PhET Blog

Did you know that from a teacher survey of over 2,000 teachers in the US, 63% said that PhET simulations made their teaching more effective and 23% said much more effective.

PhET wants to create a website just for teachers where teachers can organize simulations and activities, and build a community where we can learn from each other.

Interested in helping build this forum? Donate now at:

http://www.crowdrise.com/HelpBuildTeachwithPhET/fundraiser/phetsims

Thank you everyone who supported our crowd funding campaigns.

We are making progress with now 16% raised towards our “Help Build Table Science Simulations: PhET’s HTML5 Circuit Construction Kit” and at almost $6,000 towards “Help Build ‘Teach with PhET’ Teacher Support Site”.

If you haven’t already donated or if you know teachers, parents, or educators who would like to help, please spread the word and donate today!

Thanks again.

Here’s an important update from our team regarding the ‘Offline Website Installer’:

Dear PhET Users,

If you have previously downloaded the PhET’s ‘Offline Website Installer’ from our web site and installed a full copy of the PhET website on your computer, we have some important information for you.  If you haven’t, please disregard this message.

Due to some recent changes to Oracle’s Java security model (update released January 14), you may encounter problems running our simulations from your local installation if and when you update your Java version.  If you run into such problems, or wish to avoid them, please download the latest update of PhET’s installer from our web site.  You can find the appropriate installer for your environment here: http://phet.colorado.edu/en/get-phet/full-install.  Please note that this affects only the full installation, and not individually downloaded simulations.

If you encounter any problems with this, please feel free to contact us at phethelp@colorado.edu.  And, as always, thanks for being a PhET user.

Best Regards,
The PhET Team

We’ve added yet another HTML5 simulation: Friction.

Learn how friction causes a material to heat up and melt. Rub two objects together and they heat up. When one reaches the melting temperature, particles break free as the material melts away.

Want more HTML5 simulations? Help bring Circuit Construction Kit to iPad.

http://www.crowdrise.com/PhETHTML5CCKSimulation

Try the newest HTML5 simulation addition: ph Scale: Basic. Based on the JAVA pH Scale, the new HTML pH Scale: Basics  opens up the world of acids and bases to middle school students.

Test the pH of things like chicken soup, hand soap, blood, spit and soda. Investigate whether changing the volume or diluting with water affects the pH.

Want more HTML5 simulations? Help bring Circuit Construction Kit to iPad.

http://www.crowdrise.com/PhETHTML5CCKSimulation

Thank you Dean Baird for your comments regarding the behavior of John Travoltage. We have addressed the issues and the updated John Travoltage is now available at phet.colorado.edu.

Like our HTML5 simulations? Help bring Circuit Construction Kit to iPad.

http://www.crowdrise.com/PhETHTML5CCKSimulation