting. See examples of how you can incorporate clickers and other instructional techniques to deliver engaging interactive lecture demonstrations that will make maximum impact on student learning.
Dear Fellow Educators, Administrators, Education Resource Providers,
We need your help!
To help us secure future funding to advance our work and keep PhET free, and to make the site as useful as possible for you, we need to know more about how, where, and why you use PhET in your teaching, and how you see the simulations influencing your students’ learning. We also want your input on future directions for the PhET project.
We are seeking very broad representation, so please forward this invitation to any educators you know.
If you are …
K12 Teacher who teaches with PhET:
https://cuboulder.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5z4mrcuB1JwW9mZ
College Faculty who teaches with PhET:
https://cuboulder.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_a9TLQpQd0cRB6fz
Use PhET in your education work or product (but not in teaching K12 or college):
https://cuboulder.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5bEt1hYhrHhUIFT
Familiar with PhET, but do NOT USE PhET in your work:
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If any of these links don’t work, go here:
http://tinyurl.com/phetsurvey
Or copy and paste one of the URLs above into your internet browser.
Your participation is entirely voluntary, and your individual responses to this survey will be confidential. If you would like your institution to appear on a list or map of PhET users, you will have an opportunity to provide permission.
The survey results will be compiled to help improve PhET. Only aggregated results or anonymous statements will be used in any publications or reports, be disseminated on our website, or used in presentations to funders, educators, or researchers.
Thank you for your time and feedback!
Your PhET Team,
Kathy Perkins, Kathy Dessau, Noah Podolefsky, Mike Dubson, Robert Parson, Trish Loeblein, Noah Finkelstein, Emily Moore, Ariel Paul, Julia Chamberlain, Karina Hensberry, John Blanco, Jon Olson, Chris Malley, Sam Reid, Sam McKagan, Danny Rehn, Jesse Garrison, Linda Wellmann, and Oliver Nix
Looking for a lesson on projectile motion for middle school? This lesson plan submitted by UTeach at UT-Austin has students investigate how air resistance affects different objects. Lesson objectives include:
Standards addressed: TEKS Science: 8.3C, 8.6C CCRS Science Standards: VIII-C1
Chemistry Teachers – Getting ready for the new year?
See how Trish Loeblein, PhET K-12 Specialist and Evergreen High School physics & chemistry teacher, uses PhET sims in her high school chemistry course. The lessons include how to use PhET for demos, in-class activities, homeworks, and concept questions.
(The activities were designed for Trish’s Honors Chemistry course but can be easily adapted for many levels and needs.)
Physics Teachers – Getting ready for the new year?
See how Trish Loeblein, PhET K-12 Specialist and Evergreen High School physics & chemistry teacher, uses sims during these first semester activities on kinematics. The lessons include how to use PhET for demos, in-class labs, homeworks, and concept questions.
(The activities are appropriate for many levels and can easily be adapted for your particular needs.)
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!
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?
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.
