Flying Circus Projects for education majors
If you teach a class in the K-12 levels or for education majors at the college level, you might think about assigning projects based on the Flying Circus of Physics materials. Here is an example: Dr. Richard Barrans (Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Wyoming) challenges his Physics 1090 class (physical science for elementary education majors) to develop Flying Circus of Physics projects. The results for Fall 2009 can be found at http://www.barransclass.com/phys1090/circus/ .
Brent Dorr. It will be interesting if you put the lesson to work in the next rainfall you run through.
Tessa Burt. When I first came across the research on how a passenger’s mass can decrease my chance of a fatal car crash, I was stunned. But then, I should I worked on the momentum and force arguments long ago.
Lara Chanthongthip. I think stance has a lot to do with stability and the ability to throw punches or kicks one after another. A lot of physics there.
Johanna Milne. I did not know about the insulation difference. Interesting.
Mary Malnati. Very cute story. Well, from the cat’s perspective, of course.
Alyssa Gibbins. I am hoping that Jimmy John is only fictional and did not really die. Still, some of the performers do die sometimes.
Elizabeth Anderson. Good explanation and a video that is either new to me or that I have forgotten. Thanks.
Cody Craigie. Nicely explained. I assume the photos are yours, maybe even of you.
Devan Jones. That story was bizarre when I found it back in 1987. But it shows how people just do not think through the physics of their actions. Luckily, no one was hurt.
Cheryl Gipfert. Snakes are bad enough, but I found out that some snakes can glide down from trees, that was just a nightmare. I am glad that you found the National Geographic videos.
Lila Scantling. Good. Dimples really do work, but I had rather read about the physics of golf than actually play the game. Too much patience required.
Callie Seip. Nice description. When I first saw the research paper, I thought it was a neat idea. Then I discovered that the paper won the Ig-noble Award, which means that someone that it was pretty stupid. However, I still think it is a neat idea.
Jennifer McIntire: I had forgotten about this effect and don’t remember seeing the video. Thanks for reminding me.
Nicole Jones: Good. A nice neat explanation of something that can be pretty complicated.
Mo Mulligan: Yes, I like this. I started wondering about ducks (and swans) when I was a child, realizing that, in a pond, I got wet but they did not.
Annie Levine: This is a subject that I spent a lot of time thinking about when I am at a beach, not only because I like sand physics but also because I know there are sharks waiting for me out in the water and thus I should stay on the beach thinking about sand physics.
Adam Thornton: This is another example of physics coming out of my childhood, when I would be camping out and hear all the bullfrogs sing for a mate. When the research appeared about the eardrums, it sure did take me by surprise.
Teesa Yacco: Looking back, I should have wondered a long time ago about how penguins can find one another in those crowds of thousands. I should have guessed that they spoke with a rich language.
Stephanie Halsey: Until YouTube came along, I always thought that breaking a glass by singing was just urban myth. You have a good explanation here. Thanks.
Rachael Cox: You have some links that I have missed and I’ll follow them up. Thanks.
Megan Meeks: This is the stuff of nightmares, especially if you grew up in rattlesnake country as I did. Even when they are dead, they can still bite you. Something like Night of the Living Dead.
Kayla Bullinger: I have say that “Physics is everywhere.” Well, here is a perfect example: it is in the fog of Coke bottle and in the fog out back of the house.
Kim Moore: Here, too, physics is everywhere --- it is even in the thermal physics of a hot pizza, something to think about the next time hot cheese sticks to the roof of your mouth. No, there is no escape from physics.
Amy Hartman: I enjoyed your piece. Do you know that research is still being conducted on the physics of bubbles? In fact, many industries, such as the beverage industries, have full-time scientists and engineers working on either preventing bubbles or guaranteeing bubbles. (I wish I had that job.)
Tonya Lacy: I first wondered about cakes and altitudes when I tried to bake a cake at a moderately high altitude. The cake fell. I told everyone that it was not because I was a bad cook but it was the altitude. They bought the excuse.
Troy Phillips: I used to do a demonstration in lecture in which I threw drops of water onto a grease fire. Very dramatic, and no one in the class would ever forget it.
Katie McGuire: Very, very nice and you have some links I did not know about.
Rosalie Alexander: Good piece. This is not pretty physics, but it is important because these explosions happen every year.
Nicholas Barkdull: I have heard of people lighting up wintergreen LifeSavers in closets but never in a cave. All those days I spent spelunking in the caves of West Texas I could have been sparking on LifeSavers but never thought about it.
Liz Masie: Nice piece. The late awareness by the hospital staff worries me. Should not they have figured all this out? Gosh, I want them to be the smartest people in the world who have worked out all the dangers before I go into the hospital.
Joe Hampton: Very nice article and thanks because I would have never made the connection between Pink Floyd and the green flash otherwise.