Uncertainty propagation: Quadrature

The quadrature formula relates the fluctuations of a function to fluctuations in the variables on which the function depends. In this derivation, we approximate a multivariable function using a Taylor expansion, and we assume that fluctuations in the underlying variables are statistically independent, which allows us to apply an identity previously derived in the unit on statistics. Namely, "variances of sums are sums of variances" for variables that fluctuate independently.

Material Type: Lecture Notes

Author: David Liao

Uncertainty propagation: Sample estimates

In the first video segment, we estimate properties of a parent distribution (i.e. mean and standard deviation) from a sample of a finite collection of data measurements, and we describe the standard error (SE). In the second segment, we derive the famous square-root of n factor that appears in the SE formula. The third video segment describes the visual comparison of error bars, and the fourth segment warns against a mistake that can generate inappropriate claims of statistical significance during this kind of analysis.

Material Type: Lecture Notes

Author: David Liao

Using Geometry to Design Simple Machines

This video is meant to be a fun, hands-on session that gets students to think hard about how machines work. It teaches them the connection between the geometry that they study and the kinematics that engineers use -- explaining that kinematics is simply geometry in motion. In this lesson, geometry will be used in a way that students are not used to. Materials necessary for the hands-on activities include two options: pegboard, nails/screws and a small saw; or colored construction paper, thumbtacks and scissors. Some in-class activities for the breaks between the video segments include: exploring the role of geometry in a slider-crank mechanism; determining at which point to locate a joint or bearing in a mechanism; recognizing useful mechanisms in the students' communities that employ the same guided motion they have been studying.

Material Type: Lecture

Authors: Daniel D. Frey, MIT BLOSSOMS

Water Sphere Lens

In this activity about light and refraction, learners make a lens and magnifying glass by filling a bowl with water. Learners explore why the lens inverts images and also reverses the motion of images. Use this activity to introduce learners to basic principles of light and lenses. Activity includes light-ray diagram to explain how image is formed.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

What if the Ice Shelves Melted?

This activity is a hands-on guided inquiry activity designed to highlight the role of an ice shelf on slowing the movement of continental ice sheets in Antarctica. Students build a model of Antarctica and both continental glaciers and ice shelves using paper models of the land and slime for glaciers and ice. Students use their model to explore the impact of recent and potential ice shelf melting and break-up.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: ANDRILL, LuAnn Dahlman

Will an Ice Cube Melt Faster in Freshwater or Saltwater?

With an often unexpected outcome from a simple experiment, students can discover the factors that cause and influence thermohaline circulation in our oceans. In two 45 minute class periods, students complete activities where they observe the melting of ice cubes in saltwater and freshwater, using basic materials: clear plastic cups, ice cubes, water, salt, food coloring, and thermometers. There are no prerequisites for this lesson but it is helpful if students are familiar with the concepts of density and buoyancy as well as the salinity of seawater. It is also helpful if students understand that dissolving salt in water will lower the freezing point of water. There are additional follow up investigations that help students appreciate and understand the importance of the ocean’s influence on Earth’s climate.

Material Type: Lecture

Author: William Andrake

Asthma & Physical Activity in the School

Newly revised in 2012! This easy-to-read booklet is perfect for teachers, coaches, and families who want to help students with asthma take part in sports and physical activities. Discusses how to help students control their asthma and follow an asthma action plan. Also explains how to manage asthma triggers, ensure students have access to their asthma medicines, recognize worsening asthma symptoms and take action, and modify activities based on a childs asthma status. Includes sample asthma action plans and information about using a peak flow meter, metered-dose inhaler, and dry powder inhaler.

Material Type: Reading, Teaching/Learning Strategy

College Physics for AP Courses

College Physics for AP Courses is designed to engage students in their exploration of physics and help them to relate what they learn in the classroom to their lives and to apply these concepts to the Advanced Placement test. Physics underlies much of what is happening today in other sciences and in technology, therefore the book includes interesting facts and ideas that go beyond the scope of the AP course to further student understanding. The AP Connection in each chapter directs students to the material they should focus on for the AP® exam, and what content — although interesting — is not necessarily part of the AP curriculum.

Material Type: Textbook

Authors: David Anderson, Douglas Ingram, Gregg Wolfe, Irna Lyublinskaya, John Stoke, Julie Kretchman, Liza Pujji, Nathan Czuba, Sudhi Oberoi

Electric Field Hockey

Play hockey with electric charges. Place charges on the ice, then hit start to try to get the puck in the goal. View the electric field. Trace the puck's motion. Make the game harder by placing walls in front of the goal. This is a clone of the popular simulation of the same name marketed by Physics Academic Software and written by Prof. Ruth Chabay of the Dept of Physics at North Carolina State University.

Material Type: Simulation

Authors: Danielle Harlow, Michael Dubson, Sam Reid, Wendy Adams

Energy Forms and Changes

This simulation lets learners explore how heating and cooling adds or removes energy. Use a slider to heat blocks of iron or brick to see the energy flow. Next, build your own system to convert mechanical, light, or chemical energy into electrical or thermal energy. (Learners can choose sunlight, steam, flowing water, or mechanical energy to power their systems.) The simulation allows students to visualize energy transformation and describe how energy flows in various systems. Through examples from everyday life, it also bolsters understanding of conservation of energy. This item is part of a larger collection of simulations developed by the Physics Education Technology project (PhET).

Material Type: Simulation

Authors: Ariel Paul, Emily Moore, John Blanco, Kathy Perkins, Noah Podolefsky, Trish Loeblein

Seasons and Cloud Cover, Are They Related?

This lesson uses NASA satellite data to correlate cloud cover over Africa to the solar declination. The student will access NASA data using the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server and import the data into Excel spreadsheet software. Students will use NASA satellite data to correlate cloud cover over Africa to the solar declination.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Erica Alston

Arabic History and Culture

This webpage provides elementary information on aspects of Arab culture and history, including religion, politics, naming conventions, and Persian influence on Arab culture and language. The information seems to have been authored by the site's administrator, and contains no references or citations.

Material Type: Reading

Author: Hani Deek

The Christian Roots of Europe

For the most part recorded on site in places such as Subiaco, Montecassino, Assis, San Casciano, Florence and Rome in June of 2013, the documentary we present here was produced and then broadcasted by the State Television of Portugal on December 24, 2013 (RTP2) and January 2, 2014 (RTP1). The Program was produced for RTP1 by the Journalist Fátima Campos Ferreira and the Reporter of Image Carlos Oliveira under the scientific advice of João J. Vila-Chã, professor for Philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. The documentary was particularly enriched by the contribution of Professor Joseph Weiler, President of the European University Institute in Florence, and was edited by Alexandre Leandro, chief-editor at the RTP. Originally titled (in Portuguese) «O Triunfo do Espírito», the documentary was conceived as (a rather unusual form of) narrative about (the Idea of) Europe and out of the recognition that for the present as for the future of the world a confront remains unavoidable with the cultural and the religious dimension of the Idea of Europe as we know it through the media of our cultural (and philosophical) history. We are grateful to all the Institutions that in places such as Subiaco, Montecassino, Assis, Florence, San Casciano and Rome allowed the team sent by the RTP to Italy to realize the work as intended and so contributed in a decisive way to this particular (and somehow peculiar) narrative about the Idea of Europe.

Material Type: Primary Source

Christian Terms in Arabic

This site offers a brief list of words that relate to Christianity, including a number of terms that are specific to Christianity as it is practiced in the Middle East. Many of the words are accompanied by brief explanations of their significance. The glossary is preceded by a brief introduction.

Material Type: Reading

Author: Wikipedia

Conversations with History: Globalization and Islam, with Olivier Roy

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes distinguished French political scientist Olivier Roy for a discussion of globalization’s impact on religion and culture. The conversation focuses on changes within Islam. They explore the balance of power between Islamists and neo fundamentalists, the dynamic propelling terrorism, and the appropriate response of the West to the challenges posed by the interaction between globalization and Islam. (54 minutes)

Material Type: Lecture

Conversations with History: Inside Muslim Militancy

Conversations with History host Harry Kreisler welcomes Professor Fawaz A. Gerges for a discussion on the origins, evolution and future direction of Islamic militancy. (56 minutes)

Material Type: Lecture

Conversations with History: Islam and the West, with John L. Esposito

Georgetown University Professor John L. Esposito talks with UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler about the complex forces shaping Islam and its relationship with the West. (56 min)

Material Type: Lecture

Conversations with History: Islamic Societies, with Ira Lapidus

Ira Lapidus, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Berkeley, and the founding Chair of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies on the Berkeley campus joins Harry Kreisler to discuss Islam, its relation to politics, the treatment of women in Islamic societies, and how an understanding of Islamic history might inform U.S. foreign policy. (54 min)

Material Type: Lecture

Conversations with History: National Security in an Age of Sacred Terror, with Daniel Benjamin

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Daniel Benjamin, a former counterterrorism official in the Clinton administration, for a discussion of the forces shaping terrorism in an era when the boundaries between religion and politics are blurred. He articulates a strategy for protecting the homeland while addressing the root causes of terrorism in todayŐs world. (59 min)

Material Type: Lecture

CultureTalk - Arab World

CultureTalk - Arab World features a very extensive selection of filmed interviews with people from different countries in the Arabic speaking world. While some interviews are in English, the vast majority are in Arabic. Translations and usually transcripts are provided for all non-English video clips. Topics include family, food, education, religious and cultural customs, work, art, sport, travel, etc. The regions covered are the Levant, North Africa, Egypt, and Mauritania, with an Iraqi section on the way.

Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy