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Making Physics Fun

Key Concepts, Classroom Activities, and Everyday Examples, Grades K-8

By: Robert Prigo

Boost student interest and understanding in the physical sciences!

The author provides engaging activities utilizing safe, available materials that teachers can easily incorporate into their lesson plans. Extensive examples, sample inquiry questions, and ideas for initiating units are readily accessible for teachers to pick and choose from to meet student needs. Using easy-to-understand language, this practitioner-friendly resource helps teachers:

Address the "big ideas" in K–8 science education
Promote student understanding with ready-to-use learning experiences
Use hands-on activities to help students make larger, real-world connections
Assemble classroom learning centers to facilitate deeper understanding of basic physics principles

Full description

Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12, Elementary, Secondary
ISBN: 9781412926638
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2007
Page Count: 240
Publication date: April 05, 2007

Price: $40.95

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For Instructors

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Description

"The activities and examples include many that have withstood the test of time for successful science instruction and that enable teachers to link science to the lives of students."
—Elizabeth Hammerman, Science Educator and Consultant

"A substantial contribution to the field of science education and an easy way for busy teachers to make science more meaningful, exciting, and connected for students. An important mix of both content and activities that teachers can use to meet individual needs."
—Kerry Williams, Professor, Wayne State College

Boost student interest and understanding in the physical sciences!

Teaching physical science in the elementary and middle grades can be challenging for busy teachers faced with growing science demands and limited classroom resources. Robert Prigo provides fun and engaging activities using safe, available materials that educators can easily incorporate into lesson plans. Extensive examples, sample inquiry questions, and ideas for initiating units are readily available for teachers to pick and choose from to meet student needs.

The result of more than two decades of professional development work with hundreds of teachers and administrators, Making Physics Fun addresses five specific areas of physical science: motion and force, fluids and buoyancy, waves and sound, light and electromagnetic waves, and electricity and magnetism. Dozens of activities demonstrating physics in action help students of all ages relate physics principles to their everyday experiences.

Using easy-to-understand language, this practitioner-friendly resource helps teachers:

Address the "big ideas" in K–8 science education
Promote student understanding with ready-to-use learning experiences
Use hands-on activities to help students make larger, real-world connections
Assemble classroom learning centers to facilitate deeper understanding of basic physics principles

With conceptual summaries to support teachers' proficiency and understanding of the content, this guidebook is ideal for bringing physics to life for students in the classroom and in their lives!

Key features

Just-in-time resource for growing science demands on K–8 teachers
Helps teachers and students to see physics in action all around them
Loads of ready-to-use learning experiences
Helps teachers connect thinking with hands-on activities
Shows how to teach with safe, easy-to-get materials
Conceptual summaries support teacher understanding
Great resource for vertical or team study groups and professional development

Author(s)

Robert Prigo

Robert Prigo, professor and director of the Teacher Education Program at Middlebury College, has worked for twenty years with K–12 educators on inquiry-based science teaching and learning, supported through grants from the NSF and the Vermont Department of Education. His work with teachers and schools goes beyond professional development workshops and institutes to include phone-call-help to local teachers, science assemblies at local schools, lending equipment and resources, and visiting school classrooms to work directly with teachers and students. Prigo was recognized in 1991 as "Vermont Professor of the Year" by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Table of Contents

Preface

1. Motion and Force

Inertia and Newton's First Law of Motion

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Fundamental Forces and Newton's Third Law of Motion

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Net Force, Acceleration and Newton's Second Law of Motion

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Motion Circus

Sample Investigation Questions

2. Fluids and Buoyancy

Gases and Liquids as Fluids

Pressure in a Gas and Atmospheric Pressure

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Liquid Pressure

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Archimedes' Principle: Sinking and Floating

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Fluids in Motion: Bernoulli's Principle

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Fluids and Buoyancy Circus

A Bernoulli Circus

Sample Investigable Questions

3. Waves and Sound

Waves and Waves Motion

Concepts

Types of Waves and Waves Speed

Periodic Waves: Wavelength, Frequency, and Amplitude

Wave Reflection and Transmission

Superposition Principle

Activities

Everyday Examples

Sound Waves

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Waves and Sound Circus

Sample Investigable Questions

4. Light and Electromagnetic Waves

Waves and/or Particles

Sources of Light

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Light and Matter

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Light Travels in a Straight Line

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Reflection

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Refractions

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Total Internal Reflection

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Dispersion and Color

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Diffraction and Interference

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Eaxamples

Light Circus

Sample Investigative Questions

5. Electricity and Magnetism

Electric Charge and the Electric Force and Field

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Electric Current and the Magnetic Force and Field

Concepts

Activities

Magnets Interacting with Magnets and Magnetic Materials

Magnets Interacting with Current Carrying Wires

Current Carrying Wires Interacting with Current Carrying Wires

Everyday Examples

Magnets Interacting with Magnets and Magnetic Materials

Magnets Interacting with Current Carrying Wires

Electromagnetic Induction

Concepts

Activities

Everyday Examples

Electric and Magnetic Circus

Sample Investigative Questions

References and Resources

Reviews

"The activities and examples include many that have withstood the test of time for successful science instruction and that enable teachers to link science to the lives of students."

Elizabeth Hammerman, Science Educator and Consultant

"A substantial contribution to the field of science education and an easy way for busy teachers to make science more meaningful, exciting, and connected for students. An important mix of both content and activities that teachers can use to meet their individual needs."

Kerry Williams, Professor
Wayne State College

"The information is fantastic and the activities are intriguing. Using this book to teach physical science will have children cheering whenever the teacher announces that it's time for science."

Peggy Rogers, First-Grade Teacher
Burton Elementary School, Rexburg, ID

"The straightforward explanations, along with real-life examples, appeal to teachers who are using the information to supplement a required curriculum. This book would be a very convenient resource for preparing lesson plans from district-required text."

Theresa Knaebel, Middle School Science Teacher
Pittsburgh Public Schools, PA

"Provides a fine gathering of exercises in physics for kids in Grades K–8. From experiments demonstrating waves and sound to fluids, forces, and light, these are fun examples to build and test."

California Bookwatch, June 2008
Midwest Book Review

Other Titles in: Science | Teaching Methods & Learning Styles

Select Format:

For Instructors

Request Review Copy

When you select 'request review copy', you will be redirected to Sage Publishing (our parent site) to process your request.