PhET Blog

We’ve added Acid-Base Solutions to our collection of HTML5 simulations. Thank you Royal Society of Chemistry for your generous donation that supported the development of this simulation. See these simulations at PhET’s site and at LearnChemistry.

How do strong and weak acids differ? Use lab tools on your computer to find out! Dip the paper or the probe into solution to measure the pH, or put in the electrodes to measure the conductivity. Then see how concentration and strength affect pH. Can a weak acid solution have the same pH as a strong acid solution?

Next week, PhET Director Kathy Perkins will be attending The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s OER Grantees Meeting hosted by the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education. At this meeting, the OER community will explore the value proposition of OER and discuss the impact. By sharing our work with others in the OER community, we hope to advance STEM worldwide!

Have you  seen our latest video “Using PhET in Lecture: With Clickers”? The video discusses strategies on how you can capture some of the interactivity inherent in PhET simulations by pairing them with clicker questions and peer instruction.

Thank you Pearson for your continued  support of PhET—and for using PhET in Mastering Physics, Mastering Chemistry and a number of textbooks.

Pearson’s generous donation will go directly to bringing more HTML5 simulations to students around the world.

Our latest video highlights how to design student activity worksheets for in-class use of the PhET simulations. The simulations are created to guide students in inquiry-based exploration of scientific phenomena, and so are most effective when students use them in a hands-on setting. What questions can you ask students to help them achieve the learning goals that you have set for them, and to enable them to make their own discoveries? Watch this video for tips and recommendations from other teachers, and the PhET research team.

And, if you’d like to see more tips from PhET, help our “Teach with PhET” Campaign at: http://www.crowdrise.com/helpbuildteachwithphet

Thank you Bilim Media Group and Effective Communication Strategies for your support of PhET. They are helping to put PhET simulations into the hands of Kazakhstan students. And with their generous donation to our HTML5 fund, they are helping to bring more tablet simulations to everyone!

Have you tried our prototype of the “Teach with PhET” site?

“Teach with PhET” will provide teachers – in neighborhood schools around the world – with the resources, guidelines and community needed to effectively utilize our simulations. See the screen designs and features that we hope to include.

During our survey, we asked out teachers how they used PhET. One of the comments was:

“PhET allows me to individualize the pace for my students since they can complete the simulations at their own pace and on any computer, at school, the library, or even at home. The simulations also allow me to address different learning styles, particularly visual and kinesthetic modalities, which can be challenging to accommodate in the science classroom. I feel like the PhET simulations and the accompanying activities make me a more effective and responsive teacher.”

How do you use PhET?

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.