Lawrence HS PFA Stars

Our Music Video

During the last couple of months students in PFA have been working on making a musical video with the theme of the song Ain’t no Mountain High Enough. Students have worked hard on coming up with their own story board and we have had many rehearsals.
We have a group of about 8 students who have continuously worked on this project. In addition, we have joined forces with the music teacher and her chorus class will also be singing our video. We have also had support from other fellows, our PI, project manager, Lawrence Public Service video team, and school administration.
We will finish filming the video on Monday, March 14th. Once the video is edited and reviewed I hope we can have our own video premiere. Students are very excited about the idea.

categories Uncategorized | | datetime March 9, 2011 4:58 pm | comments Comments (0)

Designing an Experimental Setup for ultrasonic measurements

Lessons presented on 2/11 and 2/15
Physics Update-Designing an Experimental Setup for ultrasonic measurements
As I was doing one my research updates in the classrooms I expressed how difficult it had been to come up with an efficient setup for my experiment. During the presentation a student said that it would be an easy task to do. So this made me think that it would be a good idea to have them come up with their own design.
For the project I gave them the written specifications and instructions specification. I asked them to draw and explain in detail the components of their design as well their functionality.
It was a definitely a challenging task to do. Many students struggled and were even frustrated, but there were some students that were very motivated and were determined to make it work. For some students the most challenging aspect was drawing their design, while others had difficulty explaining how their design would work. Some students even realized faults in their design in the explanation process.
Overall I was very pleased with the outcome. It was invigorating to see the students’ dedication and determination to try to make their design work.
Our next step is to go over their designs and we will try to build a few of the designs.

categories Uncategorized | | datetime 4:15 pm | comments Comments (0)

Research Update (Physics Classes 12/07)

In three of my Physics classes I shared with the students an update of my research. I showed them some pictures of my set up and from the data collected. As usual, some students were very interested and thought it was interesting that they could see the reflections of the sample object using an oscilloscope and a pulser. Some students thought that the oscilloscope is the same device used for heart monitoring. I explained to the students that even though the two pieces of equipment are measuring devices, they are not the same thing.
I did realize that the class with high ELL student population was not as interested in the visual presentation. I believe it might have been better to use something more tangible to help keep their attention.

categories Uncategorized | | datetime December 8, 2010 7:47 pm | comments Comments (0)

Physics-Graph Analysis 11/24

Foundation of Physics

Objective: Students will plot position versus time data and will analyze how velocity and rate of change are related.

Activity Description: Using an overhead projector, a demonstration on how to graph a data point representing an example of position versus time was provided. Students were then asked to volunteer and show the class how to plot the remaining data points. Once all the data points were graphed, a mathematical expression to represent the set of data points was obtained. An analysis of the slope and y-intercept in relation to the data was also performed.

The same procedure was carried out for a similar second example and the resulting data from both examples was compared.

Observations and Challenges: At first students seemed to be intimidated by doing work in front of the classroom and many refused to participate. I could tell that one or two students wanted to try out graphing the data points and I asked those students to show me there work on their own worksheet and that if they were right it will be nice for them to show the rest of the class. Once the fear of standing in front of the class was not as strong, there were many students raising their hands asking to participate. It was nice to see that students that are usually uninterested in the classroom were actively participating.

I did not have as many volunteers for finding a mathematical expression to represent the data, many of the students in this class also struggle with math. However, none of the students were disrupting in any way and they were all genuinely trying hard to understand the examples.

In this class there are many students with limited English language proficiency and I think that it will be better to work together as one big group using technology such as an overhead projector. Working as one big group helped all of the students to work at the same pace and gave them an opportunity to actively participate.

categories Uncategorized | | datetime November 26, 2010 7:15 pm | comments Comments (0)

Physics-Projectile Motion

Physics-Projectile Motion Scavenger Hunt
Objective:Students reviewed concepts in projectile motion in preparation for an upcoming exam.
Activity Description:To answer as many question in seven stations that were created, each station represented a category related to projectile motion. Students were separated into six different groups and they were allotted a maximum of 7 minutes per station. Students could not go back to the same station twice or overlap with another group. To avoid overlapping there were 7 stations and six small groups.
The stations’ categories were: Challenges Show what you Really Know, Projectile Motion Multiple Choice, Speed vs. Velocity, Scalar vs. Vector, Distance vs. Displacement, Projectile Facts.
Assessment: Students wrote their answers on worksheet. The worksheet will be reviewed and the team with the most correct answers will receive extra credit.
Observations and Challenges: The activity was engaging and many students were working hard. I need to find a more effective way to explain the instructions. Before we began the activity I had explained students the instructions and there were no questions. As soon as students were directed to their groups there was confusion and it was difficult to help the students.
Word problems were the most challenging for students and they would give up much easier

categories Uncategorized | | datetime November 24, 2010 6:11 pm | comments Comments (0)

Physics Update-Ultrasound and Wave Generator

In Physics we have been learning to use an oscilloscope and a waveform generator. We have had two lessons so far:

1. Wave Basics

a. Objective: In this lesson students were introduced to some wave basics, we covered wave amplitude, frequency and time period.

b. Activity: To help us understand frequency we counted the frequency of our heart beats. Each student measured their pulse and found their heart rate in seconds. We concluded that our heart beats about two or three times per second. In addition, we demonstrated a pendulum on the board to calculate the amplitude and time period.

c. Assessment: Students were given a worksheet with a pendulum problem and they were asked to find the amplitude, time period, frequency, and to demonstrate understanding of what a complete cycle is.

2. Hands-on Activity to learn how to use the oscilloscope and waveform generator

a. Objective: The objective of this lesson was for students to learn how to make measurement using an oscilloscope and a waveform generator.

b. Activity: Students were given instructions on how to obtain a sine wave on an oscilloscope by using the waveform generator. They were then asked to calculate time period, frequency, and amplitude.
c. Assessment: Students were asked what configuration on the waveform generator we could use to obtain 300Hz. They were also asked to create a 40 KHz wave and make some measurements.

Observations and Challenges: There were many students who were genuinely interested by the capabilities of the equipment. Since we only had five stations there were some large groups and a few students were did not fully participate.

It was nice to see that some students were still trying to figure out some measurements by the time the bell rang. It almost seemed like they weren’t ready to leave.

Even though we had the teacher, a grad student and myself to help out it was difficult to meet the groups’ needs.

Future lessons…For my next experiment I am planning to use a different set up where I have rotating-timed stations. With this configuration, students will be given a limited time to complete one task per station. I am also planning on videotaping a demo for each station so students can see the demo and if there is no immediate help available they can have some temporary guidance. I am hoping this new style will help in maximizing time usage and increase student confidence in performing different tasks.

categories Uncategorized | | datetime October 27, 2010 7:10 pm | comments Comments (3)

All about a piecewise function

Ms. Chay did a very nice lesson of piecewise functions. During the lesson students were shown to graph a piecewise function. In addition to sketching, students were able to find information about the function such if the function is decreasing, increasing, constant. Values such as the function’s minima, maxima, domain, and range were also noted.
The lesson showed each necessary step needed to correctly sketch the graph from the given function. Every student took notes and worked on the sample problem. Towards the end of the class, students were given their homework which contained similar problems to the one they had worked on. Most students seemed confident on what to do.
I believe that it was vital that Ms. Chay did not rush the lesson and was very careful to explain what was happening while reiterating correct usage of terminology. She posed questions that required students to think carefully and their answers provided a good assessment on whether or not they understood the material correctly.
This lesson reminded how crucial it is not to rush and to take the time to explain a concept in as much detail as possible.

categories Uncategorized | | datetime October 6, 2010 7:47 pm | comments Comments (0)

What is a transducer?

In the Physics classes we discussed what a transducer is. Since there are many ELL students I started by writing the words translate, transform, and transfer on the board. Students were asked to come up with the meaning of the prefix trans.
Students’ definitions were the following:
Translate-to change form one language to another
Transform- to change form
Transfer- to change location
The conclusion was that the best meaning for the prefix trans- was to change.
We then went on and discussed the word transduction. Students at first said that it was the change in/or something through a duct. I then provided some examples of transducers: a door bell, a microphone, and a speaker. I felt that it was important to realize that transducers not only are used to change between an electrical signal and sound energy, but that also that it could be the change in pressure energy and sound energy.
A later showed the students a transducer that they will be using in a future experiment. They were also asked to take notes and in their own words to write the definition of transducer.

categories Uncategorized | | datetime October 4, 2010 1:11 pm | comments Comments (0)

Formal Introduction

I formally introduced myself in my two Precalculus (Honors) classes and 4 Physics classes. In the introduction lesson we talked about our main objective for the semester which is; What role does ultrasonics play in Physics/Precalculus? Upperclassmen seemed to be more inquisitive, had more questions, but also seemed to have more familiarity with vocabulary and technology knowledge.
This year there are many more beginner/intermediate ESL students in a couple of the Physics classes and I was reminded of how important it is to break down the meaning of new words and being able to relate those words to something they may be familiar with.
During my introduction we talked about ultrasound and did an activity of why it would be important to be able to identify the inner structure of a bone. I had some bone pictures showing the difference about normal and osteoporotic bones of females and males that were passed around the room. Students were very surprised to see how bone deteriorates.
Journals and binders were also distributed in all the Physics classes and were given a designated place for storage in the classroom.

categories Uncategorized | | datetime September 23, 2010 6:49 am | comments Comments (0)

Resonance and Conferences (May 27th and 28th)

In Physics and Geometry classes resonance was presented. The PowerPoint presentation included a video of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse and a demonstration on resonance using a pendulum and a jump rope.
Students were asked asking to recall the meaning of frequency and natural frequency. They seemed to remember examples presented in the previous class even though most could not provide a definition of natural frequency.
Before presenting the video clip, a student was asked to read a passage written by the reporter who lost his dog and car during the bridge collapse. Students were quite impressed with the video and could almost not believe it was a real event.
Using a jump rope, students were asked what would be necessary in order to swing the rope correctly. The rope was swung either too fast or too slow until they responded that you have to swing it just right.
During this week I also showed the students pictures of a conference I had attended and showed them a sample poster of work presented at the conference. We talked about research and discussed why it would be important to attend such conferences.

categories Uncategorized | | datetime June 7, 2010 12:41 pm | comments Comments (0)