Introduction
This CD contains 32 sets of physics activities created by US
and Zambian teachers in the COSM-ZASE workshops. The teachers
worked together to develop materials that address topics that
are found in the physics curriculum and that often present teaching
and learning problems. The need for these to be replicable in or
adaptable to the context of Zambia as a developing country meant
that the activities had to be simple and had to use appopriate
materials. One result is that they are useful in both countries; in
the US, their relative simplicity removes the layers of technology
that we sometimes put between our students and fundamental concepts.
To access the descriptions, go the the Table of Contents to the
right. These documents are in MS Word. If you are using MS Explorer
to view this page, they may come up in that browser. To edit and/or
print out the documents, you may prefer to close this window and go to
directly to the "activities" folder on this CD.
Finally, some of the activities also have a "Related Video" link. These
are mpeg files that were recorded in Zambia of teachers and/or students
demonstrating the activities.
About COSM-ZASE
COSM is the Center for the study
of the Origin and Structure of Matter, a Physics Frontiers Center funded by the
US National Science Foundation and located at Hampton University in Virginia.
ZASE is the Zambia Association for Science Education. ZASE promotes professional
development for science teachers throughout Zambia. The workshops which
produced these activities were conducted under the auspices and guidance
of both organizations working together. In the same way, the workshops
themselves are collaborations between US and Zambian physics teachers.
To learn more about the workshops, contact:
Kenneth Cecire
Graduate Physics Research Center
Hampton University
Hampton, Virginia 23668
Tel 1-757-728-6533
e-mail ken.cecire@hamptonu.edu
The road to Chivuna.
Talking with students in Livingstone.
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Annotated Table of Contents
Choose the links to go to the Activities and Other Resources. Contents are organized by topic areas. All actvities are in MS Word format. To edit and/or make use of these activities, it is recommended that you copy them from the "activities" folder of this CD to the hard drive of your computer and then open each one using MS Word or OpenOffice.
Motion
- Uniform Speed 1
A lab practical to examine uniform motion at constant speed with a football (soccer ball).
- Uniform Speed 2
A lab practical to examine uniform motion at constant speed with a duster (blackboard eraser).
- Uniform Speed 3
A lab practical to examine uniform motion at constant speed with...students.
- Velocity-Time Graph with Gravitational Acceleration
Using a stone in freefall, students can graph uniform accelerated motion.
- Uniform Acceleration 1
This is the classic trolley-on-an-incline.
- Uniform Acceleration 2
A lab practical in which students create and analyze a distance-time graph of a uniformly accelerated body.
- Changing Acceleration
Related Video
Students can create distance-time graphs of both uniform and changing acceleration by timing a moving bicycle.
- Relative Motion
Students act as "human trolleys" in this demonstration of relative motion.
- No Stopclock Projectile Motion
A lab practical in which students examine projectile motion by measuring with a ruler.
- Orbital Dynamics Experiment
In this practical exercise, students learn about circular motion and orbits.
Force
- Newton's First Law of Motion
A demonstration of inertia with minimal materials.
- Newton's Second Law of Motion
F=ma using a classroom table.
- Stretching Newton's Second Law
A lab-practical to investigate force, mass, and acceleration with rubber bands.
- Newton's Third Law of Motion
A demonstration of action-reaction with a pipe and a wood board.
- Hooke's Law
Students learn Hooke's Law and the meaning of the gradient of a graph in this practical lab activity.
- Momentum
The Law of Conservation of Momentum is studied in this lab practical.
Harmonic Motion
- Simple Pendulum
Almost any object can be used to make a pendulum bob in this lab practical.
- Frequency and Period
Students discover the meaning of frequency and period in this lab practical.
Waves
- Wave Motion
Related Video
A simple demonstration of the transfer of energy from one point to another through a medium.
- Waves Transfer Energy, Not Matter!
Related Video
A set of demonstrations for students to explore wave propagation.
- Waves in an Improvised Ripple Tank
Related Video
Create a simple ripple tank to demonstrate diffraction and energy transfer.
Sound
- Exploring the Nature of Sound
Related Video
A set of practical exercises in which students learn qualitatively about sound.
- Sound Waves in Air
A demonstration that sound is transmitted in a medium.
- Speed of Sound
Related Video
Students measure the speed of sound in this lab.
- Interference in Music
Students sing their way to comprehension in this demonstration.
Light
- Reflection in a Plane Mirror
A demonstation of reflection properties using a plane mirror.
- Spear the Fish
This lab practical shows a real-life application of refraction of light that you might find on the Kafue River.
- Refraction of Light in Water
A simple demonstration of the refraction of light using a cup and water.
- Refraction in a Crowd
A demonstation of how different media affect refraction.
- Dispersion and Refraction of Light
This is a demonstation to show that light is a combination of colours at varying fequencies.
- Images and Focal Length with a Convex Lens
Related Video
Students study the formation of images in this lab practical.
General Activities
- The Mole Concept
This is a lesson to define the mole and understand it in terms of Avagadro's number.
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