![]() As students interact with the objects, they are provided real-time feedback that provides information about how their interactions are impacting the objects. By providing a small number of large, strategically placed, and brightly colored interactive objects, students are encouraged to move and change the objects in the sim – without requiring the sim to provide specific instructions on what students should do. Also, the way that charge is shown onscreen can be changed from showing all charges to showing no charges or showing only the difference in charge.Īs with all PhET sims, Balloons and Static Electricity is designed to be exploratory. There is an option to remove the wall, and to explore using two balloons instead of one balloon. When the balloon is not being interacted with, it moves towards (i.e., attracts to) the sweater or the wall – depending on the net charge of all the objects. As the balloon is held against the wall, the negative charges on the wall are repelled by the negatively charged balloon. As the balloon is rubbed against the sweater, negative charges are transferred from the sweater to the balloon, resulting in a net negative charge on the balloon and a net positive charge on the sweater. Charge is represented in the sim by blue circles labeled with a negative (-) sign, and red circles labeled with a positive (+) sign. Interactive objects visible in the sim include a sweater, a balloon, and a wall. The PhET sim Balloons and Static Electricity (Figure 1) can be used to address physics topics related to static electricity, including transfer of charge, attraction, and repulsion for students in middle grades up to introductory college levels. Screenshot of the PhET simulation: Balloons and Static Electricity Exploratory: Balloons and Static Electricityįigure 1. In the next article, we will share our progress in developing accessibility features for these specific sims capable of supporting students with and without disabilities in collaborative learning experiences. We will then describe a variety of ways teachers incorporate PhET sims into their courses. We will use these sims as examples to demonstrate design features incorporated into all PhET sims, including features that provide opportunities for exploration, create a game-like environment, and scaffold learning. In this article, we will introduce three PhET sims: Balloons and Static Electricity, John Travoltage, and Energy Skate Park: Basics. By providing a safe and effective environment to explore and experiment, students can learn foundational science and mathematics concepts with the sims (Moore, Chamberlain, Parson, & Perkins, 2014 Moore, Herzog, & Perkins, 2013 Podolefsky, Perkins, & Adams, 2010). PhET sims are designed to be highly interactive and to support students to actively engage in learning. ![]() Teaching approaches that actively engage students with science and mathematics topics are known to be effective at improving student learning (Weiss, Pasley, & Smith, 2003) and improving student perceptions of science and mathematics (Kanter & Konstantopoulos, 2010 Swarat, Ortony, & Revelle, 2012). In the second article, we will share how PhET is working to increase the accessibility of PhET sims worldwide, including the unique challenges and opportunities presented by highly interactive digital learning tools. In this article, we introduce PhET sims, describe features found in all PhET sims that support student engagement, and provide examples of how the sims can be used by teachers. The PhET project impacts classrooms around the world with over 100 million sim runs per year, with sims available in 86 languages. This suite consists of over 150 interactive sims on topics in physics, chemistry, mathematics, earth science, and biology for students from elementary school to college. The PhET Interactive Simulations project () at the University of Colorado Boulder develops a popular suite of free simulations (sims) for teaching and learning science and mathematics. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |