Universal Gravitation
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity Name: Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia - Gravity This one-page website contains a thorough examination of gravity and theories of gravitation suitable for older students. The first section is a brief introduction that defines gravity. The second section examines Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation with a focus on quantitative analysis. Newton’s Law is discussed through its basic symbolic form ignoring the direction of force, then through its vector form accounting for direction of force, and finally the equations are used to symbolically represent the computation for gravitational field. The third section of the site discusses the limitations of Newton’s theories. The fourth section discusses Einstein’s more complex theory of gravitation. Because of its complexity, only a qualitative analysis is given. The fifth section examines the units of measurement for gravity and variations in gravity at different parts of the Earth. The sixth section qualitatively examines electromagnetic fields. The seventh section briefly describes the field of quantum mechanics. The eighth section examines experimental tests of theories of gravitation. The tenth section examines applications of gravity. The final section describes historical efforts to understand gravity and its effects. This simple website provides very detailed quantitative analyses of gravity suitable for older students. Younger students should stay away from this site. All important concepts are hyperlinked to other parts of Wikipedia for further elaboration. Explanations and formulas are clearly explained, but are quite advanced. Images are minimal, making the site look relatively plain. Despite being only one page, there is still a table of contents for easy navigation throughout the page. There are plenty of links to other resources. This is a good site for both teachers and older students to use. |
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http://brp.arc.nasa.gov/Science/Y_GBL/bsc_resrch.html Name: NASA – Gravity Basics This very simple one-page site, part of the larger NASA website, is very informative. It’s more of an FAQ page, but it’s included here because of the quality and conciseness of its information suitable for a wide range of students. There are no real sections, but the concepts are discussed in a logical order. The site covers the following concepts: gravity, microgravity, Law of Universal Gravity, gravity on other planets, weight versus mass, and impact of gravity on Earth and on living things. This website is quite plain. There are no images to enhance the explanations. The text itself is quite small. What this site does offer is information that is useful, clearly explained, and gets right to the point. It’s suitable for a wide range of students and can be used for quick reference without tedious reading or searching. This is a good site for both teachers and all students to use. |
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http://www.eoascientific.com/campus/science/multimedia/weight_mass/view_interactive Name: Internet Campus This website simply consists of an interactive Flash applet that takes users through the concepts of gravity, weight, mass, volume, and density. It begins with the concept of weight where users must place a number of objects onto a scale and record what happens. The next activity visits the concept of volume where users must determine the volume of objects by placing them in a water-filled beaker and observing the displacement of the water. In the next activity, users must determine each object’s rate of fall in air. Following that, users must determine the rate of fall in a vacuum tube for the same objects. In the final section, users are presented with explanations of each of the concepts and how they are related to one another. This is a nice interactive Flash applet for all ages. It basically allows users to conduct experiments without all the hassle of a lab. The instructions and explanations are easy to understand. They are also accompanied by voice instructions. All images are clear and colourful. The concepts are written for easy understanding by students of all ages to understand. This is a very good site for both teachers and all students to use. |
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DiscoverySchool.com This site contains complete lesson plans for studying Earth Sciences at any level from K-12, including objectives and suggestions for evaluation in each lesson plan. Teachers can look forward to lesson plans on Earth’s surface, geological phenomena, oceans, weather, and tectonic plates, but this is by no means a complete list of lesson plans that can be found on this site. If that wasn’t good enough, many of the lesson plans even contain suggestions for adapting the lesson for different grade levels. This is hands-down one of the best resources for all teachers, and not just Science teachers. The site is colourful and well laid out. All sections of the site are accessible from the always-present menu. Some of the important concepts even have sound files attached to them so that you can listen to its pronunciation. This site is mainly geared towards teachers. |
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Name:
The
Geological Society of America This site contains complete lesson plans for studying Earth Sciences at any level from K-12, including any required worksheets. Lesson plans are organized by specific topics in Earth Sciences. The section on rocks and minerals is impressive on its own. Lessons for each topic are also further subdivided by grade level. Most lessons appear to be lab-based and very hands-on. Finally, there are literally tons of links to other educational resources within each topic. This is another amazing resource for teachers, but definitely geared towards Science teachers only. The site is colourful and well laid out. There are so many lesson plans and resources that are listed that the site even provides a handy function to sort by topic or age group. If that wasn’t enough, the site also provides suggestions for readings and class discussions of critical issues. This site is mainly geared towards teachers. |