The Physics of Everyday Things

The Physics of Everyday Things PDF Author: James Kakalios
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0770437753
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Physics professor, bestselling author, and dynamic storyteller James Kakalios reveals the mind-bending science behind the seemingly basic things that keep our daily lives running, from our smart phones and digital “clouds” to x-ray machines and hybrid vehicles. Most of us are clueless when it comes to the physics that makes our modern world so convenient. What’s the simple science behind motion sensors, touch screens, and toasters? How do we glide through tolls using an E-Z Pass, or find our way to new places using GPS? In The Physics of Everyday Things, James Kakalios takes us on an amazing journey into the subatomic marvels that underlie so much of what we use and take for granted. Breaking down the world of things into a single day, Kakalios engages our curiosity about how our refrigerators keep food cool, how a plane manages to remain airborne, and how our wrist fitness monitors keep track of our steps. Each explanation is coupled with a story revealing the interplay of the astonishing invisible forces that surround us. Through this “narrative physics,” The Physics of Everyday Things demonstrates that—far from the abstractions conjured by terms like the Higgs Boson, black holes, and gravity waves—sophisticated science is also quite practical. With his signature clarity and inventiveness, Kakalios ignites our imaginations and enthralls us with the principles that make up our lives.

The Physics of Everyday Things

The Physics of Everyday Things PDF Author: James Kakalios
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0770437753
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Get Book Here

Book Description
Physics professor, bestselling author, and dynamic storyteller James Kakalios reveals the mind-bending science behind the seemingly basic things that keep our daily lives running, from our smart phones and digital “clouds” to x-ray machines and hybrid vehicles. Most of us are clueless when it comes to the physics that makes our modern world so convenient. What’s the simple science behind motion sensors, touch screens, and toasters? How do we glide through tolls using an E-Z Pass, or find our way to new places using GPS? In The Physics of Everyday Things, James Kakalios takes us on an amazing journey into the subatomic marvels that underlie so much of what we use and take for granted. Breaking down the world of things into a single day, Kakalios engages our curiosity about how our refrigerators keep food cool, how a plane manages to remain airborne, and how our wrist fitness monitors keep track of our steps. Each explanation is coupled with a story revealing the interplay of the astonishing invisible forces that surround us. Through this “narrative physics,” The Physics of Everyday Things demonstrates that—far from the abstractions conjured by terms like the Higgs Boson, black holes, and gravity waves—sophisticated science is also quite practical. With his signature clarity and inventiveness, Kakalios ignites our imaginations and enthralls us with the principles that make up our lives.

"Show Me what You Know"

Author: Bárbara M. Brizuela
Publisher: Teachers College Press
ISBN: 0807754099
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Just like representations in everyday life, this book shows that represenations are ubiquitous to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the STEM disciplines. "Show Me What You Know" showcases research on representations across a range of STEM disciplines and ages, from children as young as 2 years of age to professional mathematicians. The text highlights the importance of paying close attention to learners' interpretations and productions of different representations as a source of evidence for what learners understand, and another way for learners to "show us what they know'. The text is organized around four themes: appropriation of representations, making meaning, highlighting, and representations as scaffold and supports.

Everyday Matters in Science and Mathematics

Everyday Matters in Science and Mathematics PDF Author: Ricardo Nemirovsky
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135619379
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
This book re-examines the dichotomy between the everyday and the disciplinary in mathematics and science education, and explores alternatives to this opposition from points of view grounded in the close examination of complex classroom events. It makes the case that students' everyday experience and knowledge in their entire manifold forms matter crucially in learning sciences and mathematics. The contributions of 13 research teams are organized around three themes: 1) the experiences of students in encounters with everyday matters of a discipline; 2) the concerns of curriculum designers, including teachers, as they design activities intended to focus on everyday matters of a discipline; and 3) the actions of teachers as they create classroom encounters with everyday matters of a discipline. As a whole the volume reflects the shift in the field of educational research in recent years away from formal, structural models of learning toward emphasizing its situated nature and the sociocultural bases of teaching and learning. At least two trends--increasing awareness that formal theories can be useful guides but are always partial and provisional in how they disclose classroom experiences, and the widespread availability of video and audio equipment that enables effortless recording of classroom interactions--have reoriented the field by allowing researchers and teachers to look at learning starting with complex classroom events rather than formal theories of learning. Such examinations are not meant to replace the work on general theoretical frameworks, but to ground them in actual complex events. This reorientation means that researchers and teachers can now encounter the complexity of learning and teaching as lived, human meaning-making experiences. Immersion in this complexity compels rethinking assumptions about the dichotomies that have traditionally organized the field's thinking about learning. Further, it has important implications for how the relationship between theory and practice in understanding teaching and learning is viewed. Everyday Matters in Science and Mathematics: Studies of Complex Classroom Events is an important resource for researchers, teacher educators, and graduate students in mathematics and science education, and a strong supplemental text for courses in these areas and also in cognition and instruction and instructional design.

A Framework for K-12 Science Education

A Framework for K-12 Science Education PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309214459
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
Science, engineering, and technology permeate nearly every facet of modern life and hold the key to solving many of humanity's most pressing current and future challenges. The United States' position in the global economy is declining, in part because U.S. workers lack fundamental knowledge in these fields. To address the critical issues of U.S. competitiveness and to better prepare the workforce, A Framework for K-12 Science Education proposes a new approach to K-12 science education that will capture students' interest and provide them with the necessary foundational knowledge in the field. A Framework for K-12 Science Education outlines a broad set of expectations for students in science and engineering in grades K-12. These expectations will inform the development of new standards for K-12 science education and, subsequently, revisions to curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development for educators. This book identifies three dimensions that convey the core ideas and practices around which science and engineering education in these grades should be built. These three dimensions are: crosscutting concepts that unify the study of science through their common application across science and engineering; scientific and engineering practices; and disciplinary core ideas in the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences and for engineering, technology, and the applications of science. The overarching goal is for all high school graduates to have sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on science-related issues, be careful consumers of scientific and technical information, and enter the careers of their choice. A Framework for K-12 Science Education is the first step in a process that can inform state-level decisions and achieve a research-grounded basis for improving science instruction and learning across the country. The book will guide standards developers, teachers, curriculum designers, assessment developers, state and district science administrators, and educators who teach science in informal environments.

Science Teachers' Learning

Science Teachers' Learning PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309380189
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Currently, many states are adopting the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or are revising their own state standards in ways that reflect the NGSS. For students and schools, the implementation of any science standards rests with teachers. For those teachers, an evolving understanding about how best to teach science represents a significant transition in the way science is currently taught in most classrooms and it will require most science teachers to change how they teach. That change will require learning opportunities for teachers that reinforce and expand their knowledge of the major ideas and concepts in science, their familiarity with a range of instructional strategies, and the skills to implement those strategies in the classroom. Providing these kinds of learning opportunities in turn will require profound changes to current approaches to supporting teachers' learning across their careers, from their initial training to continuing professional development. A teacher's capability to improve students' scientific understanding is heavily influenced by the school and district in which they work, the community in which the school is located, and the larger professional communities to which they belong. Science Teachers' Learning provides guidance for schools and districts on how best to support teachers' learning and how to implement successful programs for professional development. This report makes actionable recommendations for science teachers' learning that take a broad view of what is known about science education, how and when teachers learn, and education policies that directly and indirectly shape what teachers are able to learn and teach. The challenge of developing the expertise teachers need to implement the NGSS presents an opportunity to rethink professional learning for science teachers. Science Teachers' Learning will be a valuable resource for classrooms, departments, schools, districts, and professional organizations as they move to new ways to teach science.

The SimCalc Vision and Contributions

The SimCalc Vision and Contributions PDF Author: Stephen J. Hegedus
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400756968
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 471

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Book Description
This volume provides essential guidance for transforming mathematics learning in schools through the use of innovative technology, pedagogy, and curriculum. It presents clear, rigorous evidence of the impact technology can have in improving students learning of important yet complex mathematical concepts -- and goes beyond a focus on technology alone to clearly explain how teacher professional development, pedagogy, curriculum, and student participation and identity each play an essential role in transforming mathematics classrooms with technology. Further, evidence of effectiveness is complemented by insightful case studies of how key factors lead to enhancing learning, including the contributions of design research, classroom discourse, and meaningful assessment. The volume organizes over 15 years of sustained research by multiple investigators in different states and countries who together developed an approach called "SimCalc" that radically transforms how Algebra and Calculus are taught. The SimCalc program engages students around simulated motions, such as races on a soccer field, and builds understanding using visual representations such as graphs, and familiar representations such as stories to help students to develop meaning for more abstract mathematical symbols. Further, the SimCalc program leverages classroom wireless networks to increase participation by all students in doing, talking about, and reflecting on mathematics. Unlike many technology programs, SimCalc research shows the benefits of balanced attention to curriculum, pedagogy, teacher professional development, assessment and technology -- and has proven effectiveness results at the scale of hundreds of schools and classrooms. Combining the findings of multiple investigators in one accessible volume reveals the depth and breadth of the research program, and engages readers interested in: * Engaging students in deeply learning the important concepts in mathematics * Designing innovative curriculum, software, and professional development · Effective uses of technology to improve mathematics education * Creating integrated systems of teaching that transform mathematics classrooms * Scaling up new pedagogies to hundreds of schools and classrooms * Conducting research that really matters for the future of mathematics learning ​ * Engaging students in deeply learning the important concepts in mathematics * Designing innovative curriculum, software, and professional development · Effective uses of technology to improve mathematics education * Creating integrated systems of teaching that transform mathematics classrooms * Scaling up new pedagogies to hundreds of schools and classrooms * Conducting research that really matters for the future of mathematics learning ​ ​

School Science and Mathematics

School Science and Mathematics PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 774

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Book Description


The Math of Life and Death

The Math of Life and Death PDF Author: Kit Yates
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982111887
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
"We are all doing math all the time, from the way we communicate with each other to the way we travel, from how we work to how we relax. Many of us are aware of this. But few of us really appreciate the full power of math - the extent to which its influence is not only in every office and every home, but also in every courtroom and hospital ward. In this eye-opening and extraordinary book, Kit Yates explores the true stories of life-changing events in which the application - or misapplication - of mathematics has played a critical role: patients crippled by faulty genes and entrepreneurs bankrupted by faulty algorithms; innocent victims of miscarriages of justice and the unwitting victims of software glitches. We follow stories of investors who have lost fortunes and parents who have lost children, all because of mathematical misunderstandings. Along the way, Yates arms us with simple mathematical rules and tools that can help us make better decisions in our increasingly quantitative society"--

Teaching Science with Everyday Things

Teaching Science with Everyday Things PDF Author: Victor E. Schmidt
Publisher: Kendall Hunt
ISBN: 9780787278175
Category : Learning by discovery
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Presents simple science activities designed to be of practical help to teachers, especially those in elementary schools and to college students preparing to teach. Requires no special training in science.

Mathematical Tasks in Classrooms Around the World

Mathematical Tasks in Classrooms Around the World PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9460911501
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
Mathematical tasks have long been recognized as crucial mediators ?between mathematical content and the mathematics learner. For many people, the mathematics classroom is defined by the type of tasks one finds there - and this is appropriate. Mathematical tasks are the embodiment of the curricular pretext that brings each particular set of individuals together in every mathematics classroom. In other contexts, individuals come together to engage in musical performances or dramatic performances. The performances of the mathematics classroom are largely the performance of mathematical tasks and if we are to understand and facilitate the learning that is the purpose of such settings then we must understand the nature of the performances that we find there. The classroom performance of a task is ultimately a unique synthesis of task, teacher, students and situation. Of particular interest are differences in the function of mathematically similar tasks when employed by different teachers, in different classrooms, for different instructional purposes, with different students. By making comparison possible between the classroom use of mathematical tasks in different classrooms around the world, the analyses reported in this book reveal the profound differences in how each teacher utilises mathematical tasks, in partnership with their students, to create a distinctive form of mathematical activity. The Learner’s Perspective Study aims to juxtapose the observable practices of the classroom and the meanings attributed to those practices by classroom participants. The LPS research design documents sequences of at least ten lessons, using three video cameras, supplemented by the reconstructive accounts of classroom participants obtained in post-lesson video-stimulated interviews, and by test and questionnaire data, and copies of student written material. In each participating country, data generation focuses on the classrooms of three teachers, identified by the local mathematics education community as competent, and situated in demographically different school communities within the one major city. The large body of complex data supports both the characterisation of practice in the classrooms of competent teachers and the development of theory.