Category Archives: Cool

The cake is the truth

Three of my Grade 9 students, who happen to be fans of Cake Boss on the food network, decided to use a cake to represent the water cycle for a project. And hey, who am I to argue?
Behold the wonderfulness:

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Squishy circuits

I have not tried it yet, but with my intro to electricity in grade 9 this coming year I am SO doing this:

Funny thing is, she says “high school physics teachers have been doing this for years” – where the … Continue reading

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Dynamic video of the sun

Since this is TeachScience.net I think it is time to get back to the Science part, as I have been focusing on the Teaching part lately.
One of my interests is astronomy – I am an avid amateur astronomer, and one … Continue reading

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Using the Sloan SkyServer

In Grade 9 Science, we are currently doing the Astronomy unit. Today we were looking at the shapes of galaxies, and a variety of deep sky objects one can see with even a modest telescope. Instead of just rambling off … Continue reading

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Getting to “I don’t know”

I like Isaac Asimov’s quote about Science:
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ (I found it!) but ‘That’s funny …’
I tell them repeatedly that all the interesting stuff in … Continue reading

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Great free tools for sound recording and analysis

With my grade 11 Physics class we are currently studying sound, and we have been using a variety of tools. Here are some of the great free tools that we have found useful:
Free Audio Editor
The title of this software pretty … Continue reading

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WiRT (pt 2) The Independent Project

I did not intend this to be part 2 of this topic, but I came across this video on David Martin’s blog Real teaching means real learning, and thought it was important to share. Plus, his blog title fits right … Continue reading

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DIY personalized, randomized assignments

I like giving students randomized assignments. That is, I like assignments where they all get the same questions, but different numbers. That way, they can collaborate, but have to ask “how did you solve that question?” rather than “what did … Continue reading

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Millikan Oil Drop Simulation

Some years ago I wrote a little simulation program for a virtual Millikan Oil Drop lab. Since I have this Blog, I thought I would take the opportunity to share it, in hopes that others will find it useful as … Continue reading

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Virtual Extra Help on a Snow Day

Yesterday we had a snow day. Hurray! Everyone loves a snow day. Everyone, that is, except the students who have a test the following day and are looking for extra help.
In order to provide extra help online for my students, … Continue reading

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