SharingTree was starting by two high school science teachers, so physics has a special place for us. We have always admired teachers like Dean Baird and sites like Pretty Good Physics that help physics teachers improve their craft. Physics is often a department of one, and our goal is to create a place where teachers can share resources, collaborate and build a community. Below you will find some of the resources we have specifically for Physics teachers. You are not alone!
Kinematics is the classical starting place and we have a number of resources on this topic.
An unusual but fun way to start the year is our Egg Drop Design Challenge. You can use this activity and then revisit it after students have learned about collisions and how to minimize impulses. The materials you use are very flexible and this activity is meant to be completed in 60-90 minutes.
Heading into Newton’s Third law and Collisions we have and introduction activity where students watch a series of videos to determine who receives the larger force.
For a set of assessments on Newton’s 3rd Law, Impulse and Momentum see this Group.
After Collisions we have a collection of resources on Kinetic, Gravitational Potential, and Elastic Potential Energy types. This collection includes Google Slides, Videos and Google Forms.
The last two resources in the subject collection are focused on basic electrical circuits using easy to assemble electrical kits.
Electricity Kit Items (2-3 students per kit)
Two C-Cell battery holder (1) with snap connectors
C-Cell batteries (2) – D batteries and D cell holders would also work great.
Nine Volt Snap Connectors (1) I prefer hard shell but soft is fine
Alligator wire clips (6ish per group) Don’t buy the cheapest available as a wire failing is challenging for students to troubleshoot! The cheap ones just crimp the alligator clip to the wire.
Aluminum Foil (Optional) – You can use aluminum foil in a pinch to replace the Alligator wire clips.
2-Volt E10 base bulbs (3) – I’m really specific as some just don’t last due to the glass breaking easily. Avoid LEDs ones as well. My goto is the #222 Bulb rated at 2.25V, 0.56W with an E10 base. Image above should link to this one. This bulb handles drops and extra/under voltage very well.
E10 base bulb holders (3) – These make it easy to attach the alligator clips to each bulb.
Christmas Lights (Optional) – If you want to a very inexpensive option try cutting up a set of incandescent Christmas lights. They work pretty well and save you the cost of the bulbs and bulb holders. The only downside can be they have more variation in brightness than the #222 bulbs above.
Single Pole Light Switch (3) – Super robust and cheap. The students like learning how to connect them to circuits and they save your batteries.
Multimeter – (1) Ideal 61-340 for about $80 is good or something cheap for about $10 works surprisingly well. You can also do tons of conceptual activities based on the brightness of bulbs without a multimeter.
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