Nuclear Physics Project
This year, after completing our four major units of second semester in regular physics, we planned on a project that would address Illinois Science Goal 13: “Understand the relationships among science,...
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Near-Space Balloon
The Physics Club at my school recently completed our second-annual near-space balloon launch and recovery. Our goal was to launch the balloon payload to over 100,000 feet. We planned to record...
View ArticleNuclear Physics Project Reflections
I have a few notes to share about the outcome of the Nuclear Physics Project. If you are interested in seeing the final projects, the entire nnhsphysics wiki is available. If you don’t want to read...
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Physics Club and the Row-Bot Challenge
Three years ago my instructional coordinator encouraged myself and another physics teacher to start an after school club for students to “do cool physics stuff.” That first year, we focused on building...
View ArticleNear-Space Ballooning County Institute Session
My colleague and I, who advise our school’s Physics Club, volunteered to share our our experiences over the past two years designing, launching, and retrieving near-space balloons. Last year’s balloon...
View ArticleThe Physics of Art and the Art of Physics
At the end of the year, we make time for a final project in our General Physics class. We purposefully define a very nebulous standard to provide the ultimate flexibility in this project: Understand...
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Inspiring Younger Students with Near-Space Balloons
On Sunday, my school’s Physics Club launched their third annual near-space balloon. It was a fantastic success this year. Our first year, we simply focused on launching and retrieving our payload with...
View ArticleCapstones
My AP Physics B class developed capstones as their final rather than a traditional exam. I give them tons of tests to help them prepare for the AP exam; so, I didn’t want to give them a traditional...
View ArticlePhysics Capstones
This year’s AP Physics B capstones were as great as last year’s. Click there to read more about how I structure capstones. Joe’s GravitON – A Python based N-Body Gravity Simulator. Cleanly implemented...
View ArticleAAPTWM16: Blueprints for Accessible and Affordable High-Altitude Ballooning
Mark Rowzee and I spoke at the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) 2016 Winter meeting as part of Session EI: Quadcopters, Drones and High Altitude Balloons. Our talk was “Blueprints for...
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