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LIGHTS! SOUND! PHYSICS!
A BASIC PHYSICS CLASS FOR HIGH SCHOOL

presented by

Kathryn Ebrahimi

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6/01 cJCiRC/Datoouepsscsz

LIGHTS! SOUND! PHYSICS!
A BASIC PHYSICS CLASS FOR HIGH SCHOOL

By

Kathryn Ebrahimi

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE
Division of Science and Mathematics Education

2002

ABSTRACT

LIGHTS! SOUND! PHYSICS!
A BASIC PHYSICS CLASS FOR HIGH SCHOOL

By

Kathryn Ebrahimi
The purpose of this project was to determine whether student projects would help
increase student understanding and application of the physics wave concepts. During the
marking period spent on waves, students worked on projects as well as on traditional
labs. The traditional labs were used only as an introduction to the topic. The projects
were used to help assess student learning and comprehension of the topics. The students
created and played their own instruments for the sound section of the unit. For the light
section of the unit, the students worked in groups to create a laboratory experiment, game
or demonstration illustrating a specific concept. Along with traditional homework and
tests, evaluation of student learning was based on the laboratory reports the students
wrote for their projects, as well as whether or not they were able to create a working
instrument, laboratory experiment, game or demonstration. The students were quite
receptive to the projects, and attacked them with enthusiasm. The results according to the

grades and surveys show the effectiveness of the projects in aiding the students’ learning.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -

I would like to thank my family and friends for their support and encouragement
not only during my Master’s work, but from the time I started working on my Bachelor’s
Degree. My heartfelt gratitude is also extended to the Towsley Foundation whose
financial support made my studies possible. I also would like to thank the wonderful
staff of the DSME for their time, support and dedication. Finally, a special thank you to
my wonderful students from Roosevelt High School who made this project a joy and

remind me every day why I am a teacher.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................. vi
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................. vii
INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale ........................................................................... 1
H. Ideas on Teaching Physics ....................................................... 2
III. Demographics ..................................................................... 5
IMPLEMENTATION
I. Overview ........................................................................... 6
II. LON —CAPA ........................................................................ 6
III. Basic Outline ....................................................................... 8
IV. Objectives ........................................................................... 9
V. Laboratory Descriptions and Analysis ......................................... 11
Wave Basics .............................................................. 12
Sound ...................................................................... 13
Light ........................................................................ 15
Color ....................................................................... 16
Reflection/Refraction .................................................... 17
Lenses ..................................................................... 18
VI. Assessment of Unit ............................................................... 19
Pre and Post Tests ........................................................ 19
Homework ................................................................ 19
Laboratory Reports ....................................................... 20
Chapter Tests ............................................................. 20
Survey ..................................................................... 20
EVALUATION
I. Overview ........................................................................... 21
11. Projects .............................................................................. 22
III. Chapter Tests ...................................................................... 24
IV. Pre and Post Tests ................................................................. 27
V. Student Survey ..................................................................... 28
DISCUSSION
1. Evaluation .......................................................................... 33
II. Improvements ..................................................................... 36
111. Conclusion ......................................................................... 37
APPENDICES
A. Experiments and Projects ........................................................ 40

iv

The Great Pendulum Race ....................................................... 41

Behind the Music! Build Your Own Musical Instrument .................... 43
Color Observations ............................................................... 45
Here’s Looking at You! — Mirror Survey ..................................... 50
Its All Done With Mirrors! ...................................................... 51
Important Bulletin!!! .............................................................. 55
B. Resources for Demonstrations and Experiments .............................. 59
C. Chapter Tests
Wave Basics ........................................................................ 62
Sound ............................................................................... 65
Light ................................................................................ 67
Color ................................................................................ 69
Reflection/Refraction/Ienses ................................................... 71
D. Grading Rubrics for Chapter Tests ............................................. 75
E. Physics HP —- Waves and Sound Pre/Post Test ............................... 78
F. Physics Survey .................................................................... 80
G. LON -CAPA Sample Content and Problem Pages ............................ 82
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................. 88

Table 1:

Table 2:

Table 3:

Table 4:

Table 5:

LIST OF TABLES

Unit Outline ................................................................................ 9
Activities and Corresponding Goals ................................................... 11
Grading Scale for All Assignments .................................................... 22
Pre and Post Test Values ............................................................... 28
Survey Results by Percent ............................................................. 29

vi

Figure 1:

Figure 2:
Figure 3:
Figure 4:
Figure 5:
Figure 6:

Figure 7:

TABLE OF FIGURES

Grade Distribution for “Behind the Music-Making Your own Musical

Instrument .......................................................................... 23
Grade Distribution for “Lab-a-thon” Team Project ................................ 24
Wave Basics Test Results ............................................................. 25
Sound Test Results ..................................................................... 25
Light Test Results ...................................................................... 26
Color Test Results ...................................................................... 26
Reflection/Refraction/Lenses Test Results .......................................... 27

vii

INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale

When I started teaching physics at Theodore Roosevelt High School, I inherited a
tradition. The physics students would build and race mousetrap-powered cars against the
Advanced Machine Shop class. While the students really enjoyed this race and making
their cars, I wondered if building the cars really helped the students understand the
physics concepts behind their creations. Concerns that learning was robust and met the
Michigan Standards and Benchmarks were foremost in my mind. How could I be sure
that making projects was the best way for students to learn in order to insure and
determine that the benchmarks were being met?

Not wanting to tamper with tradition, I converted the way another unit was taught,
to include student driven projects. I chose the unit on the physics of waves. Instead of the
usual sound and light laboratory experiments, I decided to incorporate projects to help
assess the students’ understanding of these concepts. Along with using projects, which
based on my experience with mousetrap cars, most students seemed to enjoy, I had other
reasons for rewriting the unit on the physics of waves. An unusually high number of my
physics students were either in drama, band, or vocal music through school or played an
instrument on their own. Being able to relate their favorite subject and/or pastime, as
well as other everyday phenomena, to physics was an opportunity too tempting to pass
up. Physics also has been regarded by the general public as an esoteric subject suited
only to the “smart” students who excel in math, a notion I have worked hard to dispel.

The last reason that the sound and light unit was rewritten came from my own dislike of

traditional physics labs, which seemed to have students perform an experiment following
a given set of instructions, and then solve several mathematical equations to prove what
they had just done. Traditional labs do not allow the students to discover, but to verify.
The beauty of the physical concept was lost to students worrying if they had gotten the
“right answer”.

The goal of rewriting this unit on the physics of waves was to determine how well
students learned and retained wave concepts. By focusing on projects, the students had to
understand the ideas well enough to create and explain a musical instrument and a light
laboratory experience, game or demonstration.

The unit on the physics of waves is broken into six chapters. Two of the chapters
I taught almost as I have for the past six years. The introductory chapter, Vibrations and
Waves, skims over basic concepts and provides base information that applies to both
sound and light waves. I previously had developed discovery-based laboratory
experiments for the chapter on color, so I did not rewrite that chapter. Through repeated
teaching over the past six years, I found that the chapters on sound, light, reflection,
refraction and lenses lent themselves best to revision. The discovery-based laboratory
experiments I used to introduce these chapters were conceptual in nature and had very
simple, if any, mathematics associated with them. The projects required formal reports,
explaining the concepts as well as incorporating mathematics. Evaluation was provided
in the form of homework, tests, and the laboratory reports.

11. Ideas on Teaching Physics
Determining whether projects and activities, rather than traditional laboratory

experiments would enhance student learning was one reason I chose to rewrite the unit on

sound and waves. Another reason was to help students see the reach of physics in their
everyday lives, and dispel the notion that only the top students could benefit from or even
pass physics. Indeed, physics is often thought to be a “weed out course, a course to
get through” (Hewitt, 1990). By focusing on activities and projects students get the
opportunity to see the relationship between the ideas and concepts of physics in a real-
world context. Working on projects and activities also can help students learn more
effectively. As Lillian McDermott, Professor of Physics at Washington State University
says, “Teaching by telling is an ineffective mode of instruction for most students.
Students must be intellectually active to develop a functional understanding” (1993). One
method of instruction that embodies this idea is known as the inquiry method. David L.
Haury describes the inquiry method of science teaching by saying “From a science
perspective, inquiry-oriented instruction engages students in the investigative nature of
science. . .So, inquiry involves activity and skills, but the focus is on the active search for
knowledge or understanding to satisfy a curiosity”. He goes on to say that there is no
meaningful learning if there is no inquiring mind seeking an answer, solution,
explanation or decision. (1993). This idea lends itself to a constructivist model of
education, one that embodies the belief that knowledge is constructed, not transmitted.
Further, it is believed that building useful knowledge structures requires effort and
purposeful activity (Umass, 2002). One good way for students to construct their own
knowledge is by the use of projects related to the curriculum. In 1999, the Buck Institute
for Education, a proponent of Project Based Learning, described project based learning
as:

Project based learning is an innovative model for teaching and learning. It
focuses on the central concepts and principles of a discipline, involves the

students in problem-solving investigations and other meaningful tasks, allows

students to work autonomously to construct their own knowledge, and culminates

in realistic products.
The unit I designed used different methods of inquiry or constructivist learning:
discovery activities, experiments and project based learning.

The discovery activities were used to arouse curiosity and allow the students to
“discover” some fundamental information about each topic. “One implication is that
inquiry-oriented teaching begins or least involves stimulating curiosity or provoking
wonder” (Haury, 1993). In the unit reported here, these activities were used at the
beginning to introduce a new concept. In the experiments, the students were expected to
find known results. For example, in the “Grandfather Clock” laboratory experiment, the
students investigated how the period of a pendulum varied with it’s length. However, all
experiments contained open-ended questions and gave the students the opportunity to use
learned or prior knowledge to solve a problem. Creating a project allowed the students to
use all the information learned from the experiments, as well as conduct research on their
own. In Project Based Learning the designing process of the individual project is critical
to learning. In Project Based Learning students “construct their own knowledge, so it’s
easier for them to transfer and retain information.” (Buck Institute of Education (B.I.E).
1999) In the next project, students used the information from the chapters to design
working instruments. This allowed students to not only use present knowledge, but to
apply the defining features of Project Based Learning as defined by the Buck Institute for
Learning in 1999: Compelling ideas, Investigating and engaging, Support of student
autonomy, and Real-World outcomes. In the other project the students devised a

laboratory experiment, demonstration or game. This included the concept of working as a

team to get results. “Project Based Learning can give students a richer, more “authentic”
learning experience than other learning modes because it occurs in a social context where
interdependence and cooperation are crucial for getting things done” (B.I.E. 1999).

III. Demographics

The Wyandotte City School District is located approximately 15 miles south of
Detroit, on the Detroit River. The city covers 5.54 square miles and has a population of
28,006. During the 2001-2002 school year the high school had 1,294 students in ninth
through twelfth grade. The majority of students are Caucasian.

I teach earth science and physics. The physics students are almost all twelfth
grade students. Physics is an elective science class, so enrollment varies from year to
year. The time allotted for each class period is 54 minutes. The class meets five days a
week.

The current study, during the 2001-2002 school year, included three sections of
physics. There were 70 students involved in this research project. Female students
comprised 40% of the students and 60% of the students were male. All of the students
were seniors except one. The mathematic background of the students varied from

Algebra 11 through Calculus.

[IMPLEMENTATION

I. Overview

Overall, the goal of this unit was to allow all students, regardless of mathematical
ability, to learn physics concepts and how they relate to real-life experiences. The school
year did not begin with this unit. I took a few weeks at the beginning to introduce some
basic skills needed for physics, such as estimation, error analysis, and meuic review. To
start out the unit, I gave the students a pre-test on the topics that would be covered. After
taking the pretest, some basic wave concepts were introduced. Succeeding chapters
began with a qualitative activity, such as a discovery activity or a demo. Mathematics
related to the concept were introduced, then the project or discovery activity to match the
chapter was completed. In some cases, projects included ideas from more than one
chapter. Assessment included homework, tests, and lab reports. At the end of the unit,
the Pretest was used as a Posttest, and a survey was taken by the students for their input
regarding this unit. The entire unit took ten weeks and included six chapters from our
textbook. This unit was designed with the Michigan Objectives for Creating New
Scientific Knowledge, and Physical Science Waves and Vibrations in mind. Specific
objectives for this unit are discussed later
II. LON-CAPA
Along with rewriting the unit on the physics of waves using project-based physics, I also
began to incorporate LON-CAPA in this unit. LON-CAPA stands for “The
LearningOnline Network with CAPA”. The CAPA in LON-CAPA stands for “Computer

Assisted Personalized Assignment”. LON-CAPA is a computer-based delivery system

that was developed at Michigan State University to allow students to study chapters and
complete individualized homework online. LON-CAPA combined two previously used
programs: LectureOnline, which is a content delivery system and CAPA, which is an
individualized online homework system. The result of this union LON-CAPA is an
online instructional aid that has both content pages as well as individualized homework.
I became involved in this project part of the Research in Education for Teachers program
run by the LITE Lab (Laboratory for Instructional Technology in Education) with
Funding from the National Science Foundation. I began writing web pages of content
and programming mathematical problems for the unit on the physics of waves during my
summer research. Samples of content pages and problem pages can be found in Appendix
G. Under the guidance of Gerd Kortemeyer, Hong-Kie Ng and Felicia Berryman, the
experts at Michigan State, I learned how to program physics problems and web pages.
That same summer, Michigan State University provided my school with a server to
accommodate computer space needed to run LON-CAPA locally. I also received two
computers for my classroom from Michigan State to make it easier for the students to
complete their homework. Due to the length of time it took me to write the content and
problem pages, I was not able to write these for the entire unit. However, I did construct
content and problem pages for the first two chapters of the unit: wave basics and sound.
LON-CAPA is cross institutional, which means not only could I write my own content
pages and problems, but also I was welcome to search the LON -CAPA library and use
any pages I found. This was a wonderful way to allow the students to see applets and
other computer simulations pertinent to the topic they were studying that were beyond

my computer expertise. I also programmed pages with examples of equations related to

sound and some background information for the musical instrument project to which the
students could refer online. While the library of problems from college physics classes
was a bit too advanced for my students, I took advantage of the content pages. For the
wave basics and sound chapters I had the students complete individualized homework
that Ihad designed and programmed from LON-CAPA.

Ideally, the students took notes in class while I was lecturing and then went on
line to review, go through the web pages for each chapter and complete the homework
problems. When designing and programming problems for LON-CAPA, the programmer
has the freedom to give the students as many tries to answer a problem as desired, so
students could try a problem over and over with immediate feedback to correct and
incorrect responses each time. I gave students ten tries for each problem, so that most
students were able to get 100% on this homework. Students who did not get 100% either
gave up on the problems, or did not complete the problems in the time allotted.

III. Basic Outline

Many of the activities in this unit, while not brand new, have been revised and
adapted. However, the projects are new and resulted from my summer research class at
Michigan State University. Many of the notes and equations for the sound portion of
waves were posted on my LON -CAPA web pages as a supplement to the textbook. Two
of the chapters also had homework through the LON-CAPA network. The unit including
the revised laboratory experiments including the type of experiment and homework are
shown on Table 1. The appendix where the activity can be found and the category of

activity are also included.

Table 1: Unit outline

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Activity Appendix Category
Pretest E
Wave Basics
The Great Pendulum Race (revised) A Discovery Project
Grandfather Clock Laboratory Experiment B Experiment
Properties of waves with Slinkys B Discovery Activity
Sound
Spoons on strings B Discovery Activity
Mach One Experiment , B Experiment
Make a Musical Instrument A Discovery Project
Light
Marshmallows and the speed of light B Discovery Activity
Color
Color Observations - An Introduction (revised) A Experiment
“Paint by the Numbers” Colored Pigment B Experiment
Experiment
Reflection/Refraction
Mirror Survey A Discovery Activity
“The Angle on Refraction” B Experiment
“It’s All Done with Mirrors” A Experiment
Lenses
Pinhole Camera with Coffee Cans B Experiment
“Lab-a-thon” A Project
Post test B
Student Survey F
IV Objectives

Students in our school take Physics as the final class in the science sequence. As

a result, all of the students in my class already have been taught most of the goals and

benchmarks in the Michigan Curriculum Frameworks (2000). Physics class takes many

 

of those topics to a deeper level of understanding. In our school district, physical science
is first taught in the eighth grade, explored somewhat further in the ninth grade Earth
Science class and studied again in eleventh grade Chemistry. While no class provided a
total coverage of all of physical science, many skills were taught over and over, more in-
depth each time. By the time students are in Physics, they are adept at basic lab skills,
such as measuring, observation, and describing. Using these skills as a starting point, the
labs and projects they devised and performed deepened these skills. Measuring skills
included error analysis; describing skills included using data in explanations and relation
to concepts. Laboratory reports for the projects were complex, written as formal papers,
complete with abstracts, analysis, interpretation, data and conclusions. The guideline for
this style of report was included in the instructions for the projects, and shown in
Appendix A. Extended use of open-ended discovery activities and experiments allowed
the students to prepare for the challenge of creating their own musical instruments,
demonstrations, games and labs. This unit was designed to comply with the following
Michigan Curriculum Frameworks (2000) goals and benchmarks:

I Constructing New Scientific Knowledge (C)

1.1.1; 1.1.2; 1.1.4; 1.1.5
' Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge (R)
II.1.1;II.1.2; 11.1.3
I Waves and Vibrations

IV.4.1; IV.4.2; IV.4.3; IV.4.4

Table 2 shows the activities for each topic and the corresponding objectives:

10

Table 2: Activities and Corresponding Goals

 

Activity

Goal

 

 

Wave Basics

 

The Great Pendulum Race (revised)

1.1.1; 1.1.2; IV.4.3

 

Grandfather Clock Laboratog Experiment

1.1.1; 1.1.3; IV.4.3

 

 

 

Properties of waves with Slinkys IV.4.3; IV.4.4
Sound
Spoons on strings IV .4.1

 

Mach One Laboratory Experiment

1.1.1; 1.1.3; 1.1.4,
IV.4.1

 

Make a Musical Instrument (Appendix A)

1.1.1; 1.1.2; 1.1.4;
II.1.1;II.1.3; IV.4.1:
IV.4.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Light
Marshmallows and the speed of light IV.4.3, IV.4.4
Color
Color Observations — An Introduction (revised) 1.1.1; 1.1.2; [1.1.2;
IV.4.2; IV.4.3
“Paint by the Numbers” Colored Pigment Experiment 1.1.1, IV.4.2
Reflection/Refraction
Mirror Survey 11.2.2; IV.4.3;
“The Angle on Refraction” 1.1.1; 1.1.5; IV.4.3
“It’s All Done with Mirrors” [122; IV .4.3
Lenses

 

Pinhole Camera with Coffee Cans

1.1.1; 1.1.2; 1.1.5;
H.2.1; IV.4.3

 

“Lab-a-thon”

1.1.1; 1.1.2; 1.1.4;
1.1.5; 1.1.1; II.1.3;
IV .4.2; IV.4.3; IV.4.4

 

 

 

 

V. Laboratory Descriptions and Analysis

Many of the activities, experiments and guidelines for demonstrations are located

in Appendix A. Included are experiments and/or activities I have designed or radically

modified (references are included). Listed in Appendix B are experiments I use as found

from other resources such as laboratory manuals and other teachers. Some activities are

done as class participation demonstrations, and have no formal instructions or reports.

11

 

Students worked with a partner in most experiments and activities. Each student made
their own musical instrument and worked in teams of up to four students for the “Lab-a-
thon”. Each student was responsible for their own laboratory report in all experiments
and activities except the “Lab-a-thon”.

Wave Basics

The Great Pendulum Race (Appendix A) is the discovery project that starts this section.
Students use materials found in the lab to create a pendulum with a period of exactly one
second. They are given a few guidelines such as “keep good records” and “do not use
your fingers to release the pendulum” but the rest is up to the lab team. All groups were
successful in creating a pendulum with a period of exactly one second. 74% of the
students got a perfect score of 11 on their laboratory reports, and 23% got a score of 10
on their laboratory reports. The students who scored lower than ten had errors of
omission such as incomplete answers or skipping questions entirely.

The Grandfather Clock Laboratory Experiment (Appendix B) is the first experiment for
this unit. After students discover that the only effect for the period of a pendulum is
length of the pendulum, this lab takes the idea one step further and gives a mathematical
relationship between length of a pendulum and its period. This laboratory experiment
provides the students with an opportunity to use and manipulate a graphing program on
the computer, to create a linear relationship between the two variables used in graphing.
I used this lab as is from the Conceptual Physics Laboratory Manual and guided the
students through the use of the graphing program. The students performed well on this

experiment; the average score was 89%. The lowest score was 14 points out of a possible

12

21, or 67%. Errors of omission, such as incomplete data or unanswered questions were
the reason for low scores.

Properties of Waves with a SlinkyTM (Appendix B) is a classroom demonstration activity
without anything in writing that students submit for a grade. Every group of four
students has a Slinky with which to experiment. The students are guided through the
various types of waves, and experiment physically with concepts they will encounter
mathematically such as the relationship between frequency and wavelength, and standing
waves.

Sound

SMns on Strings (Appendix B) is another crowd-pleasing demonstration, again without
anything in written to submit. This is a very simple and effective demonstration. Two
strings each about 0.5 meters long are attached to the handle of a tablespoon and given to
a student. The student wraps a string around each index finger and hits the spoon on the
table. Then the student puts his index fingers in his ear and hits the table again. The
sound made in each method is compared. Students are impressed by the difference in
sound of the two methods. Finally, another student covers their ears, and the student
holding the spoon hits it on the table. Of course, the student with their fingers in their
ears cannot hear the sound, so that sets up a discussion of wave damping. Students are
generally surprised at the difference in tone, loudness and quality of sound when they
have their fingers in their ears.

Mach One (Appendix B) This experiment is taken out of the Conceptual Physics
Laboratory Manual as well. This experiment is used to demonstrate the speed of sound in

air using the concept of resonance. In this experiment students use one-liter graduated

13

cylinders, resonance tubes, and tuning forks to determine the speed of sound in air. This
is a good introduction to the type of calculations they will use when creating their own
instruments. Students performed well, the average grade on this experiment was 87% or
13 out of a possible 15 points. Students who did not get 15 out of 15 points made
calculation errors.

Behind the Music-Mn}: Your Own Musical Instrument (Appendix A) This was the
big individual project of this unit. The students were able to construct an instrument that
made music by using strings, bars or pipes. Of the 66 students who constructed
instruments, the majority, 38 students or 58%, chose to use pipes, such as panpipes,
sliding pipes (trombone-like instruments), recorders, flutes and even one bagpipe. Next
in popularity were stringed instruments. Twenty students or 30% chose to construct
instruments with strings, such as guitars, banjos, and dulcimers. The remaining 8
students or 12% constructed instruments with bars. Xylophones and chimes were the
leaders, with one student using eating and garden utensils! Each student wrote their own
formal laboratory report, including an abstract, data chart, analysis and discussion. The
details of information included in the report are outlined in the copy of the project in
Appendix A. For the analysis the students had to not only explain the physics behind their
instruments, but also perform calculations showing the speed of sound in them. For the
stringed instruments, the students deterrrrined the speed of sound on the strings, for the
pipes, the speed of sound in air and for the bars, the speed of sound traveling through the
bars. One common error made by students who constructed chimes or xylophone-type
instruments was to consider their instruments as pipes rather than bars. Even though the

students used PVC pipe or copper pipe to make the chimes or xylophone-type

14

instruments, they were considered bars because they were struck with an object rather

than being blown into like flutes or panpipes. The calculations for bar instruments were

more complex, using Young’s modulus, an equation not typically presentedto high

school students. The average score on the instrument project was 85% or 59.4 out of 70

possible points. The most common errors in this project were incomplete explanations of

how sound travels in the instrument constructed, and incorrect calculations in

determining speed. Student comments on the success of their experiment in the

discussion section of the lab included these remarks:

Light

“Although my instrument never worked properly, I conclude the lab to be a
successful one anyway. I learned a lot about sound waves and how to make
sound waves, as well as how fast they all travel through air.”

“I feel that my flute was quite a success. It was effective in producing standing
waves in order to create different notes and make a pleasant sounding
instrument.”

“My PVC flute sounded a lot like my real flute!”

“I believe that the lab was a success. . .showing that instruments use physics
properties in producing sound.”

“I was able to take everyday materials and create an instrument that could be
played and even use it to play a recognizeable (sic) song.”

“Yes, my instrument works. Yes, my instrument can be heard.”

“My panpipe. . . .allowed me to play the greatest song in the world ‘Mary had a
Little Lamb’.”

“My instrument played eight distinct notes.”

“I also learned how music is created by sound waves in different instruments.”

Marshmallows and the Speed of Light. (Appendix B) This is another interesting

classroom demonstration, without a written assignment. This demonstration reinforces

15

the concepts of the speed of light, and the electromagnetic spectrum. I first read about
this demonstration in the journal, The Physics Teacher. However, there are also online
resources for this demonstration, listed in Appendix B. One student covers a paper plate
completely with a layer of regular sized marshmallows, placed next to each other and
barely touching. The plate is then placed in a microwave that does not have a turntable.
Once turned on, a standing wave is set up in the microwave, and at maximum amplitude
the marshmallows begin to melt. The maximum amplitude is one-half the wavelength of
the electromagnetic wave. The microwave is turned on just until the marshmallows begin
to melt. Another student measures the distance between two melted spots and finds the

half-wavelength distance, and another finds the frequency of the rrricrowave (it is usually
written on the back of the microwave). Using the equation v=hf the speed of the

electromagnetic wave can be determined. When done carefully, this is very accurate.
Color

Color Observations — An Introduction. (Appendix A) This laboratory experiment was
adapted from the book that came with my light box kits. Students learn about pigment
colors from preschool on, but this is the first introduction to the colors of light. The
students use color filters to combine various colors of light on a white screen. The big
surprise of this experiment is that blue and yellow light make white, not the color green,
as in pigments. One student summed up the general feeling by writing “yellow and blue I
expected to be green because with crayons or paint those are the colors you would expect
to get.” The students are also surprised by the colored, rather than just black, shadows

that appear. In this experiment the students wrote down predictions, observations, and

16

some explanations of their observations. The average score on this experiment was 96%
or 14.4 out of 15 points.

Paint by the Numbers. (Appendix B) This experiment allows students to mix color
pigments by using paints. I use this experiment as designed by Matthew Tuckey, a
science teacher in Bad Axe, Michigan. Like the colored light experiment, this activity is
qualitative and requires no mathematics. Students use and combine different color paints
to study color subtraction. The class average was 99% or 10.9 out of a possible 11
points. The few errors that were made were errors of omission, such as not answering a
question or finish painting.

Reflection/Refraction

Mirror Survey. (Appendix A) The Mirror Survey is a take-home discovery activity that
introduces reflection. It addresses the concept that the image we see on a mirror appears
to come from behind the rrrirror. Even after the survey is taken and discussed, students
are still skeptical; refusing to believe the image in the nrirror is not on the mirror itself.

In order to prove this, I have one student stand at arm’s length from the mirror and draw a
circle on the mirror around the reflection of his face with an overhead marker. When the
circle comes out to be half the size of his face, discussion gets lively. This discovery
activity interests the students in the topic of reflection.

The Angle on Refraction. (Appendix B) Snell’s Law is the basis for this experiment in

 

which the students derive the law for themselves using the optical light boxes. The write
. up for this experiment is from the book that comes with the Arbor Scientific light boxes
used in physics class. I use it almost as is. The students use a semi-circular, transparent

Plexiglas slab and a thin beam of light. The light is shone through the slab at different

17

angles and lines are drawn indicating which are the lines of incidence and which are the
lines of refraction. The equation for Snell’s law is derived from the students’ data, as is
the index of refraction for light going from air through plastic. If a laboratory team is
careful, results are very good. The average score on this experiment was 89% or 19 out
of a possible 21 points. Even if the data were not perfect, the students did not lose credit
if they could explain the results.

It’s All Done with Mirrors. (Appendix A) Reflection in curved mirrors is the focus of this
experiment. This experiment was revised from the book that came with my optical light
boxes. In this qualitative experiment, the students compared spherical and parabolic
mirrors. The properties of curved nrirrors were studied to promote understanding of
concepts such as center of curvature and focal point. This experiment was qualitative,
and the students wrote down and answered questions about their observations. The
average score was 89% or 18.75 out of a possible 21 points.

Lenses

Pinhole Cjameg with Coffee Cfl (Appendix B) This experiment introduces lens
properties to the students. I use this experiment as written by Mr. Mark Davids, a physics
teacher at Grosse Pointe South High School. Using a light source and a coffee can with a
small hole punched in the bottom; a real image can be formed on the plastic top of the
can. Usually the students use geometry to determine the image and distance formula for
lenses, but due to time constraints, the students performed the qualitative portion of the
experiment and we did the quantitative portion together. All students received points for

participation.

18

“Lab-a-thon”. (Appendix A). In the final project for the unit, students worked in teams of
two, three or four to devise or find and rewrite a demonstration, experiment or game for a
concept from this unit. The experiments, demonstrations and games were set up and the
entire class did each activity. Along withdeveloping the procedure and experiment, each
team had to have a worksheet for the other students to complete. The team then collected
and graded the worksheets. One laboratory report was required per group. The average
team score on this project was 90% or 31.5 out of a possible 35 points.
VI. Assessment of Unit

Various instruments were used to assess student progress during this unit.
Homework included LON -CAPA questions, bookwork, and handouts. Pre and post tests
were administered to determine overall retention of wave concepts, and laboratory reports
were written for all experiments. A test was given for each chapter as well. At the end of
the unit the students completed a survey giving me their opinions on the effectiveness of
the physics of waves unit.
Pre and Post Tests
The pre and post tests were the same instrument. The test consisted of seven short answer
questions. The test and scoring rubric are shown in Appendix E. The questions were
conceptual in nature and designed to incorporate the material learned from this unit. The
goals of the pre and post tests were to see what prior knowledge of the physics of waves
the students had and chart their improvement after the unit was complete.
Homework
The homework in the unit on the physics of waves was varied. The students completed

individualized problems found on LON-CAPA for the first two chapters. Along with the

19

LON -CAPA problems in the first two chapters as well as the rest of the chapters in this
unit, the students completed questions from the book known as “Think and Explain”
questions. These are conceptual questions pertinent to the chapter. These questions
require a short answer. Additional mathematical problems were given via handouts.
Scoring for these questions and problems are graded on participation level; students were
expected to try to answer these questions. Generally, the class discussed the homework
on the due date. Of course, I was always available to answer individual questions before
the due date.

Laboratory Reports

There were two types of laboratory reports that the students completed. For the activities
and experiments the reports were completed on preprinted forms. Except for the chapter
on color and the rrrirror survey that were conceptual only, there were both conceptual and
mathematical questions regarding the experiment. The laboratory reports for the projects
were complex, requiring a formal write up. The students had to write an abstract, data
section, analysis of the physics used in the project, error analysis, and discussion section.
Chapter Tests

At the end of each chapter students took a test covering the physics concepts studied in
that chapter. The tests included multiple choice questions and either mathematical
problems or short-answer questions.

Survey

At the end of the physics of waves unit, the students, giving me their assessment of this
unit, took a survey. The survey is shown in Appendix F. There were eight sliding scale

questions and three short-answer questions

20

EVALUATION
I. Overview

The success of this unit was evaluated using reports from experiments and
projects, chapter test results, pre and post test results and a student survey.

The averages for the experiment and project results are shown along with the
descriptions of each experiment and project (see also Implementation). Grading Rubrics
for the projects are included in Appendix A. Ihave chosen to break down by letter grade
the results of the’projects. The grades show that students can work either on their own or
in teams to solve problems and explain concepts.

Test results for each chapter as well as the results for the pre and post tests help
show the retention of concepts introduced in this unit. These tests are found in Appendix
C. Grading rubrics used for the tests are shown in Appendix D. The pre and post tests are
the same, and were short answer, not multiple choice. A copy of the pre and post test and
the grading rubric can be found in Appendix E.

Finally, the students completed a survey at the end of this unit. A copy of the
student survey is in Appendix F. There were eight questions answered on a sliding scale
and three short answer questions. The survey was intended to be a qualitative way to get
feedback on the unit.

The grading scale I used for the tests and assignments is shown in the table below:

21

Table 3: Grading Scale for all assignments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grade Range (%) Grade Range (%)
A+ 100 C+ 77-79
A 94-99 C 74-76
A- 90-93 C- 70-73
B+ 87-89 D+ 67-69
B 84-88 D 64-66
B- 80-83 D- 60-63
E 59 or less

 

 

 

 

Graphs reflectthe letter grades A, B, C, D and E. Graph columns for the letter grade
reflect the entire range of that grade.
11. Projects

The Great Pendulum Race (Appendix A) was the first project. As it was the
introductory project the concepts were, for the most part, review from previous physical
science classes. All students earned an “A” on this project. Fifty-two students had a
perfect score of 11 out of a possible 11 points, and 16 students earned 10 points. The
goal of this project was to familiarize the students with the procedures necessary to
complete a successful project, focusing on collection and explanation of data.

Behind the Music — Making Your Own Musigal Instrument (Appendix A) was the
large individual project for this unit. Not only did the students have to invent or find
instructions for a musical instrument, they had to explain the physics of sound behind
their instrument and be able to play six different notes as well as a recognizable song. A

breakdown of the grades students earned is shown below:

22

 

 

Behind the Music Project

 

40 l
3 2 30 -
5 ‘ l
i a 8 201 1
I S 3 10- l
' 0 It“ I... L-..— ..._..c._..._r__......-_... .__.._ A M 1
A B C D E
Letter Grade

 

Figure 1: Grade distribution for “Behind the Music - Making your
own Musical Instrument”

Thirty-six students earned an “A” on this project. In order to receive that grade, the
student had to make a working instrument, play six different notes, play a recognizable
tune for the class, explain the physics of sound in their instruments, complete calculations
showing the speed of sound with regard to their instrument and complete discussion
questions about the physics of sound found in the laboratory handout. Students receiving
a “B”, “C” or “D” had working instruments, but the rest of the lab was not up to par. The
four students who earned an “B” were not able to construct a working instrument, and/or
had very poor project reports. Four students in the class did not complete the project at
all, and earned no grade.

“Lab-a-thon “ (Appendix A) team project was the last project for this unit. Each

 

team drew a slip of paper from a beaker with a lab concept we have studied — either
reflection, refraction or lenses, and had to devise a demonstration, game, or experiment.
Only one project report was required from each team. The grades were high, because the
best writer on each team was elected by the team to write the project report. The grade

distribution is shown below:

23

 

1 Lab-a-thon i
l

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

E

g 157 i
l 3 w *
:101' l
1 ° 1‘ l

t... 5;
‘ ‘2 l , . l
l :I 0 . E l
i z A B c o E l
LetterGrede .
J

L___

 

W: Grade Distribution for “Lab-a-thon” Team Project
No team earned a “D” or an “E” on this project. The teams earning an “A”, described
and made a demonstration, game or experiment using the concept they drew out of the
beaker. The teams explained the physics of waves used in their project, gave each
student a handout to complete while performing the experiment or game, or watching the
demonstration, graded and handed in the worksheets and answered discussion questions.
Teams earning the lower grades did not explain the physics of their experiment
thoroughly, or did not turn in the other students’ worksheets.
III. Chapter Tests

There were five chapter tests given with this unit. All tests consisted of both

multiple choice and mathematic problems. The first test was given on wave basics. This
test addressed topics such as wave types and descriptions, period of a pendulum, and the

Doppler Effect. The results of this test are shown in the figure below:

24

 

Wave Basics - Test

20
15~
10~

5-

 

Number of
Students

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Letter Grade

Figure 3: Wave Basics Test Results

 

The next chapter was the chapter on sound. Topics addressed in this chapter
included the speed of sound in air and water, resonance, interference and intensity. This
test incorporated information used in construction of the students’ musical instruments, as
well as information found on the LON-CAPA website I created. Much of the
information was not found in the textbook. There were fifteen multiple-choice questions

and five math problems. The grade distribution for that test is shown in Figure 4:

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

Sound-Test

__ 20

l 3‘3 ’5“ '3

i 3310- i
l E:

‘ girl 3 I

; l

A B c D E ;

LetterGrade ‘

 

Figure 4: Sound Test Results
The third test in this unit was on light. This chapter got a short shrift due to time

constraints and the students’ scores are evidence of that fact. This chapter incorporates

25

polarization, shadows, and electromagnetic waves. There were no experiments and only

a few demonstrations for this chapter. The grade distribution for this short test is shown

 

 

 

   

 

   

 

 

below:

[hm _# T l
j Light - Test 1
l

e a

e- 30

5 C
t .3 .3 20 . c
i g a 10 - 7.7::- «g...
' A B c o E
‘ Letter Grade }

E Figure 5: Light Test Results
The next test in this unit was on color. This chapter discussed complimentary
colors, what causes color, color addition and color subtraction. This is a popular chapter
with the students, who are quite tired of math by this time! This test is different than the
rest of the tests in this unit because there are short answer questions included. The results

for this test are shown in Figure 6:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

l i
Color-Test l
l 5
l .. 25 l
l 3 g 20 ‘ i
g 15 ~
l g 2 1o- 9
l 3 ‘7’ 5 ‘ l
i 0 ..... I}
A B C D E ;

l
Letter Grade I

Figare 6: Color Test Results

26

The last test in this unit actually incorporated two chapters into one test. Again
due to time constraints, the chapter on reflection and refraction had to be included along
with the chapter on lenses into one test. This test included the topics of reflection,
refraction and lenses. Also incorporated was the information from the students’ projects

as well as three experiments. Figure 7 details the results for this test.

 

Reflectioanefraetion/Lenses-Test

 

 

+ l
1 l
‘ 00 -
l ~23“ 2|
l§§m l
l 3510 ‘
I 0' l
g A B ’c o E ‘

LetterGrede ‘

 

_ Figure 7: Reflection/Refraction/Lenses Test Results
IV. Pre and Post Tests
The same test was given before the unit started and after the end of the unit. The
test included seven short-answer questions. The test was worth thirteen points. Table 3
shows a breakdown of number points vs. the number of students achieving each score.

The percent of students achieving each score is also shown.

27

Table 4. Pre and Post Test Values

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POINTS PRETEST POSTTEST
EARNED Number of Percent of Number of Percent of
Students Students Students Students
0 5 8 O O
1 16 25 0 O
2 14 21 0 O
3 -12 18 1 2
4 1 1 17 6 9
5 4 6 7 1 1
6 O O 8 12
7 3 5 14 22
8 O O 8 12
9 O 0 13 20
10 O 0 6 9
1 1 O O 2 3
12 0 0 O 0
13 O 0 0 O

 

 

 

 

 

A total of 65 students took both the pre and post tests. The average score on the pretest
was 2.5 points out of a possible 13 or 19.2 %. The average score on the posttest was 7.3
points out of a possible 13 or 56.1 %. The average improvement was 36.9 %.
V. Student Survey 0

At the completion of this unit, I asked the students to complete a survey, giving

their opinions on this unit in two formats. The first part of the survey was a sliding scale

28

 

1 to 5, with the number 1 meaning “strongly agree” and number 5. meaning “strongly
disagree”. The second part of the survey contained three short answer questions. Table 4
shows the percentage breakdown of the answers to the first eight questions on the survey.

Table 5: Survey Results by Percent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Percent of students responding
Question 1 2 3 4 5 No
Number (Strongly (Somewhat (Feel (Somewhat (Strongly Answer
Agree) Agree) Neutral) Disagree) Disagree) Given

1 ' 24.6 40.0 18.5 9.2 7.7 0

2 27.7 35.4 12.3 15.4 9.2 0

3 24.6 24.6 26.2 12.3 12.3 0

4 29.2 24.6 21.6 15.4 9.2 0

5 21.6 29.2 21.6 26.2 1.4 0

6 20.0 15.4 21.6 13.8 29.2 0

7 12.3 41.5 29.2 13.8 3.1 O

8 9.2 26.2 30.8 21.6 7.7 4.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were two statements that brought the largest “strongly agree” response. 1) “The
lab-a-thon was useful in explaining reflections and refraction”; 29.2% of the students
answered “strongly agree”. 2) “Constructing my own musical instrument was useful in
helping to understand how sound travels” garnered a “strongly agree” rating from 27.7%
of the students. The statement that brought the largest “strongly disagree” response was
“I preferred the math-style homework over the Think and Explain questions”, with 29.2%
of the students giving a “strongly disagree” answer. Only 9.2% of the students strongly

agreed with the statement “The use of the computer made the material easier to

29

 

understand”, this could be due to the fact we only used LON-CAPA for the first two
chapters of the unit. The response to the statement “What I learned exceeded my
expectations at the beginning of this unit” was heartening. “Strongly agree” earned a
12.3% response and “Somewhat agree” earned a 41.5 % response. This means that over
one-half of the class, 53.8%, learned more than they thought they would. Another 29.2%
learned about what they thought they would. The “disagree” statements showed that
16.9% of the students learned less than they thought they would. Of that 16.9% only two
students, or 3.1% strongly disagreed with that statement. Combining the positive
statements shows even more heartening information. A total of 64.6% of the students
somewhat and strongly agree that this unit helped them understand how instruments with
string make music. A total of 63.1% of the students agreed that constructing their own
instruments was useful in understanding how sound travels. Over half of the students,
53.8%, felt that the lab-a-thon was useful in explaining reflection and refraction. One
interesting fact is how the students feel about the use of math. 35.4% of the students
agree that they prefer math to conceptual questions, and 43.0% of the students prefer
conceptual questions to math. This fact is further reflected in the short answer questions
on the survey.

There were three questions in the survey. The first question was “Which part of
this unit did you like best and why?” Eighteen of the 62 students who completed the
short answer questions replied that they like the instrument project the best. Some of the
comments were:

“The part with the musical instruments because I learned more on how they
work”

30

“Making the instruments. You do not get a fun project that teaches a good lesson
very frequently.”

I liked making instruments, 1 still have mine and play it a lot.”

The “Lab-a-thon” was the favorite of eleven students. A related favorite, with twelve
votes was reflection/refraction. Some of the student comments were:

“The reflection and refraction section because it had things that I would never
guessed about mirrors.”

“. . .instead of everyone doing the same lab for every unit, everyone got to make
their own and be creative. It also made you understand a lot of different topics

instead of just one.”

“I liked making our own labs. . .. It allowed some creative thinking and you
usually understand something well when you have to teach someone else.”

Another popular topic was color. Ten students picked color as their favorite topic. A
typical comment regarding the color chapter was:

“I liked colors best. It was cool to find out paint and light nrix differently.”
Students differed more when asked what they liked the least. Eleven of the students said
that they did not like the math, and that elirrrinating math problems would have helped.
As one student stated “ I did not like the math equations because they were boring.” The
following topics: waves, lenses, instruments, color, reflection/refraction, tests and the
“Lab-a-thon” each had four or five “least favorite” ratings. When asked “What do you
think would have helped you understand this unit better?” the most frequent answer
(eleven students) was student related. Some typical comments were:

“If I tried harder.”

“Coming to class earlier.”

“. . .paying more attention would have helped me understand it more. That is all I
truly needed to do.”

31

Other popular suggestions included spending more time on each topic, doing more hands-
on activities and more demos. One student suggested I change the way I teach. However
five students said that there was nothing that could have been done to improve the unit,

that it was understandable and well presented.

32

DISCUSSION
1. Evaluation

This unit was successful in helping students learn through the use of projects. All
students were able to create a pendulum with a period of exactly one second. This rrrini-
project was a nice launch into the unit. One student cited making a pendulum as the part
of the unit he liked best.

Almost all students were able to construct and play their own instruments, uSing
common household materials and without using parts of existing instruments. The
students explained the physics of waves behind their instruments in a formal laboratory
report. The drawback to the instrument project is that as the instruments became more
complicated, so did the physics involved. Instruments with strings, panpipes and
trombone style instruments proved to be the simplest instruments to describe in terms of
physics principles. The mathematical equations were also straightforward. However,
instruments with bars had a more complex formula and were not as easy to explain.
Flutes and recorders were complex because the students did not cover the holes all in
sequence when the instrument was played. Sometimes every other hole may have been
covered, which led to more complex physical explanations. There were also a few
instruments that defied high school mathematics, such as the garden tool chimes and the
Mylar balloon bagpipe. Overall student response to this project was positive. The
students staged an impromptu jam session on the due date that was very well received.

All students were able to work in teams to develop a demonstration, game or

experiment about reflection, refraction or lenses. Explaining their projects, and designing

33

and grading worksheets gave the students opportunities to improve their communication
skills and learn by teaching. Again, general student response was positive.

Less successful were the test results. I have been teaching this same unit for six
years. The test scores generally follow a bell curve, like the graph shown in Figure 6, the
test on Color. However, this time some of the tests showed more low scores, resulting in
a skewed curve on most of the tests. The tests on the Light Chapter and the
Reflection/Refraction/Lenses test showed the most failures. These tests had two factors in
common. I rushed through the material in these chapters due to time constraints, leaving
out a few laboratory experiments and demonstrations that I usually do. Both of these
tests were also given on a Monday, a practice I usually avoid. Most disappointing were
results of the test on the light chapter. However, that was the chapter with the least
amount of demonstrations and experiments. In the case of the
Reflection/Refraction/Lenses Test, two chapters were combined into one test. I do not do
this on a regular basis. It is my opinion that there was too much of a time crunch and too
much material included on this test. While I added in projects to this unit, 1 did not take
out many of the laboratory experiments I usually have the students perform. This
contributed, again, to the rushed feeling of this unit on the physics of waves.

However, the test on the Sound Chapter was quite successful. This was a high-
interest chapter for the students. The curve was skewed toward the high end, with quite a
few students achieving a grade of “B”. This is the chapter on which we spent the most
time. This chapter also had LON -CAPA web and homework pages, as well as regular

experiments and a project. .

34

Also disappointing were the results of the pre and post tests. The retention rate of
knowledge was not what I expected. Although an increase of 36.7% is a big increase, the
overall average of the post test was just under 60%. (which would be a failing grade).
Again, there may have been too much material to cover in too short a time. Constantly
reviewing material from earlier chapters during the course of the unit would help improve
those scores. Another option would be to give a rrrid-unit test to see how the earlier
material is retained after a shorter time period. This would help me decide if there was
too much content being taught in too short a time period. In the pre and post tests I did
not allow for partially correct answers. The questions were either right or wrong. In
retrospect, there were some answers that were partially correct that I would have given
some credit for on a regular chapter test. One question asked why cowboys in the old
west put their ears to train tracks to tell if a train was conring. Many students wrote that
the cowboys could feel the vibrations of the train. This is a partially correct answer. The
vibrations are what cause sound. However, I only graded completely correct answers as
correct.

The students related, by both the surveys and verbally, that they enjoyed this unit.
The large number of positive comments on the projects convinced me that this is a step in
the right direction. An unexpected bonus was the students’ enthusiasm for the conceptual
approach to the subject. Especially in physics, which lends itself so well to math, there is
a constant pull to teach a more math-based class. It is easier for the teacher, and the
“right” or “wrong” answers that students crave are merely an equation‘away. However,
the response to the conceptual aspects of this unit convinced me that the struggle to

explain with words as opposed to numbers is a valid pursuit. The negative comments

35

students made on the survey were a much smaller percentage than the positive comments
and scattered over many topics. I found this encouraging, as there was no one aspect of
this unit that the majority of students disliked.

Although I only used LON-CAPA for two of the chapters, wave basics and sound,
I was pleased with the effect. Having students complain because now they have to do
their own homework is a complaint I enjoyed hearing. The students could show each
other how to complete a mathematical problem, but they could not just hand over the
answers. I will be working on prograrnrrring the rest of the chapters in this unit, as well
as the rest of my physics curriculum on to LON-CAPA over the next year. As I have
stated, writing web pages and problems for LON-CAPA is very time consuming.
However, once the pages and problems are written they are there for use for as long as I
want them, and only require updating as dictated by the curriculum. Also, we had
various server, provider and virus problems this year that made implementation of LON -
CAPA difficult. These problems have been addressed, so I look forward to improved
performance of LON-CAPA in the conring years.
11. Improvements

Of glaring importance in the improvement category are the tests. The test
difficulty will have to be designed to be proportional to the amount of time spent on the
chapter. I can institute some rrrid-chapter quizzes to check the progress of the students in
that particular chapter. Due to time constraints 1 did not doas many demonstrations as I
usually do for this unit. I believe 1 need to find the time to put those back in to help foster
student understanding. I also will review and revisit wave basics throughout this unit to

help with retention. When I implement the instrument project next time, I will only allow

36

simple instruments. There are enough variations of basic pipe and string instruments to
provide variety. I also need to learn more about music myself! The school band director
was my constant source of information during this project. Students who had more
complicated instruments were frustrated trying to figure out the wave patterns and speed
of sound for those instruments. We never did find a suitable equation for sound in a
bagpipe! Another improvement I wish to make is the utilization of LON-CAPA for
reference and homework. The test scores would be better if the students understood how
to do the problems. I noticed a large number of “similar answers” on the homework
students turned in. Unfortunately, many of them were incorrect answers. The two
chapters 1 had set up on the LON-CAPA network provided students with a great
reference source, as the students who actually went on line and looked at them agreed.
As for the time constraints — I believe that will always be a problem for teachers. We are
trying to condense 6,000 years of science into 40 weeks and it is difficult. Every time I
think that 1 should leave a topic out, color for example, student response to that topic
encourages me to leave it in. 1 may have to be more selective in the future.

Besides the mousetrap cars, which are a tradition, I am going to incorporate
projects into some of the other topics. Projectiles lend themselves to projects such as
catapults and rubber band launchers and electronics to projects such as motors.

III. Conclusion

As with any new revision of a unit, this thesis is simply the starting point. I do
believe in the value of hands-on projects, discovery experiments and a conceptual
approach to physics. The conceptual approach is a good way to bring physics from a

high-level, honors-students-only enrollment to a wider student base. Projects such as

37

making an instrument or designing a game bring physics into the students’ world. One of
the best projects in my class was a pair of “drunk goggles” that a student made out of
diverging lenses. He got the idea from an assembly in which the police had a pair of
glasses that students tried on to see what it was like to be drunk. In order to construct
these goggles, the student had to know which type of lens would work and why. As their
experiment, all the students in the class had to try and walk in these goggles, and answer
some questions about diverging lenses. This project was a great example of using the
understanding of physics in a real-life situation.

I must admit I enjoyed hearing the music, trying the games and experiments and
watching the “thrill of victory” on the students’ faces when they were successful in their
endeavors. A project that brings the students real world into a school subject is good for

both the student and teacher.

38

APPENDICES

39

APPENDIX A

EXPERIMENTS AND PROJECTS

4O

NAME DATE HOUR

THE GREAT PENDULUM RACE - PHYSICS HP

The period of a pendulum is the time it takes to complete one cycle. One cycle is
completed when a pendulum swings from a position of displacement and back to
that same position. To determine the length of the period, time the pendulum for
ten cycles, and divide the total time by 10. In this project you will build a
pendulum with a period of exactly one second in order to discover what
determines the period of a pendulum. Use the following guidelines in building
your pendulum:

Use a small angle of release (between 5 and 10 degrees)
Use a pencil or ruler to hold you pendulum at the release point. It is too
easy to give the pendulum a “push” if you fold it in your hand and release
It.
Use the scientific method! Change one variable at a time to see the effect.
Keep good records! Observe, time and write down everything in an
organized fashion.

0 Have the instructor okay your design before you begin building, and
witness the great one-second period after you are done!

Data: On a separate piece of paper, create a format to display all data taken in the
project. Be sure to note construction changes, results of each trial, and any other
information pertinent to your project.

Analysis: For each construction change, describe the effect on the period of the
pendulum. Explain the reasoning behind construction decisions. Give a
description of your successful pendulum. Complete with a schematic and
measurements.

Discussion:
If you set up your pendulum atop Mt. Everest, would the period be less than, the

same as, or greater than it would be in your lab? Explain.

If you set up the pendulum aboard an orbiting space vehicle, would the period be
less than, the same as, or greater than it would be in your lab? Explain.

Reference:
Hewitt, Paul and Robinson, Paul. Conceptual Physics Laboratory Manual,
Addison-Wesley Publishing, Menlo Park, CA. 1997. pgs 221-222.

41

THE GREAT PENDULUM RACE — GRADING RUBRIC

Successfully construct a pendulum with a period of one second

Data Table: Clear, concise, complete with construction details

Analysis: The effect on the period of the pendulum for each
construction change. Reasoning behind construction

decisions. Schematic of pendulum.

Discussion: Questions answered and explained using principles
learned to date. Answers complete.

42

2 points
2 points

3 points

4 points

Behind the Music!
Build Your Own Musical Instrument

In this lab you will use the concepts learned in Chapters 25 and 26 to construct
your own musical instrument. As part of your lab, you will play a song for the class.
(And we may have a Physics “band” and all play the same tune.) There will also be a
formal lab write-up, where you will explain how your instrurrrent works, and the physics
behind the music. Your instrument must meet the following qualifications:

It must be free standing and complete.
It must be portable.
You must be able to play at least six different notes, and a recognizable
. song.
0 You may not use any actual instrument parts (such as a mouthpiece from a
trombone, or the neck of a guitar)
You may not use a commercial kit to make your instrument.
0 You must be able to clearly hear the instrument throughout the classroom.

You must use common, everyday materials in construction. You may select an
instrument that uses strings, pipes or bars. 1 may ask to see preliminary plans a week
before the due date. Keep notes as you go along and your lab report will almost write
itselfl This is an individual project, which means you will not have a lab partner. You
will also complete your own lab report. This is a formal lab, requiring lots of detail. You
must turn in two copies of your lab report. I will return one to you and keep the other.

Your lab report will consist of the following sections:

Abstract: The abstract should contain the purpose, a brje_f procedure, and any unusual
materials used and schematic. The schematic should be labeled and contain
measurements (in metric, of course). The drawing does not have to be to scale, but
should be an accurate representation. Note: Write this section in paragraph forrrr. Do
19L write subheadings and then a list under them

Data: The data section is simply a table of measurements and derived values. This is not
the place for equations or calculations. The types of data here will be the frequency and
notes of your instrument, wavelengths of the notes, and other types of data you may find
while working on this lab.

Analysis: This is the most important part of your lab. This is where you describe what
you did, the construction decisions you made and why, and explain the physics behind
the music. In your interpretation of physics, do not explain what frequency is - tell me
how it applies to your lab. You will also include any calculations and formulas used in
this lab. Error analysis is included in this part of the write-up as well.

Discussion: In this section you will answer any questions present in the lab. You will
also discuss the accuracy and success of your lab, and identify any sources of error and
uncertainty.

43

BEHIND THE MUSIC - GRADING RUBRIC

This assignment was worth a total of 70 points.

Instrument complete and turned in on time. 10 points
Student able to play 6 different notes on instrument 10 points
Student able to play a recognizable tune on instrument 5 points
Maximum points for project report 45 points

Rubric for project report is shown below:
Cover Page 2 points

Abstract: Written concisely with the purpose, procedure, materials 10 points
and detailed schematic (with measurements in metric)

Dag; Data should give numbers for frequency, length, and speed of sound 7 points
the accepted frequency of each note, percent difference between
experimental and accepted frequency of each note. Data should be
in chart or table form

Analysis: Analysis should include all equations used in this project, all 16 points
calculations, error analysis for calculations, and interpretation of
physics used, including resonance, standing waves, frequency,
length of string or air column. Students are to explain how these topics
relate to their projects.

Discussion: In this discussion section there were two questions to 10 points
answer (each worth 2 points). Worth two points each were
comments and explanation of the success of the lab, accuracy of the
instrument, and sources of uncertainty.

NAME DATE HR

 

 

COLOR OBSERVATIONS
AN INTRODUCTION TO COLORS OF LIGHT

 

As children, we learn about colors by painting and drawing. This lab will focus on your
knowledge of the nature of colored light. Have fun!

Materials:

light box and power supply six transparent color filters small object
screen six solid color cards

Part One

For this part of the experiment you will use the red, green and violet cards and filters.
Line the three cards side by side against the screen. Using the end of the light box fitted
for holding filters; insert one of the filters into the end of the box. Record the observed
colors of the cards when illuminated by the different colors of light in the table below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Color of Card in Color of Card when Incident Light on the Card is:
White Light Red Green Violet
Red
Green
Violet

 

 

 

 

Were you surprised by the results of this experiment? Explain.

45

 

What is the explanation for the colors that you observed when the cards were illuminated
by the different color filters?

Select three other cards, and any three filters. Write the names of the colors in the table
below. Perform the experiment again, first predicting what colors you will see, and then
writing the colors you see.

 

Color of
Card in
White
Light

Color of Card when Incident Light on the Card is:

 

 

Predicted

Actual Predicted Actual Predicted Actual

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did your results match your predictions? Explain why or why not.

46

 

Part Two — Addition of Colors

Using the side positions, together with the end of the light box, project three
colored beams on to the screen. Use the colors blue, red and yellow. (NOTE: Place the
weakest color in the end position of the light box and the stronger colors at the sides.
This compensates for loss of intensity during reflection from the side nrirrors.) Move the
mirrors to use the beams to overlap and record your observations below.

RED + BLUE gives:

 

RED + YELLOW gives:

 

YELLOW + BLUE gives:

 

RED + YELLOW + BLUE gives:

 

Were you surprised by any of the results? Explain.

Now perform the same experiment using red, blue and green. Predict what colors you
will observe and then test your prediction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RED + GREEN Predicted
Actual
RED + BLUE Predicted
Actual
BLUE + GREEN Predicted
Actual
RED + BLUE + GREEN Predicted
Actual

 

Were your predictions correct? Explain why or why not.

47

Using your textbook, define the term Complementary Color

Using your data from Part Two, name the complementary colors for the following:

RED BLUE

 

GREEN YELLOW

 

What color would you add to magenta to make white light? Explain.

What color would you add to cyan (turquoise) to make white light? Explain.

Part Three - Shadows

Place your small object in front of the screen. Illuminate the object with red light. What
color is

the shadow?

 

If you illuminate the object with blue light instead of red light what color will shadow be?

Try changing filters and see if you are correct.

 

 

If you illuminate the object with two crossed beams of light, both red and blue, what
color will

the shadow be? Place the
object in

the path of the crossed beams and explain the shadows that you observe. (To help you
explain, draw a sketch of the arrangement, including direction and color of the light and
shadow(s)).

48

If you illurrrinate the object with red, blue and green light what color will the shadow be?

 

Place the object in the
path of the crossed beams and explain the shadow(s) that you observe. (To help you
explain, draw a sketch of the arrangement, including direction and color of the light and
shadow(s)).

49

HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU! - MIRROR SURVEY

Suppose that you are standing 1.0 m from and directly in front of a flat rrrirror that is
attached to a wall. As you look at the nrirror you see an image of yourself. Answer the
following questions as completely as possible.

 

1. Compared to your position and the position of the mirror, exactly where is the
image?
2. As you move closer to the rrrirror, does the size of the image change? What if you

move farther from the nrirror?

 

3. If someone else looks towards the mirror at YOUR image, will it appear in the
same place that you see it? Explain.

 

4. If you wish to see more of your image in the rrrirror, what should you do?

 

For homework, ask someone else the same questions (not another or former physics
student and record their responses here: (The response that the image is inside the eye is
not acceptable.)

1.

 

 

 

 

 

Reference: Mr. Mark Davids, Grosse Pointe South High School, Grosse Pointe, MI

50

NAME DATE HR

 

 

IT’S ALL DONE WITH MIRRORS!
REFLECTION IN CURVED MIRRORS

 

Purpose: Discover reflection properties of convex, concave, and parabolic rrrirrors.

Materials: Light Box, serrri-circular curved nrirror, parabolic mirror, slide with three
light slits.

Part One:

1. Select the semi-circular curved mirror. Aim a set of parallel rays into the center
of the inside curve of the nrirror (making a concave rrrirror) so that the rays are parallel to
the axis of symmetry of the mirror.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Draw the incident and reflected rays and note where they meet. This point is
called the FOCUS of the mirror. How far is the focus (or FOCAL POINT) from the
mirror?

 

 

This distance is called the FOCAL LENGTH of the nrirror.

Part Two:

1. Set up as in part one and on paper trace the inside reflecting surface of the
concave nrirror. Move the rrrirror around the curve and continue tracing until you have a
complete circle. Measure the diameter of this circle in at least five directions, and
calculate an average diameter.

Show your work here:

From the diameter of the circle, please calculate the radius. What is the radius of the
circle?

51

How does the radius of the circle compare with the focal length you found in Part One?

Part Three:

1. On another piece of paper (or at the bottom of your paper), trace the inside of the
semi-circular mirror. You can use another method of finding the center of curvature. Aim
a single ray at the inside curve of the mirror so that it reflects straight back on itself. To
do this, the ray must be meeting the surface along its “normal” or be perpendicular to the
surface at that point and must be reflected back along this radius position through the
center of curvature. Record this ray position.

2. Without moving the mirror, move the ray box to another position where the ray
again reflects back on itself and record the new ray position. Repeat this procedure a
third time.

3. The point where the rays meet is the CENTER OF CURVATURE and the
distance from this point to the curve is the RADIUS OF CURVATURE. Compare the
radius to the radius you found in part two. Is there a difference? Explain.

Part Four:

1. Turn the senri-circular mirror so that the light rays strike the outside surface (this
makes a convex nrirror), parallel to the axis. Record the nrirror position and ray paths
and indicate the ray directions with arrowheads.

2. Determine where the diverging rays appear to come from by drawing the
diverging (reflected) rays backward through the mirror position. The point they come
from is called the VIRTUAL FOCUS and the distance of this point from the rrrirror is
called the VIRTUAL FOCAL LENGTH. Measure this distance and record that value
here: '

How does the focal length compare with the focal length of the other side of the nrirror?

How does the focal length compare with the radius of curvature of the rrrirror you found
in part three?

By how much do the results differ? Please give an explanation for any difference.

52

Why are convex rrrirrors used as rear vision rrrirrors in cars?

Part Five:

1. Aim a set of parallel rays into a concave parabolic mirror along the paths parallel
to the axis of symmetry of the rrrirror, just as you did with the serrri-circular mirror in Part
One. Record the mirror and ray patterns. What is the focal length of the mirror?

2. Move the light box sideways, keeping the rays parallel to the axis of symmetry.
What do you notice about the position of the focal point?

3. Aim a broad parallel sided beam of light into the parabolic concave mirror and
observe and record the effect from the light rays.

4. Predict what would happen if you used the parabolic reflector as a convex rrrirror.
Would there be a focal point? Where would it be? Try it and see!
PREDICTION (Draw your prediction):

53

ACTUAL:

Discussion Questions:

1. What shaped mirror would be used to produce sharp images of stars scattered in
all directions over the field of view? Explain.

2. What do you think would happen if a point source of light, such as a very bright,
small light bulb (lamp) were placed at the focal point of a parabolic nrirror? Explain

3. Why do radar antennae, radio telescopes and car headlamp reflectors have a
parabolic shape rather than a spherical shape?

4. Please define the following terms:
Center of curvature
Focal point
Focal length
Axis of symmetry

Radius of curvature

 

Reference: Experiment Handbook, Industrial Equipment and Control Pty., Ltd.,
Melbourne, Australia.

54

E.P.L., Inc. has OVERBOUGHT ! A leading manufacturer of wave equipment
has gone out of business and E.P.L., Inc. has bought out the inventory. As a result,
E.P.L. is looking for exciting demos, games and experiments on light, reflection,
refraction and lenses. Your research team has been selected to develop a demo, game or
experiment on one of the topics covered in our wave unit. The topic you will have to
research will be assigned by closed bids (in other words, drawn out of a beaker). Your
team may use equipment available in the classroom. If there is equipment or materials
you wish to use other than what is in the classroom; you must okay it with your
supervisor. (That would be Ms. Ebrahirrri). Your team will have to research the topic,
design a demo, game or experiment for the concept; write an explanation sheet and write
questions to go with your project. You will be given some class time to work on this
project.

You are welcome to research your topic on the Internet, or to ask your supervisor
for advice. You must make sure your project works before you have the class try it.
Your project must meet the following requirements:

1. It must be performed in the classroom.

2. It must not take longer than 10 minutes to complete.

3 You must have a handout for each student. If you give me a handout two
days before the lab day I will make copies for you. If you procrastinate
and do this last rrrinute, you are on your own.

4. You must hand in a key for your questions. You are not required to
perform your own experiment or game on lab-a-thon day.

5. On the due date we will have a lab-a-thon. All the projects will be set up
in the classroom and everyone will try each one.

6. Ms. E. and a distinguished panel of judges (the class) will vote for their
favorite project. The team with the highest score from the class will be
rewarded accordingly.

Your projects do not have to be complicated, but they must make evident the
principles of your topic. Your project will be graded according to the following
criteria:

1. Objective and Procedures — are they clear and concise? Can your fellow

students tell what objectives you are testing?

Does it show the objectives?

3. Questions — are the questions fair? Can the answers be found from
looking at the demo, playing the game, performing the experiment or
using class notes or the textbook?

4. Were you done on time?

P

55

LAB WRITE-UP GUIDELINES
LAB - A - THON

LAB DUE DATE:

 

This will be a formal lab write-up. Only one report per team will be turned in. Please
turn in two copies of your report. I will hand one back, and keep the other. Please
include the following information in your report:

TITLE PAGE: The title page should include the team name (if there is one), the names
of the team members, the experiment name, date, class and hour.

ABSTRACT: The abstract should contain the purpose, the concept you demonstrated, a
brief description of your lab, demo, or activity, materials used and a schematic of your set

up.

DATA: The data included in this lab will be the total number of students who performed
your lab and a breakdown of correct and incorrect answers by your fellow students on the
lab worksheets. Also please list the most common problem that was incorrect and the
most common incorrect answer. Also attached to the data section should be your answer
key.

ANALYSIS: In the analysis section, please tell exactly what each team member
contributed to the lab. This is also where you will tell me the physics behind your lab
(yes-the dreaded interpretation of physics). Explain in detail the concepts and physics
behind your activity. If you used any equations or problems in your lab, list them in this
section. There is no error analysis for this lab.

DISCUSSION:
1. How could you have rewritten or redone your activity to make it clearer?
2. What do you believe was the reason for the most common error that occurred?

3. Did this lab (writing and performing) help you better understand Chapters 29 and
30? Please give details.

Also in the section please comment on the success of your lab. Do you think your lab

conveyed the principles intended? Please attach the lab reports to this lab when you turn
it in. (You don’t have to make copies of the students’ papers, just turn them in.)

56

LAB —A — THON
CLASS VOTING BALLOT

STUDENT NAME HR

My vote for best project goes to the project titled:

My reason(s) for choosing this project as the best are as follows:

 

LAB-A-THON TOPICS

Law of Reflection — Plane Mirrors Telescopes (reflecting or refracting)
(must use at least five mirrors)

Law of Reflection — Curved Mirrors Converging Lenses

(must use at least 2 mirrors)

Refraction of Light Diverging Lenses

Total Internal Reflection Real vs. Virtual Images
Rainbows (spectrum) Focal Length — rrrirrors and lenses
Microscopes

57

“LAB — A - THON”- GRADING RUBRIC

Title Page: 2 points.
Abstract: The abstract should contain the purpose, the concept you 5 points

demonstrated, a brief description of your lab, demo, or activity,
materials used and a schematic of your set up.

Dag: The data included in this lab will be the total number of students 8 points
who performed your lab and a breakdown of correct and incorrect
answers by your fellow students on the lab worksheets. Also please
list the most common problem that was incorrect and the most
common incorrect answer. Also attached to the data section should
be your answer key.

Analysis: In the analysis section, please tell exactly what each team 12 points
member contributed to the lab. This is also where you will tell
me the physics behind your lab (yes-the dreaded interpretation
of physics). Explain in detail the concepts and physics behind your
activity. If you used any equations or problems in your lab, list
them in this section. There is no error analysis for this lab.

Discussion: Questions were 2 points each. Comment on the success of 8 points
your lab. Do you think your lab conveyed the principles intended?

58

APPENDIX B

RESOURCES FOR DEMONSTRATIONS AND EXPERIIVIENTS

59

Resources for demonstrations and experiments not found in Appendix A.

Wave Basics

Sound

Light

Color

Grandfather Clock Laboratory Experiment: Conceptual Physics Laboratory
Manual, Third Edition. Paul Robinson. Page 223

Properties of Waves with Slinlgy_s: Hands on Physics Activities with Real Life
Applications. James Cunningham and Norman Kerr. Center for Applied Research
in Education. Page 357.

Spoons on Strings: Hands on Physics Activities with Real Life Applications.
James Cunningham and Norman Kerr. Center for Applied Research in Education.
Page 393

 

Mach 1 Experiment: Conceptual Physics Laboratory Manual, Third Edition. Paul
Robinson. Page 223

 

Marshmallows and the Speed of Light: Apopka High School
http://www.bowlesphysics.corn/marsh.htm or Alex’s Fun Experiments
www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Runway/6095/speedoflight.htrnl

 

Paint by the Numbers: Mr. Matthew Tuckey, Bad Axe High School, Bad Axe
Michigan

Reflection/Refraction

Lenses

The Aagle on Refraction Experiment: Handbook from Arbor Scientific Light
Boxes. pgs 12-14.

Pinhole Camera with Coffee Cans: Mr. Mark Davids, Grosse Pointe South High
School, Grosse Pointe, MI.

 

6O

APPENDIX C

CHAPTER TESTS

61

PHYSICS EXAM - WAVE BASICS

DO NOT WRITE ON THIS EXAM. Complete the following sections as
requested.

Multiple Choice. Select the best answer for each of the following
questions. Write the letter of the correct answer and your answer on your
own paper. (3 points each)

1.

The time needed for a wave to make one complete cycle is its

A. frequency. C. wavelength.

B. period. D. speed.

Hertz is a

A. radio wave. C. unit of frequency.
B. unit of period. D. unit of wavelength.

A wave created by shaking a rope up and down is a
A. transverse wave. C. constructive wave.
B. longitudinal wave. D. Doppler wave.

Unlike a transverse wave, a longitudinal wave has no
A. amplitude. C. wavelength
B. frequency. D. A longitudinal wave has all of the above.

Two waves arrive at the same place, at the same time, and the same
direction of amplitude. Each wave has amplitude of 1 meter. The
resulting wave has an amplitude of:

A. 4 m. C. 1 m.

B. 2 m. D. 0.5 111.

Where can you touch a standing wave without disturbing the wave?
A. At a node. C. At any place along the wave.
B. At an antinode. D. A wave is always disturbed.

When a sound source moves towards you what happens to the wave
speed?

A. It increases. C. It stays the same.

B. It decreases.

62

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

The amplitude of a particular wave is one meter. The top-to-bottom
distance of the disturbance is:

A. 2 m. C. 0.5 m.

B. 1 m. D. Zero.

If you quadruple (increase by 4 times) the frequency of a vibrating
object, it’s period
A. increases by one fourth. C. decreases by one-fourth.

B. increases by four. D. decreases to one-fourth of the
original. °

During a single period, the distance traveled by a wave is

A. one-half wavelength. C. two wavelengths.

B. one wavelength. D. depends on the wave.

What happens when an airplane is flying faster than the speed of
sound?

A. A shock wave is produced.

B. There is no sonic boom.

C. It becomes very quiet on the plane.

D. The plane cannot be heard on the ground.

A Doppler Effect occurs when a source of sound moves
A. towards you. C. away from you.

B. both A and C. D. at the same speed you are moving.

The frequency of the second (sweep) hand on a clock is

A. 1/60 (0.017) Hz. C. 60 Hertz.

B. 1 Hertz. D. Zero.

If a pendulum clock were taken from Earth to the Moon, it would
A. gain time. C. neither gain nor lose time.
B. lose time.

A sonic boom

A. is produced as a plane breaks the sound banier.

B. is produced by subsonic bullets.

C. is swept continuously behind a plane flying faster than the
speed of sound.

D. is both A & C.

63

Problems. Complete the following calculations. Round your answers to two
places past the decimal point (the hundredths place). You must show your
work, and include proper units. Draw a box around your answer. Use 9.81
m/s2 for gravity on Earth.

16.

Ms. E’s favorite radio station broadcasts at a frequency of 104.3 MHz.
What is the wavelength of the radio waves from her favorite station?
(3 points)

17. Gravity on Mars is 2.94 m/sz. How long would a pendulum be that
had a period of 3.78 s? (3 points)

18. A boat at anchor is rocked every 2.5s by a wave traveling at 6.4 m/s.
What is the wavelength of the water waves? (3 points)

19. A microwave has a frequency of 2.45 X 109 Hz. What is the period of
the rrricrowave? (3 points)

20. Batman has lost his Batmobile in the Batcave. Luckily, he has his
ultrasonic Batears to help him locate the Batmobile in the dark. If the
Batears enrit ultrasound at a frequency of 4.7 X 104 Hz, and the waves
travel at 342.5 m/s, what is the wavelength of the waves? (3 points)

EXCITING BONUS QUESTION:

Why do waves conring from a fast boat have a smaller conical angle than
waves conring from a slow boat? Explain your answer.

CHAPTER 26 — SOUND
PHYSICS EXAM

Multiple Choice. Read each question carefully, choose the best answer and write the
letter for that answer, and the answer on your own paper. You may use the equation sheet
of possibly helpful equations. (3 points each) Do not write on this test!

1.

10.

Sound waves are produced by
A. radio stations B. vibrating objects
C. objects under pressure D. soft objects

In which one of the following does sound travel the fastest?
A. Steam B. Water
C. Ice D. Sound travels at the same speed in each.

The phenomenon of beats results from sound
A. refraction. B. reflection. C. interference D. all of these.

Compared to the threshold of hearing (0 db), a sound level of 30 db is
A. 10 times more intense B. 30 times more intense
C. 300 times more intense D. 1000 times more intense.

The speed of sound in the atmosphere depends on
A. its frequency B. its wavelength
C. the air temperature D. the humidity

Sound waves can interfere with one another so that no sound results.
A. True B. False

The singer, Caruso, is said to have made a crystal chandelier shatter with his
voice. This is an example of
A. an echo. B. sound refraction C. beats. D. resonance.

How many times a rrrinute will you be in step with a friend when you walk at 80
steps per minute and your friend walks at 75 steps per rrrinute?
A. O B. 5 C. 75 D. 155

Sound waves cannot travel in
A. air. B. water. C. a vacuum. D. sound waves can travel in all of these.

When the handle of a tuning fork is held solidly against a table, the sound

becomes louder and the length of time the fork vibrates
A. becomes shorter. B. becomes longer. C. stays the same.

65

ll.

12.

13.

14.

15.

As a result of resonance

A. the wavelength of a wave increases. B. the frequency of the wave
increases.
C. the amplitude of a wave increases. D. the speed of a wave increases.

Beats are produced when two tuning forks, one of frequency 240 Hz and the other
one of frequency 246 Hz, are sounded together. The frequency of the beats is
A. 6 Hz B. 12 Hz. C. 240 Hz D. 486 Hz

Compared to a sound of 40 decibels , a sound of 60 decibels is
A. 20 times the intensity. B. 100 times the intensity. C. 200 times the intensity.

Resonance occurs when

A. sound makes multiple reflections.

B. sound changes speed in going from one medium to another.
C. the amplitude of a wave is amplified.

D. an object is forced to vibrate at its natural frequency.

Sound waves in air are a series of
A. high and low pressure regions B. periodic disturbances
C. periodic compressions and rarefactions. D. all of the above.

Problems. Read each question carefully. Solve. Be sure to use correct units and show
your work. Please draw a box around your answer.

16.

l7.

18.

19.

20.

A trumpet sounds the note G (784 Hz). How many vibrations does the note make
while the sound travels 38.5 meters through the air, which has a temperature of
19°C (4 points)

A ship is traveling in a fog, parallel to a dangerous, cliff-lined shore. The boat
whistle is sounded and its echo is clearly heard 11.0 s later. If the air temperature
is 100°C, how far is the ship from the cliff? (4 points)

The frequency of a tuning fork is unknown. A student uses an closed air column
at 270°C and finds the length to be 39.2 cm when resonance occurs. What is the
frequency of the tuning fork? (4 points)

A plane is flying at Mach 3 on a cold (-15.0°C) day. How fast in km/hr is the
plane flying? (5 points)

A violin string that is 48.0 cm long has a fundamental frequency of 490 Hz. What
is the speed of the waves on the string? (3 points)

66

NAME DATE HR

CHAPTER 27 — LIGHT - PHYSICS QUIZ

Instructions: Read each question carefully. Write the letter of the best answer in the
space provided.

1. The color that travels fastest through clear glass is
A. red. B. green.
C. blue. D. all light travels at the same speed in clear glass.

 

2. Compared to air, the speed of light in water is
A. faster. B. slower. C. the same.

 

3. Which of the following waves is fundamentally different from all

 

others?
A. Sound waves. B. Radio waves.
C. Infrared waves. D. Microwaves.

4. What is the relationship between the wavelength and frequency of a
wave?
A. As wavelength increases, frequency increases.
B. As wavelength increases, frequency decreases.
C. As wavelength increases, frequency remains stable.
D. Wavelength and frequency are unrelated.

 

5. Compared to the velocity of radio waves, the velocity of light waves is
A. slower. B. faster. C. the same.

 

6. Vibrating electrons emit
A. charged particles. B. longitudinal waves.
C. energy D. alpha particles

 

7. The shadow produced by an object held close to a piece of paper in the
sunlight would be
A. fuzzy. B. sharp and clear. C. unable to be seen.

 

8. If two Polaroid filters are held with their polarization axes at right
angles to each other, the amount of light transmitted compared to when
their axes are parallel is

A. twice as much. B. the same. C. half as much D. zero.

 

9. If an electron vibrates up and down 1000 times each second, it
generates an electromagnetic wave having a

A. period of 10005 B. speed of 1000m/s

C. wavelength of 1000m D. frequency of 1000Hz.

 

67

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Light travels through glass and emerges on the other side. The speed
of light as it is entering the glass is when it has just left

the glass.
A. faster than B. slower than C. the same as

D. none, because visible light is absorbed by glass.

11. The main difference between an infrared wave and a radio is its
A. speed B. wavelength C. both A and B
D. method of propagation (transverse or longitudinal)

12. Because of absorption, a Polaroid lens will actually transmit 40% of
incident nonpolarized light. Two Polaroid filters with their axes
aligned will transmit
A. 0% B. 40%

C. between 40% and 100% D. between 0% and 40%

13. Ultraviolet light travels through glass by
A. setting up a resonance and using energy already in the glass.

B. energizing individual atoms.
C. ultraviolet light does not travel through glass.
D. changing to infrared waves.

14. What property of light was most important in the experiments of
Roemer, Michaelson, and Galileo?

A. Light can travel in a vacuum.

B. Light can be reflected off of a rrrirror.

C. Light always travels at the same speed.

D. Light can be seen from a great distance.

15. Light reflects off of the car in front of you and is incident on your
polarized sunglasses. The sunglasses block the light

A. traveling perpendicular to your glasses.

B. traveling parallel to your glasses.

C. traveling in any direction.

68

PHYSICS - CHAPTER 28 TEST - COLOR

Multiple Choice
Read each question carefully. Select the best answer for each question. Write the letter
for that answer_and your answer on your own paper. (3 points each)

1.

10.

Different colors of light correspond to different light
A. velocities. B. intensities. C. polarities. D. frequencies.

A sheet of red paper will look black when illurrrinated with
A. red light. B. cyan light. C. yellow light. D. magenta light.

If sunlight were green instead of white, the most comfortable color to wear on a
hot day would be

 

A. magenta. B. yellow. C. green. D. blue.

A photograph of your favorite person’s yellow sweater looks on the
negative.

A. blue B. brown C. yellow D. green

Light shines on a pane of green glass and a pane of clear glass. The temperature
will be higher in

A. the clear glass. B. the green glass. C. neither, it will be the same in each
pane.

The three primary colors of light addition are
A. red, yellow and green. B. red, yellow and blue.

C. red, green and blue. D. yellow, cyan and magenta.

Complementary colors are two colors that

A. look good together. B. are next to each other on the color chart.
C. are primary colors. D. produce white light when added
together.

The complementary color of green is

A. red. B. magenta. C. yellow. D. blue.

The sky is blue because air molecules in the sky act as tiny

A. mirrors that reflect only blue light. B. resonators that scatter blue light.
C. sources of white light. D. prisms.

The cyan color of ocean water is evidence that the water absorbs
A. red light. B. orange light. C. cyan light. D. green light.

69

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

The three paint colors that are used by printers are:
A. red, green and blue. B. red, blue and yellow.
C. magenta, cyan and yellow. D. magenta, green and yellow.

Sunsets are red because

A. blue light from the sun is scattered by the earth’s atmosphere.

B. the longest path of sunlight through the atmosphere is at sunset or sunrise.
C. red light scatters more easily in the evening.

D. there is magic in the air at sunset.

Magenta light is really a mixture of
A. red and blue light. B. red and cyan light.
C. red and yellow light. ' D. yellow and green light.

Colors seen on a photograph are a result of
A. color addition. B. color subtraction. C. none of these.

The color of an opaque object is determined by the light that is
A. transmitted. B. absorbed. C. reflected. D. both B & C.

Short Answer Questions:
Answer the following questions in complete sentences. Be sure to explain your answer
completely. Please write neatly — if I can’t read it, I can’t grade it!

16.

17.

18.

(3 points)Why are black and white not listed as colors?

(6 points)A group of students really like the shade of white that results from
rrrixing red and cyan light. They decide to surprise their math teacher by use red
and cyan paint and repainting the classroom. What color results from the red and
cyan paint? Please explain why.

(6 points)A theatre student decides to shine a green light on a performer. The
student has filters in the following colors: blue, red, yellow, cyan and magenta.
How can the student make a green beam of light? Please explain thoroughly,
using a “physics” explanation. You may use a diagram to help you.

EXCITING BONUS QUESTION:

If the sky on a planet in our solar system were normally orange, what color would the
sunsets be? Please explain.

70

NAME DATE HOUR

PHYSICS TEST - CHAPTERS 29 & 30
REFLECTION/REFRACTION/LENSES

Multiple Choice. Read each question carefully. Select the best answer and write the
letter for that answer in the space provided. (3 points each)

1. It is easier to see the road on a clear night than a rainy night because the road
surface:
A. absorbs more light when wet.
B. is obscured by rain.
C.- does not get as much light due to cloud cover hiding the sun.
D. scatters light in all directions.

2. The spectrum produced by a prism or raindrop is evidence that the average
speed of light in the material depends on the light’s
A. particle nature. B. wave nature.
C. color. D. transmission qualities.

3. Which of the following is a consequence of the refraction of light?
A. Mirages B. Rainbows
C. Internal reflection D. All of these

4. The critical angle for light from the bottom of a swimming pool shining
upward towards the pool’s surface is the angle
A. at which light is reflected from the surface.
B. at which all light is refracted out of the pool.
C. where light is refracted so it just skims the pool’s surface.
D. 45 degrees.

5. A student wants to buy a nrirror that will allow her to see her entire image.
However, she is on a budget. What is the shortest plane mirror she can buy?
A. A nrirror that is half her height.
B. A rrrirror that is equal to her height.
C. A mirror that is twice her height.
D. It doesn’t matter what size the nrirror is, as long as she stands far enough
away.

6. Refraction is the result of

A. bending. B. different wave speeds.
C. more than one reflection. D. displaced images.

71

10.

ll.

12.

. A beam of light emerges from air into water at an angle. The beam is bent

A. 48 degrees downward. B. away from the normal.
C. toward the normal. D. not at all.

. A magnifying glass under water will magnify

A. more. B. less. C. the same.

. Suppose you hold a converging lens in front of a window. An image of some

distant hills focused on your hand, behind the lens. The focal point of this
lens is located

A. in front of your hand.

B. behind your hand.

C. approximately at your hand.

If an object is located between the focal point and a converging lens, the
image will be

A. larger than the object. B. upside down.

C. real. D. all of the above.

In drawing a lens ray diagram, one of the rays can be drawn
A. parallel to the axis.

B. through the center of the lens.

C. through the focal point of the lens.

D. all of the above.

Ray diagrams are used to

A. figure out what kind of lens is being used.
B. figure out where an image will be located.
C. find the focal point of the lens.

D. all of the above.

Problems. Solve the following problems. You must show your work, include units, and
put your answer in the space provided.

13. A ray of light in air (11 = 1.00) strikes a diamond at an angle of incidence of 20°.
The angle of refraction is 8°. What is the index of refraction of the diamond? (3

points)

Answer to problem 13

 

72

14.

15.

16.

What is the critical angle for light rays passing from flint glass (n = 1.61) into air?
(3 points)

Answer to problem 14

 

An object 2.25 mm high is placed 8.5 cm in front of a converging lens that has a
focal length of 5.5 cm.

(a) What is the location of the image? (3 points)

(b) What is the size of the image? (3 points)

Answer to problem 15a

 

Answer to problem 15b

 

A magnifying glass has a focal length of 12.0 cm. A coin, 2.0 cm in diameter is
placed 3.4 cm in front of the lens.

(a) Where is the image located? (3 points)

(b) What is the diameter of the image? (3 points)

Answer to problem 16a

 

Answer to problem 16b

 

73

POSSIBLY HELPFUL EQUATIONS:

nlsin01=n2sin02 h,/h(,=-di/d0 1/f= 1/d0 + 1/d,

Ray Diagrams. Please draw the following ray diagrams using the scale shown. Be sure
to answer all questions.

17.

18.

An object 32 mm high is placed 16.0 cm in front of a concave rrrirror with a focal
length of 4.0 cm.

(a) Draw a ray diagram on a separate sheet of paper using a 1:1 scale. (3 points)
(b) According to your diagram, what is the image location? (2 points)

(c) According to your diagram, what is the size of the image? (2 points)

((1) Is the image real or virtual? (1 point)

Answer to problem 17b

 

Answer to problem 17c

 

Answer to problem 17d

 

An object 9.0 cm high is placed 90.0 cm in front of a converging lens with a focal
length of 36.0 cm.

(a) Draw a ray diagram on a separate sheet of paper using a 1:9 scale.(3 points)
(b) According to your diagram, what is the image location? (2 points)

(c) According to your diagram, what is the size of the image? (2 points)

((1) Is the image real or virtual? (1 point)

Answer to problem 18b

 

Answer to problem 18c

 

Answer to problem 18d

 

74

APPENDIX D

GRADING RUBRICS FOR
CHAPTER TESTS

75

GRADING RUBRICS FOR CHAPTER TESTS

Wave Basics — 60 points total
Multiple Choice questions — 3 points each
Math questions — 3 points each
subtract 1 point for incorrect or missing units
subtract 1 point for orrritting work
subtract up to 2 points for incorrect answer
Exciting Bonus question answered and explained
I point for trying - even if answer is incorrect

Sound — 65 points total
Multiple Choice questions — 3 points each
Math questions
subtract 1 point for incorrect or missing units
subtract 1 point for omitting work
subtract up to 2 points for incorrect answer on each
equation in the problem

Light — 45 points total
Multiple Choice questions — 3 points each

Color — 60 points total
Multiple Choice questions — 3 points each
Short Answer Questions
#16 — 3 points, #17 — 6 points, #18 — 6 points
In order to get all points for the short answer questions

the answers should be complete and include all the physics
principles pertinent to the question. Point value varies with

complexity of the problem. Partial credit is given for
incomplete or sub par explanations.

Exciting Bonus Question
1 point for trying question, credit varies with quality of
explanation.

76

45 points
15 points

3 points

45 points
20 points

45 points

45 points
15 points

3 points

Reflection/Refraction/Lenses — 70 points total
Multiple Choice — 3 points each (#1 —12) 36 points
Math Problems (#13-16) 18 points
subtract 1 point for incorrect or missing units
subtract 1 point for omitting work
subtract up to 2 points for incorrect answer on each
equation in the problem
Ray Diagrams - 8 points each(#17 & 18) 16 points
Diagram and scale correct — 3 points
Image location correct — 2 points
Image size correct -— 2 points
Image type correct — 1 point

77

APPENDIX E
NAME DATE HR

PHYSICS HP- WAVES AND SOUND
PRE/POST TEST

Short Answer Questions. Read and answer the following questions. Explain your
answers

1. Draw a wave and label the features (use a sine curve for the wave).

2. Explain why we hear sounds over a longer distance at night.

3. What allows a clarinet or trumpet to play different notes?

4. Explain the relationship between the period and frequency of a wave.

5. In the movies, you can hear and see a rocket explode in outer space. Explain why this
is scientifically incorrect.

6. In old movies, cowboys hear a train coming by putting their ears on the train track.
What is the reason for this?

7. What happens to light and sound waves when they travel from air into water?

78

RUBRIC AND ANSWERS
PHYSICS HP- WAVES AND SOUND
PRE/POST TEST

Short Answer Questions. Read and answer the following questions. Explain your
answers

1. Draw a wave and label the features (use a sine curve for the wave).

1 point for drawing a sine curve. 1 point each for labeling the crest,
trough, amplitude and wavelength.

2. Explain why we hear sounds over a longer distance at night.
1 Point. Accept either: Air is more dense, sound there are more
particles for the sound to travel through or cooler temperatures refract
sound towards the ground.

3. What allows a clarinet or trumpet to play different notes?
1 point. Length of air column is changed, which changes the
wavelength of the column. Shorter wavelength means higher
frequency, which gives higher pitch.

4. Explain the relationship between the period and frequency of a wave.
1 Point. They are inversely proportional.

5. 1n the movies, you can hear and see a rocket explode in outer space. Explain why this
is scientifically incorrect.

2 points. Sound cannot travel in a vacuum and even if it could, sound
is so much slower, the explosion would be seen and heard at different
times. (1 point for each reason)

6. In old movies, cowboys hear a train coming by putting their ears on the train track.
What is the reason for this?

1 point. Sound travels faster in a solid, so the sound is heard through
the track before in the air

7. What happens to light and sound waves when they travel from air into water?
2 points. The waves hit a boundary, change speed and bend or refract.

79

APPENDIX F

Physics Survey
Fall Semester 2001

Part 1: Please read each statement carefully, then circle the number that reflects your

opinion. Use the following scale:

1 Strongly Agree

2 Somewhat Agree

3 Feel Neutral

4 Somewhat Disagree
5 Strongly Disagree

This unit help me understand how instruments with strings
make music.

Constructing my own instrument was useful in helping to
understand how sound travels.

I enjoyed the Reflection and Refraction Lab-a-thon.

The Lab-a-thon was useful in explaining reflection and refraction.

The homework made the material easier to understand.

1 preferred the math-style homework over the Think and Explain
questions.

What I learned exceeded my expectations at the beginning of this
unit.

The use of the computer made the material easier to understand.

80

12345

12345

12345
12345
12345

12345

12345

12345

(Over, please)

Part 2: Please read each question carefully, and write a short answer.

Which part of this unit did you like best and why?

Which part of this unit did you like least and why?

What do you think would have helped you understand this unit better?

81

APPENDIX G

LON-CAPA
SAMPLE CONTENT AND PROBLEM PAGES

82

Introduction to Waves

Suppose you were to tie a rock on the end of a string. You could
hold the string and allow the stone to swing back and forth. If the
angle of release were small, the stone would swing back and forth
in what is called "simple harmonic motion". Drawing a picture of
that motion would give you a picture of a wave (the shape would
be a sine curve).

We can describe simple harmonic motion mathematically! The
following equation is used to determine the period of a pendulum:

T =21:(L/g)"2

A wave is no more than a wiggle in space and
time. In the above pendulum, the wave is
produced by the back and forth motion of the
rock. If the rock were attached to a spring
instead, the bobbing motion of the rock would
produce the wave motion.

There are many other ways of producing a wave.
A stone dropped in a pond produces a wave,
sound produces waves, light travels in a wave
and there are lots of others. This chapter is a
general introduction to waves. Enjoy!

83

Wave Speed

The speed of a wave depends on the medium the through which the wave
travels. Generally speaking waves travel fastest through solids, slower
through liquids and slowest through gases. While the speed of sound waves
in air varies greatly, the speed of electromagnetic waves is considered
constant. The speed of electromagnetic waves is given the symbol c, and the
value is 3.0 X 108 m/s. The equation used to determine wave speed is: V=7tf.
(speed = wavelength times frequency)

Examp le

The string of a violin vibrates with a frequency of 264 Hz, producing the
middle C note. If the sound waves produced by this string have a wavelength
in air of 1.30 m, what is the speed of sound in air?

vzhf
v=(1.30m)(264 Hz)
v=343 m/s

What is the period of the violin string?
T=1/f

T=1/264Hz
T=3.79 x 10'3 s

84

Sample Page — Solved Problems

  

mi',‘ {Rib :u m. 31:; tar-:41

Identify the following as properties of a sound wave, an electromagnetic wave, or both.
sound wave: Must travel through a medium.

both: Has amplitude, crests, and troughs

electromagnetic wave: Is a transverse wave

both: Frequency can be found by dividing the speed by the wavelength.

You are correct. Your receipt is 490-1244
’ 1* : .‘« .. S ti“)"\£:; it"

   

What is the speed of a wave with a wavelength of 1.80 m and a frequency of 186.1 Hz?
The computer got 335 m/s.

Tries 0/10

13:? M> u" ~. y»...

A hiker shouts toward vertical cliff 696 m away. The echo is heard 4.12 s later. Calculate
the speed of sound in air.
The computer got 337.864077669903 m/s.

    

Tries 0/ 10

The wavelength of the sound wave is 0.8 m. What is the frequency of the wave?
The computer got 422.330097087379 Hz.

Tries 0/10

A radio station broadcasts at a frequency of 91.7 MHz. What is the wavelength of the
radio waves?
The computer got 3.27153762268266 m.

 

Tries 0/10

 

A pendulum has a length of 1.2 m. What rs the period of the pendulum? (You may use
9. 81 m/s2 for g.)
The computer got 2.19753594576947 s.

Tries 0/10

 

85

The prince has come to save Rapunzel, who is trapped at the top of a tower. She lowers
her braided hair for the prince to climb. He holds on to her hair, and begins to sway back
and forth, like a pendulum. How high is the tower if the prince has a period of 5.75

seconds? (use 9.81 m/sec2 for g).
The computer got 8.21570733281368 m.

Tries 0/10
@CLVJ’” 0"“

An electromagnetic wave has a frequency of 6.3x10l4 Hz. What is the period of the

wave?
The computer got 1.58730158730159e-15 s.

 

Tries 0/ 10

 

On planet E a pendulum with a length of 1.25 m has a period of 4.6 8. Calculate the
gravity on this planet.
The computer got 2.33213714581507 m/s"2.

Tries 0/10

   

Bats emit ultrasonic sound to help them locate obstacles. The sound waves have a
frequency of 2.00e+04 Hz. If the waves travel at 317 m/s what is the wavelength of the

waves?
The computer got 0.01585 m.

Tries O/ 10

Sample Page — Unsolved Problems

86

first. §=’-‘:‘-~'.~'.-. 4

  

(Or ; '
C)“ ." '9-

Light travels from crown glass into air. The angle of refraction in the air is 53°. What is

 

 

the angle of incidence in the glass?
_Submtt Arena! I

Tries 0/10
(~12)? {’j 913......1
Uv :37“. , .,5I,,-\.f ,' .-, i

What is the index of refraction of a medium if the angle of incidence in air is 50° and the

 

 

 

angle of refraction is 38°? I
_S_ubmit kisser

Tries 0/ 10
ILLS" l?" I 2: ‘1 I» .

One ray of light strikes a material that has an index of refraction of 1.65. Another ray of
light strikes a material that has an index of refraction of 2.25. In each case the angle of

 

 

 

 

incidence is 35°. What is the difference between the angles of refraction? I
§ubmit Ansuer

Tries 0/ 10

.... . r
I g "I - ,1; ‘1 "a
r \ .‘ . ‘

 

  

    

Marlo shines a laser into a pool. The laser light strikes the water at an angle of 506°.

 

What is the angle of refraction?
§wmltAnsuer '

 

 

From inside an aquarium a ray of light is directed toward the glass so the angle of
incidence is 33 °. Determine the angle of refraction when the ray emerges into the air.

1

§ubmit Answer '

Tries 0/10

 

 

Submit All

87

BIBLIOGRAPHY

88

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abdal-Haqq, I. (1998). Constructivism in Teacher Education: Considerations for those
who would link practice to theory. Eric Digest .
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digest/ed426986.html

Alex’s Fun Experiments. (2000). Speed of Light.
www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Runway/6095/speedoflighthtml

Bowles, M. (2001) Marshmallows and the greed of Ligm Apopka High School .
www.bowlesphysics.com/marsh.htm

Buck Institute for Education. (1999). Projewt Based Learning.
http://www.bie.pbl/overview/

Cunningham, J. and Herr, N. (1994). Hands on Physics Activities with Real Life
Applications. New York, NY. Center for Applied Research in Education

Edge, RD. (1987). String and Stipky Tape Experiments. College Park, MD: American
Association of Physics Teachers.

Haury, D. (1993). Teaching Science Through Inquiry. Eric Digest.
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digest/ed359048.html

Hewitt, P. (1997). Conceptual Physig. CA: Addison-Wesley
Hewitt, P. (1990, May) Conceptually Speaking. . .. The Science Teacher. 55-57

McDermott, L. C. (1993, Vol. 61 #4). How we teacher and how students learn — a
mismatch? American Journal of Physics. 234-235

Michigan State Board of Education. (2000). Michigan Curriculum Framework. Lansing,
MI. Michigan Department of Education.

Michigan State Board of Education. (1991). Michigan Essential Goals and Obiectives for
Science Education (K-12). Lansing, MI. Michigan Department of Education.

Michigan Teacher Network. (2000). Physical Science High School Wges and
Vibrations Standard SCI.IV .4. http://mtn.merit.edu/mcf/scl.IV.4.hs.html

Umass Physics Education Research Group. (2002). Constructivism.
http://umperg.physics.umass/edu

89

GENERAL REFERENCES
Chemka, L. (2001 , May). Misconstructing Constructivism. Phi Delta Kappan, 694-695

Colbum, A. (2000, Sept/Oct) Constructivism: Science Education’s “Grand Unifying
Theory”. The Clearing House, 9-12.

Doherty, P. and Rathjen, D. (1991) The Spinning Blackboard and Other Dyaamic
Experiments on Force and Motion. NY: John Wiley and Sons.

Kortemeyer, G., Bauer W., Kashy, D., Kashy E. and Speier, C. (2001) fie
LgmingOnline Networlgvith CAPA Initiaiive. http://www.loncapa.org

Macauley, D. (1998). The New Way Thing§ Work. NY: Houghton-Mifflin Company

Musical Instrument Recipe Book. Elementary Science Study. (1971). NY: Webster
Division, McGraw-Hill Book Company.

Taylor, 8., Roth, D. J ., and Portrnan, D. (1995). Teaching Physics with Toys. NY:
Terrific Science Press.

Wilson, J. (1993). Physics: A Practical and Conceptual Approach. Fort Worth, TX:
Saunders College Publishing.

Zitzewitz, P. (1999). Physics Principles and Problems. NY: Glencoe.

90