From: robblack@ix.netcom.com
Date: Thu, 04 Dec 1997 23:13:03 +0000
To: Pinhole Listserv <pinhole@exploratorium.edu>
Subject: Re: Pinhole Daily Digest
RE: VECTORS
There is a toy which I think we should all have for teaching about
vectors. It is a cheap walking toy with a mass dangling from a string.
The bob is placed so that it hangs over the edge of a table. The toy
walks forward, but always stops just as it reaches the edge. For me,
anyway, the vectors almost seem to draw themselves as this toy moves.
The vertical component increases, and the horizontal component
approaches 0 so that the toy "knows" when to stop. I have these toys in
camels (50ç), spacemen ($1.10), and penguins. Lately I have found them
at Laurel's Whimsies at Avila and Chestnut. I also have a quantitative
vector activity for these toys, if anyone is interested.
Re: AP Courses
I became less eager when I heard from a Berkeley prof. that they were
considering not accepting AP credit in science. He said the test scores
were a very good indicator of how well the students took standardized
tests but a poor predictor of how well they could DO science.
(Supporting, I believe, Karen K's remarks.) I had the good fortune of
going through an advanced science course in high school, complete with
student designed ecological studies of a nearby "natural" park. I was
hooked!
Heidi Strahm Black
Teacher in Residence
hblack@exploratorium.edu
415-353-0499
"for you-RB ;^)"