Skepticism

Science teachers have an obligation to instill critical thinking and skepticism in their students. If my students can calculate kinetic energy as (1/2)mv^2 but also buy a Power Balance bracelet or accept media reports of paranormal activity, I feel I have failed them.

So I insert explicit lessons in skepticism and critical thinking into the curriculum throughout the school year. My hope is that such lessons strengthen students' thinking skills I'm the classroom and (more importantly) beyond. I developed these activities for use with my own students.

Skepticism Bundle on Teachers Pay Teachers

P R O G R A M S

1. SECRETS OF THE PSYCHICS

Can psychics predict the future? Many people seem to think so. Others argue that, in most cases, so-called psychic experiences are really misinterpretations of events. In this episode of NOVA, magician and confirmed skeptic James Randi challenges viewers to weigh the evidence for and against the existence of psychic phenomena.

2. MERCHANTS OF DOUBT 

A documentary that looks at pundits-for-hire who present themselves as scientific authorities as they speak about topics like toxic chemicals, pharmaceuticals and climate change. 

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage

PBS · 1980 · Presenter: Carl Sagan

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage is a thirteen-part television series that covers a wide range of scientific subjects, including the origin of life and a perspective of our place in the universe.

I turned 16 while this series aired, and was completely captivated by it. My father had been a fan of Bronowski's Ascent of Man and Burke's Connections. Those were outstanding series in their own rights. But I was all about astronomy, and Sagan's journey resonated with me.

Sagan's Cosmos aged very well and is still regarded as among the best science miniseries ever produced. And as WIRED noted, Sagan's still right all these years later.

The way I used Cosmos was as a "chill day" between units in Physics. For my students, and for me. We all needed it. I kept their question sets after each episode. At the end of the year, I'd give them their sets back and they could use them on a "Cosmos Unit Test". Easy with the completed question sets; challenging without. Definitely among my longest "delayed gratification" activities.

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage on Teachers Pay Teachers

E P I S O D E S

1. THE SHORES OF THE COSMIC OCEAN 
Carl Sagan opens the program with a description of the cosmos and a "Ship of the Imagination" (shaped like a dandelion seed). The ship journeys through the universe's hundred billion galaxies, the Local Group, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Milky Way, the Orion Nebula, our Solar System, and finally the planet Earth. Eratosthenes' successful calculation of the circumference of Earth leads to a description of the ancient Library of Alexandria. Finally, the "Ages of Science" are described, before pulling back to the full span of the Cosmic Calendar. Note: the revised version of the series adds an introduction by Ann Druyan to this episode, recorded after Sagan's death, in which she discusses some of the changes that occurred in the years after its broadcast.This episode emphasizes astronomy: from the universe to the round Earth.

Physics: Modern Physics

The Physics: series is a collection of physics documentaries I found compelling enough to incorporate into my high school physics curriculum when circumstances allowed. Many were episodes of PBS's NOVA. Others came from BBC, NASA, or were produced for theatrical release.

These documentaries relate to origins of E=mc2 and consequences of atomic weapons.

Physics: Modern Physics on Teachers Pay Teachers

P R O G R A M S

1. EINSTEIN’S BIG IDEA 

Over 100 years ago, Albert Einstein grappled with the implications of his revolutionary special theory of

Physics: Electricity and Magnetism

The Physics: series is a collection of physics documentaries I found compelling enough to incorporate into my high school physics curriculum when circumstances allowed. Many were episodes of PBS's NOVA. Others came from BBC, NASA, or were produced for theatrical release.

These documentaries relate to electricity and magnetism.

Physics: Electricity and Magnetism on Teachers Pay Teachers

P R O G R A M S

1. LIGHTNING!

Armed with the latest high-tech mobile radar and computer technology and large amounts of courage, the world's top scientists and meteorologists take part in some of the most dangerous work imaginable. A high-voltage trip into the most electrically charged weather in the world, culminating in a dazzling lightning show set to music. The program also visits with some of lightning's tragic victims who thought they were out of harm's way. Lightning's fleeting rivers of electricity strike Earth 6,000 times a minute; jolt every commercial airplane one or two times a year; wipe out power to entire cities, hit 1,000 people annually; and account on average for more deaths than hurricanes and tornadoes put together.

Physics: Waves and Light

The Physics: series is a collection of physics documentaries I found compelling enough to incorporate into my high school physics curriculum when circumstances allowed. Many were episodes of PBS's NOVA. Others came from BBC, NASA, or were produced for theatrical release.

These documentaries relate to waves and light.

Physics: Waves and Light on Teachers Pay Teachers

P R O G R A M S

1. THE SECRET LIFE OF WAVES 

Documentary maker David Malone delves into the secrets of ocean waves. In an elegant and original film, he finds that waves are not made of water, that some waves travel sideways, and that the sound of the ocean comes not from water but from bubbles. Waves are not only beautiful but also profoundly important, and there is a surprising connection between the life cycle of waves and the life of human beings.

2. TOUR OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
This one is encyclopedic. An overview is followed by descriptions of radio, microwaves, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, x-rays, and gamma rays.

Question sets are available for individual episodes. The complete series bundle is available at a discounted price. Student documents and answer keys are provided as Google Docs on Google Drive.

Physics: Heat and Temperature

The Physics: series is a collection of physics documentaries I found compelling enough to incorporate into my high school physics curriculum when circumstances allowed. Many were episodes of PBS's NOVA. Others came from BBC, NASA, or were produced for theatrical release.

This pair of documentaries tell the story of low-temperature physics research.

Physics: Temperature on Teachers Pay Teachers

P R O G R A M S

ABSOLUTE ZERO

Our mastery of cold is something we take for granted, whether it s air conditioning and frozen food or the liquefied gases and superconductivity at the heart of cutting-edge technology. But what is cold? How do you achieve it, and how cold can it get? This two-part NOVA special brings the history of this frosty fascination to life with brilliant dramatic recreations of high moments in low-temperature research and the quest for ever-lower notches on the thermometer.

Physics: Mechanics

The Physics: series is a collection of physics documentaries I found compelling enough to incorporate into my high school physics curriculum when circumstances allowed. Many were episodes of PBS's NOVA. Others came from BBC, NASA, or were produced for theatrical release.

These documentaries relate to Galileo and Newton, two "founding fathers" of physics.

Physics: Mechanics on Teachers Pay Teachers

P R O G R A M S

1. GALILEO’S BATTLE FOR THE HEAVENS

In this two-hour special, NOVA celebrates the story of the father of modern science and his struggle to get Church authorities to accept the truth of his astonishing discoveries. The program is based on Dava Sobel's bestselling book, Galileo's Daughter, which reveals a new side to the famously stubborn scientist—that his closest confidante was his illegitimate daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, a cloistered nun.

YouTube Physics

Web videos that involve physics are fun to watch. They can be even more engaging with the addition of a few well-crafted questions. Note: sometimes videos on YouTube "disappear". They can usually be found using search.

Add these to your mix of classroom demonstrations and lab activities to thoroughly teach each topic at hand. I developed this resource for use with my own physics students.

YouTube Physics on Teachers Pay Teachers

L E S S O N S

1. DODGE NITRO JUMP

This activity engages students with a practical problem. A motorist is trying to revive his broken-down car. A second motorist offers assistance. When a jump-start is arranged, things take an unexpected turn in the parking lot at Beachs.

Jump Start Dodge Nitro Ad (YouTube v=r1RiysqWBVI)

The Galileo and Einstein Projectile Motion sim can be used to model the motion of the launched car. When air resistance is added to the simulation, things take an unexpected turn once again.

An understanding of algebraic kinematics is required here. Certainly appropriate for AP Physics 1.