PhET Blog

We’ve made it easier to learn about how best to use PhET simulations in your instruction. All centrally located now on the “For Teachers” page, you will find a variety of useful information along with a new video: Teachers and Students Speak: An in-depth look at the PhET simulations and their uses in college and K12.

Use the “Tips” button to find videos and written resources on integrating PhET sims. Easily search for teacher-submitted activities including labs, homework assignments, lectures, activities, and concept questions with the “Browse” button. Or, if you’d like to “Share” your activities with the PhET community, learn how to contribute your own materials to our growing database.

Thanks for supporting the PhET Teacher Community.

Try the  HTML5 Forces and Motion: Basics simulation. Explore the forces at work in a tug of war or pushing a refrigerator, crate, or person. Choose between the Tug of War, Motion, Friction, and Acceleration tabs. Ideal for elementary, middle and high school, students will learn how forces affect the motion of an object.

Like our tablet-compatible simulations? Support bringing Circuit Construction Kit to iPads: http://www.crowdrise.com/PhETHTML5CCKSimulation

Every donation helps! Together we can improve the way science and math are learned.

Try the latest teaching guides from PhET’s Amanda McGarry for #HTML5 Graphing Lines. These activities can be used as part of a three-day sequence or individually. The lessons are aligned with the CCSS in Mathematics and the Standards of Mathematical Practice and include complete outlines as well as annotated activity sheets.

• Day 1: Slope allows students to make connections between the slope formula and a graphed line, and to discover how the slope formula works.
• Day 2: Slope-Intercept has students exploring slope-intercept form of a line as they manipulate either equation or graph.
• Day 3: Point-Slope has students exploring point-slope form of a line and testing their knowledge of graphing lines with the built-in game.

Want to see more simulations for iPads and tablets?
Please Donate Now!

Pictured from left to right:

Back row: Emily Moore, Emily Randall, Michael Dubson, Trish Loeblein, Kathy Perkins, Oliver Nix, Oliver Orejola, Arnab Purkayastha, Steele Dalton, Stephanie Chasteen, Beth Stade

Middle row: Liam Burke, Jesse Greenberg, Kathy Dessau, Chris Malley, Sam Reid, Jonathan Olson, Bryan Yoelin, Carl Wieman, Aaron Davis, Yuen-ying Carpenter

Front row: Amy Rouinfar, Robert Parson, John Blanco, Ariel Paul, Matthew Zhang, Amanda McGarry

(Not pictured): Linda Wellmann, Karina Hensberry, Sarah McKagan, Noah Finkelstein

In the new #HTML5 Area Builder simulation, students can flexibly explore ideas related to area and perimeter. They can find the area of rectangular and irregular shapes, discover the relationship between area and perimeter, and apply fractional knowledge as they build shapes with a given area and perimeter.

Area Builder is appropriate for any grade level that is studying area and perimeter and is specifically aligned with Common Core State Standards in elementary and middle school mathematics. For some teacher tips written by PhET’s Amanda McGarry, see http://phet.colorado.edu/files/teachers-guide/area-builder-guide.pdf

Try the latest teaching guide for Fractions Intro. Just like the three-day lab for Circuit Construction Kit (DC Only) featured in our blog last week, this three-day activity was also developed between Meaghan Hixson and our PhET Team.

• Day 1: What is a Fraction?: students explore what makes a fraction by manipulating numerators and denominators. Through discussion and various fraction representations, students learn that numerators are the number of pieces being considered and the denominators are the number of equal pieces in a whole.
• Day 2: Comparing and Ordering Fractions: students use their knowledge of numerators/denominators from Day 1 to compare and order fractions and come up with rules for discussing the size of fractions.
• Day 3: Equivalent Fractions: students explore fraction equivalence using the Build a Fraction sim. By using the sim to create various representations of  the same amount, students explore and discuss rules for finding equivalent fractions.

Want to see more simulations for iPads and tablets?
Please Donate Now!

Try the newly published #HTML5 Wave on a String simulation. Watch a string vibrate in slow motion. Wiggle the end of the string and make waves, or adjust the frequency and amplitude of an oscillator. Adjust the damping and tension. The end can be fixed, loose, or open. With Wave on a String, students will learn about wave properties and be able to predict behavior of waves through varying media and different endpoints.