Nelson Physics 11: University Preparation by
This textbook supports the 2008 Ontario science curriculum.
Pearson Investigating Science PhysicsSource 11 by
This textbook supports the 2008 Ontario science curriculum.
Also available as an ebook.
Pearson Investigating Science PhysicsSource 11, Teacher's Resource
Corresponding teacher's guide for Investigating Science PhysicsSource 11.
Teaching High School Science Through Inquiry and Argumentation by
If we're to help ensure our students achieve scientific literacy, we need to take a critical look at what's working and what isn't. One thing we know for certain: inquiry and argumentation are key, and the single-best resource on the subject is Teaching High School Science Through Inquiry and Argumentation. Devoted to Grades 9-12, this new edition of Douglas Llewellyn's ground-breaking text aligns the four key elements of effective science education: scientific literacy, inquiry, argumentation, and the nature of science.
The Art of Teaching Science by
The Art of Teaching Science emphasizes a humanistic, experiential, and constructivist approach to teaching and learning, and integrates a wide variety of pedagogical tools. Becoming a science teacher is a creative process, and this innovative textbook encourages students to construct ideas about science teaching through their interactions with peers, mentors, and instructors, and through hands-on, minds-on activities designed to foster a collaborative, thoughtful learning environment. This second edition retains key features such as inquiry-based activities and case studies throughout, while simultaneously adding new material on the impact of standardized testing on inquiry-based science, and explicit links to science teaching standards. Also included are expanded resources like a comprehensive website, a streamlined format and updated content, making the experiential tools in the book even more useful for both pre- and in-service science teachers. Special Features: Each chapter is organized into two sections: one that focuses on content and theme; and one that contains a variety of strategies for extending chapter concepts outside the classroom Case studies open each chapter to highlight real-world scenarios and to connect theory to teaching practice Contains 33 Inquiry Activities that provide opportunities to explore the dimensions of science teaching and increase professional expertise Problems and Extensions, On the Web Resources and Readings guide students to further critical investigation of important concepts and topics. An extensive companion website includes even more student and instructor resources, such as interviews with practicing science teachers, articles from the literature, chapter PowerPoint slides, syllabus helpers, additional case studies, activities, and more. Visit http://www.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415965286 to access this additional material.
Teaching Science for Understanding by
Teaching Middle and High School Science for Understanding: A Practical Guide for Teachers provides a theoretical and practical introduction to teaching science for understanding and application. The book is grounded in a new paradigm for science education that is consistent with the Project 2061, National Science Education Standards and reform programs in many states. It is based on formal research and on experiences of teachers who have been successful in transforming their classrooms from traditional forms of instruction to an environment where students learn to understand science and apply it in their own lives. The author's experience in classrooms, and with practicing teachers in the U.S. and in several other nations, add richness to this book as a resource for helping teachers improve their professional effectiveness. The author demonstrates science teaching through three different levels of learning activities: building students' base of information developing understanding applying knowledge Each chapter guides you through the type of planning and instruction you will need to create a constructivist environment in your classroom, providing you with specific activities and examples to illustrate how you can teach science for understanding.
Differentiating Assessment in Middle and High School Mathematics and Science by
This book by Sheryn Spencer Waterman follows the bestselling Handbook on Differentiated Instruction for Middle and High Schools. With numerous examples and strategies, it is an all-inclusive manual on assessing student readiness, interests, learning and thinking styles. It includes examples of: Pre-, Formative and Summative assessments -Informal and formal assessments -Oral and written assessments -Project and performance assessments -Highly structured and enrichment assessments for struggling to gifted students -Assessment tools and rubrics
Dive in! Immersion in Science Practices for High School Students by
What is it really like to plunge into the world of science learning and teaching? Find out in this unique book. Dive In! grew out of a teacher-scientist project at the University of New Hampshire that promoted active learning and using science practices in the classroom. That experience yielded this book's reason for being: to provide detailed examples of how veteran teachers and their students can make the leap to implementing the recommendations of A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These features add to the book's instructional value: Detailed vignettes offer authentic perspectives about conducting student investigations and integrating science practices that support the NGSS. Field-tested learning activities accompany many of the vignettes and illustrate a range of investigations you can adopt or adapt, regardless of your grade level or science content focus. A science practice integration (SPI) toolkit will be useful whether you're already swimming in SPI instruction or just want to dip a toe in. You will learn how to modify existing lesson plans to immerse your students in more science practices. If you need help with SPI's challenges, you can turn to a handy trouble-shooting guide that outlines concerns and offers potential solutions. Written from an authentic teacher perspective, Dive In! presents a realistic picture of the successes and challenges of integrating NGSS science practices into your classroom. This book is the resource you need to help students shift from only knowing about science to actually investigating and making sense of it. Jump in with both feet!
Resources for Environmental Literacy by
Resources for Environmental Literacy offers a fresh way to enhance your classroom productivity. The environmental context it provides can improve students' science learning. The modules offer appropriate teaching strategies plus high-quality resources to deepen your students' understanding of key environmental topics.
Environmental Science for Grades 6-12 by
Apply high-quality project-based learning strategies to create lessons and units that help students solve a variety of urgent environmental problems. Environmental science (ES) education is essential to preparing today's students for the future. We must create opportunities for hands-on investigations that explore complex environmental problems in order to find solutions and meet the challenges of our changing world. Educators looking to bring ES-focused experiences to their students can turn to technology and social-emotional learning (SEL) strategies to connect students with real-world situations and citizen science opportunities, while fostering empathy and a love for the natural world. Project-based learning (PBL), with its emphasis on inquiry and authentic challenges, can be an effective approach to teaching ES. Those new to PBL may not feel they have adequate training. Likewise, teachers who haven't taught ES may question how to incorporate it into their curriculum. This book addresses both situations, providing practical guidance for teachers, along with examples of technology-rich, learner-centered student projects addressing timely topics such as sustainability, human impact and climate change. This book: Helps teachers design learning experiences that model authentic problems and processes practiced by scientists and engineers, to prepare students for future careers in science. Addresses diversity, equity and inclusion in ES, and shares resources and strategies for addressing racial equity in ES. Introduces facilitation techniques that redefine the teacher's traditional role as one that supports increased student agency, the development of critical thinking skills and an expanded awareness of their place in the global community. Includes a chapter that focuses on applying the principles and strategies shared in the book in an online learning environment. Addresses Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) topics in environmental science and is aligned to the ISTE Standards for Educators. PBL is one of the best ways for students to explore complex processes and concepts, and this book will help teachers leverage this approach to empower students to take action toward a better future and world. Audience: 6-12 science educators, instructional coaches, preservice teachers
Beyond the Egg Drop by
Problem: You're eager to expand your physics curriculum and engage your students with engineering content but you don't know how. Solution: Use the approach and lessons in Beyond the Egg Drop to infuse engineering into what you're already teaching, without sacrificing time for teaching physics concepts.
Breaking Away from the Math and Science by
This is a teacher-focused resource containing many different lab-style activities for almost all grade levels. They range from the very simple (such as counting tree rings) to the complicated (momentum and kinetic energy). Some of the sample problems would even fit in well to the measurement and geometry unit found in various math courses.
As far as strand C is concerned, this is a good resource. It includes the fundamentals of forces, discusses decomposition of vectors, and goes on to more complicated matters. This resource is heartily recommended as it supports numerous curriculum points.
The text includes a few sample sheets teachers can copy and print, but in general the language is quite technical. This book can serve as a source of interactive activities for all strands of SPH3U, but it is recommended that teachers use this as a resource instead of a guidebook.
Assessment: Valid compilation of resources that makes generating interesting projects easier; recommended.
A Demo A Day - A Year of Physics Demonstrations by
"Engage students every day of the year with this exciting collection of physics demonstrations! With nearly 200 activities to choose from, you will always have the right demonstration at the right time to help your students understand key physics principles, concepts and applications. Most demonstrations are easy to set up and use readily available materials or common physics equipment. Helpful tips and teaching suggestions make this a must-have for any physics teacher! Each activity includes a writeup with brief theory and background information, key concepts, materials list, instruction for preparing materials, safety precautions, step-by-step procedure and references where applicable"--Publisher's website.
Take-Home Physics by
This text by the NSTA (American) contains activities that fit well in both the 11 and 12 curricula. True to its name, it contains 65 low-cost activities that lead students towards developing their own understanding of physics. It includes pages to photocopy that are student-orientated, with teacher-directed instructions and comments at the beginning of each lesson. In particular, this resource includes many graphing activities that tie in well to the kinematics unit. It provides students with the opportunity to gather their own data and apply terms such as constant, instantaneous, and average with regard to motion.
of mass, but less discussion on the fundamentals. This resource is not recommended for strand C
Assessment: Valuable, contemporary resource that covers many curriculum points from multiple strands. Unlike the previous resource, this is explicitly directed at senior physics and as such is more convenient, requiring less “digging”.
Fuel for Thought by
Designed as a hybrid resource and textbook, this is well suited to strand D of SPH3U. While many of the previous resources had sections on kinetic energy, and discussed the technicality of conversions and conservations, this book takes a more societal look. This book admittedly has a very environmental point of few to which the science occasionally takes a backseat but includes a multitude of useful actives relating to power generation, conversion, transfer of energy, and changes of state.
Awesome Experiments in Light and Sound by
While this book takes an informal tone and is aimed at a younger audience, there are valid experiments present that can provide educators with inspiration for meeting certain aspects of the waves and sound unit. Also, of note is that the first half of this book contains similar activities in the context of light, which are also good resources for the optics unit found in grade 12.
The Discoveries by
This is a piece of historical non-fiction that explores the discovery of many of the great scientific discoveries of the 20th century. One chapter in particular pertains to SPH3U, titled “Nuclear Fission”. This section of the text takes a semi-dramatized look into the discovery of fission, as well as the history and political climate present around that time. This resource is tentatively recommended as it explores the origins of a difficult topic but includes no activities/teaching recommendations. It may be a useful tool for finding ways to engage certain students, however, as such it is included.
Hawking by
From his early days at Oxford, Stephen Hawking's brilliance and good humor were obvious to everyone he met. At twenty-one he was diagnosed with ALS, a disease that limited his ability to move and speak, though it did nothing to limit his mind. He went on to do groundbreaking work in cosmology and theoretical physics for decades after being told he had only a few years to live. Through his 1988 bestseller, A Brief History of Time, and his appearances on shows like Star Trek and The Big Bang Theory, Hawking became a household name and a pop-culture icon. In Hawking, Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick have crafted an intricate portrait of the great thinker, the public figure, and the man behind both identities.
Matter and Motion by
Ancient book, from 1867 by the titan of physics James Maxwell. This book takes a very formal stance, introducing concepts quickly with very few examples. Regardless, this book can serve as an excellent refresher to classical mechanics, as it has chapters devoted to:
- Kinematics (Strand A of SPH3U, covering velocity, displacement, and acceleration)
- Forces (Strand C of SPH3U). The book contains a few things that are more grade-12 orientated but covers newtons laws well. The book also contains two chapters devoted to gravitation by itself (The pendulum and gravity, and Universal Gravitation)
- Work and Energy (Strand D of SPH3U). As before, this is a very formal introduction to types of energy, CoE, and more advanced topics.
Analysis:
Textbooks have come a long way since 1867, and while the information contained within the book is valid, that’s about it. It rapidly introduces new topics, which may provide good summaries of lessons, but contains no activities or other resources. I recommend this book for satisfying the terminology and other less conceptual needs of the curriculum.
Motion and Forces by
This is a textbook aimed at students but can be used as a resource for teachers. It contains many real-world connections and demos that involve the concepts discussed in the book; like all textbooks, it also includes sample numerical and word problems. It is important to note that this book isn’t just one strand of physics, and the actual material per strand is relatively small. Still, this book includes valuable activities that would fit well in SPH3U.
-Applicable strands: A, B, C, D
The New Quantum Universe by
This book contains advanced topics that are more suited to post-secondary quantum mechanics than SPH3U. Still, a few sections are applicable to SPH3U, specifically:
Chapter four, “atoms and Nuclei”. While the text rapidly goes into technicalities about energy levels and other quantum phenomena, the opening pages include relevant information about decay and isotopes that can aid educators with these topics.
Chapter 10, “Death of a star”. This chapter also goes rapidly into astrophysical complexities beyond the scope of SPH3U but does include discussions on the most common source of nuclear fusion in the universe: Stars, and their burning of elements that produce energy. In addition, the obvious connections to astronomy units’ students have had in the past, there are numerous opportunities to draw connections to chemistry, which most students will also be taking.
In short, while this book is mostly beyond the scope of SPH3U it can serve as a valuable reference for educators to use. There are no activities present, but one can use adapt the books introduction of terminology and take advantage of its numerous examples and pictures to teach a difficult topic.
Understanding Relativity by
This resource is a useful resource for those needing to brush up on special relativity on a grade-appropriate level. It not only delves into the mathematics and reasoning behind special relativity, but also the history of its development. While it contains no lesson planning resources or activities, it is a valuable resource for those needing a refresher before planning. It is also worth mentioning that this book advertises itself as “requiring only basic algebra skills” and as such could also make a good resource for students who have missed class.
Why Toast Falls Jelly-Side Down by
This educator-orientated resource contains a great deal of demo ideas for all strands of SPH3U, 4U, and 4C. Alongside demo descriptions are the rationale behind them, material lists, safety considerations and student pitfalls. Many of the demonstrations include additional thoughts at the end of description, detailing possible modifications that would fit a myriad of purposes and work for many students.
It also includes a guide on how teachers can create their own demos, with guidelines that highlight the most effective ways to teach students and get them thinking about physics. This resource is applicable to all 3 Ontario physics courses but is especially applicable to the SPH4U curriculum thanks to its many optics and modern physics demos.
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