PhET Interactive Simulations

I have always liked animations. I feel they help students better understand new concepts. It allows them to visualize what is happening, even at the atomic level. I was really disappointed when Google limited Flash animations on the Chromebooks :-(  It used to be so easy to link to a Flash animation in Google Classroom or a Drive file. But anyways, on to someone that is doing something about animations for all devices… PhET!!
I’m sure if you have heard of them. Right? PhET, https://phet.colorado.edu/, has been around for a while. They have quite a few resources for Science and Math classes and all levels. Go check them out! Also, if you are a teacher, make sure you register and you will have access to additional resources.

Make sure to register

PhET’s animations and simulations were either in Java or Flash but with today’s mobile devices neither one of those options would be viable. So PhET has started converting their animation to HTML5, this format will be playable on all mobile devices with a current browser.
In Chemistry, I like starting the Atom unit with the Build An Atom simulation using a Google Form,  And let the students discover, with some direction. :-)

Make sure to click those green plus signs

This then leads us to discuss isotopes where the Isotopes and Atomic Mass simulation can be used.  Luckily, both of the simulations are HTML5 so easily run in the classroom set of Chromebooks in my room.

One of my personal favorites is Molecule Shapes. My drawing ability is not up to par for electronic and molecular geometries so this helps a lot. Students can determine Electron Dense Regions and then determine electronic and molecular geometries for any of the simple molecules we discuss.

Check out what each check-box will do

As I mentioned, teachers really should register. PhET has quite a few resources for you, including a video primer for using the simulation and teacher-submitted activities.

They also have translated versions of the simulations...

So if you are looking for something to help your students better understand some of the concepts you are discussing in class, please check out PhET. You will definitely find something to help your students or something for you  :-)

Thanks for stopping by,
Have a great day,
Efren

P.S. About once a year, they ask for donation and I'm always willing to chip in $5 or $10. I think it's worth it :-D

the Physics Classroom

For this week I want to switch over to a class I’ve taught a few times...Physics. I need to say I enjoy teaching physics, not as much as chemistry ;-), because it’s fun and there are lots of interesting concepts and calculations.

I would always look for Flash animations to use in class. They are a great way to show the concepts and I find them easy to connect the concepts to what is happening. But the best place I have found and used quite a bit for resources in my physics classes is the Physics Classroom website, https://www.physicsclassroom.com/. It just has so much stuff basically all that you would need for your physics classes. From the website, I see that some teachers basically use it as their textbook.

As you can see below, they have lots to offer the teacher and the students...

 

You can see how this would be very helpful. The website covers all the concepts, in my opinion. Just look at the list of topics.

I have started discussion of a concepts by allowing them start with the tutorials for the sections, https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class. Students can go at their own pace as they read through the information. They are short little sections that stress the vocabulary and check your understanding sections.

I feel that the tutorials have a good amount of interactivity but there is so much more in the Physics Interactivity section, https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives. And I'm really liking the Concept builders, https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders... a great way for students to test their knowledge!

By the way, one of the interactive the students really enjoyed was the DC Circuit Builder. The students could really see what would happen to the current as they build their circuits. :-)

When you have a chance, go check out the website. You will see how much it could help the students and you with your physics classes. You can also follow them on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Allthingsphysix.

Thanks for stopping by,

Have a great day,

Efren

P.S. By the way, they are working on Chemistry Concept Builders. AWESOME!! :-D

        https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders/Chemistry

UT Quest Learning & Assessment

Last week I wrote about a new thing I have been using a lot. This week I want to talk about something I have used over 10 years. It used to be called the UT Homework System but today it’s called Quest Learning & Assessment. And I gotta tell you it’s Awesome! :-)

I need to tell you that since the change I have not used it to its full capability. It has quite a few abilities just check out the website : https://quest.cns.utexas.edu/  I use it for the homework aspect. Quest has over 65,000 questions in its database in several different subjects. They have Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Astronomy, Geology, Statistics, Oceanography, Computer Science, Meteorology and you can make your own personal bank of questions.

It used to be free but now the cost is - for a Texas-based high schools: $150/year and for a High school outside of Texas: $300/year. I definitely think it’s worth the cost for myself or shared among teachers. Why do I think so? Well, it grades the homework for me :-D And students get immediate feedback on how they did on the assignment. Ms. Huerta, the physics teacher at my school, and I, chemistry teacher, pay for it so we can use if for our students. Paying for it though allows all teachers and students to use it at the school at no charge (still trying to convince other to use it). Questions are either multiple choice or numerical entry and some questions have several versions of the question (different masses, different elements…)

I really like Quest because students can’t just each other the answer for this number or that number since the answers are randomized. You can also randomize the questions but I create it with easier questions at first them ramp up so randomizing for me. I would only allow one attempt on my homeworks but Mr. Wiley at my previous school convinced me that it was better to allow students multiple attempts in case they made a simple error though they don’t get as many points from multiple attempts (just remember to remove negative points option). Once students have finished assignment, you can release answers and they can see them with explanations.

Teachers and students create a UT EID and they will access to Quest. Teachers have to send some additional info to prove they are teachers to have full access to Quest database. Once that’s done, teacher creates the class gets students signed up for it and start making/assigning homeworks.

Here’s a little preview… Here's a list of my classes. You create your Unique #'s and put in info

A single class - you can see assignments, due date, if it's been published and average

An assignment - you can see the dates, averages for assignment and questions

Creating an assignment - you select subject, chapter, section (well organized) and type/variation of question or search for a question based on parameters

Once you have added your questions to the assignment, you are ready to share with the class, all that left to do is select Publish to Class from the left side options

Once published, students can visit their class and select assignment and work on it. Which looks like....

These are the options in class view - you can authorize other instructors to create assignments or they can use yours as a template, roster to see student UT EID in case they forgot them, Grading Scheme in case you have the negative points, or export grades to get an Excel sheet for grades

These are the options when looking at an assignment - I use one option here, Late submits, in case someone needs extra time for one reason or another.

Students have liked using Quest. They can see how they are doing right away. Whatever has been submitted, is saved so they can continue later. I try to give them time in class to start in case they have any questions. Assignments can be done on any mobile device with internet access. I have had students with no internet access at home and I have printed out a copy for them (see 4th option above). They work on it at home and just come in and quickly input them when they come in on the Chromebooks.

Hope this gives you an option for being more efficient with grading assignments. I know I love using Quest...worth the price for all the time I save  :-D

Thanks for stopping by,

Have a great day,

Efren

Self-assessing Google Sheets

Self-assessing Google Sheets?
What are these? That's the usual question I get when demonstrating this idea. Followed with... How could I use them?  :-)

They are created in Google Sheets along with conditional formatting. You set up a cell to change color based on the answer typed into it. This will indicate if the answer is correct or incorrect. The sheet must be editable so a copy must be made or created in Google Classroom.

I got the idea for these from Joseph Wilson and Alice Keeler. I saw how they were using them and wanted to see what I could do with them in my chemistry classes and then in other classes.

I started with one of the harder topics, according to students, stoichiometry. When working out these problems, students don't feel confident about the calculations so they ask if it's correct after working each one out. By having a self-assessing sheet, they would see right away if the answer was correct. If it wasn't, the students know to look for what they did wrong. Here's an example of the sheet for Stoichiometry (click on File, Make a copy to add to your Drive so you can edit)

Students said they liked using them. They felt better about working out the problems without having to ask me. The students felt like they could do the problems and find the errors when it was incorrect. Some of the students asked for more topics using these Google Sheets.  :-)

I have started using them from the beginning of the year topics. I was mostly using them for calculations but then I figured I could use them for other things in class. I started using them for conversions, nuclear notation, radioactive decay, atoms and their particles, gas laws and so on...

I have been showing them to other teachers. The English teacher wanted to use them vocabulary so student could practice their terms. 

I can see how teachers can easily use this for their classes using vocabulary, or places of interest, or dates or ... Basically if you can think of something you want students to self-assess you can do it with Google Sheets.

For alpha and beta decay example, I was able to use single cells and merged cells to check if students knew what was happening to the element, its mass number and its atomic number. I just needed to figured out how to do it and it was by using merged cells :-)

Hope this can give you some ideas on how to use Self-assessing Google Sheets,  :-)

Here's a link to the presentation I did at the 2018 TxGoo Google Summit to help you get started.

Thanks for stopping by,

Have a great day,

Efren