PhET Blog

With the new #HTML5 Reactants, Products and Leftovers, you can create your own sandwich and then see how many sandwiches you can make with different amounts of ingredients. Do the same with chemical reactions, relating how making sandwiches is to chemical reactions. Then play a game to test your understanding of reactants, products and leftovers.

To give you an idea of what it takes to repurpose an #HTML5 sim, a simple sim (only one tab, such as Balloons and Static Electricity) takes at least several months and a team of 3-4 people, from start to testing to launch. With each sim, we

• modernize the look and feel
• address any issues/suggestions
• re-design the layout and interface for cross-platform (both mouse and touch) use–e.g., ensure a hand doesn’t block essential functions during touch usage, redesign all “right-click” functions, etc.

While we have over 50,000 lines of common code to build our JAVA simulations (things like rulers, sliders, buttons and control panels), we started with zero HTML5. Your generosity supports our building an ever-growing library and many more new #HTML5 sims to come.

Thank You for Your Support!

Have you seen our latest video, Facilitating Activities with PhET: An Overview? This video gives an overview of strategies for effective facilitation of K12 activities using PhET. Hear about some examples from fellow teachers. Should students play with PhET before discussions? How do you address questions about the simulation? How do you enable students to explore on their own?

We’re excited to announce that we are one of two overall winners of the Wharton-QS Stars Awards 2014: Reimagine Education. PhET, along with PaGamO, the world’s first multi-student social game, shared the honor and a $50,000 prize. Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), publisher of the QS World University Rankings, developed the global Wharton-QS Stars competition to identify the most innovative approaches in higher education to enhance learning and student employability in partnership with The Wharton School SEI Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The global competition received submissions from 427 universities and enterprises from 43 countries with 21 awards judged by a panel of 25 international experts – a who’s who of higher education.

Thanks everyone who has supported PhET!
We couldn’t have won without you.

Have you seen our new home page? Simulations are easier to find with the large blue “Play” button. And, social media, informative You-Tube videos and newly added Pinterest buttons are now available on the right-hand side of every page.

Happy 2015 New Year!