I struggle with anything concerning electricity and magnetism in my teaching of high school Physics. Maybe it is because most of the other topics in Physics I relate to the operation of a car! So I decided to veer away from the topics covered in our textbook and have the students do a small research project on topics that are relevant to current events. These projects would also serve to update my knowledge.
The topics below came from several sources. My wife and I helped judge a science fair for grades 6-8 at a local school in February. Several ideas came from projects done by those students. My students are also very interested in electric cars and of course all their electronic gadgets. I have eight students and we came up with eight topics. I have asked them to do some research, summarize their research into a one page paper including sources, present their findings to the class and lead a discussion of the topic with the class. Here are the topics.
How do very high and low temperatures impact the range of an electric car? How and why? Explain change in chemical and physical reactions.
What factors impact battery life in an electric car?
Compare operating costs over several years for three similarly sized cars: gas powered, electric powered and gas/electric hybrid.
What is an EDDY current? How is it created? What are its uses? Make a model.
How does a MAG LEV train work? Where are they in use?
How does a wireless charger work? Contact vs. Non-contact. See article by Joanna Stern in the Wall Street Journal May 5.
Compare various aspects of performance of a gasoline powered car vs. an electric car. Find comparable cars and/or cars in the same price range.
Compare the safety of a gas powered car vs. an electric car.
Projects are due after the Easter break. I will follow up at that time.
On Thursday April 11 I sent the students a summary of how to write a five paragraph essay. It is important to have an Introduction (containing your subject, hypothesis, scope, three main ideas), three paragraphs each discussing one of the main ideas, and a conclusion. The conclusion needs to be based on what was discussed in the preceding paragraphs.
The verbal presentation to the class should be based on notes or an outline. Do not read your essay and just refer to your notes if necessary. No one wants to listen to someone reading a Powerpoint presentation! I saw too much of this in my career in business.
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