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December 2005

Activity-Based Physics
Content-rich, straightforward site to supplement physics instruction.
Grade Level: 9-12


http://www.physics.umd.edu/rgroups/ripe/perg/abp/

CONTENT:
Activity-Based Physics is a multi-university collaborative effort that uses current research and computer tools to promote activity-based models of physics instruction. Included are homework assignments, thinking problems, and estimation problems.
SITE DESIGN:
This site is pretty bare-bones, but what it lacks in glitz is made up for in content. Materials are grouped into categories and listed as a table of contents on the main page. Internal pages have similar menus for navigation.
 

REVIEW:
Secondary and college level physics teachers and students will find a gold mine of information at Activity-Based Physics. Activities at this site connect concepts with problem solving. The Thinking Problems cover such broad topics as mechanics, oscillations and waves, thermodynamics, and electricity and magnetism. Each category has a number of thinking problems available for free use in the classroom. Teachers will find alternative homework assignments, grouped into the same categories that "require the students to think critically about how the concepts are related to the mathematical equations required to solve the problem". Each assignment includes a series of questions about a single context or situation. Included are a collection of estimation problems and a collection of homework and exam problems from the book, Teaching with the Physics Suite. These homework and exam problems can be explored either by type of problem (multiple choice, short answer, essay, etc.) or by subject such as general and mathematics, kinematics, dynamics, electricity and many more.

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12/09/2005