Force And Motion: Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It

Force and Motion: Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It

Intimidated by inertia? Frightened by forces? Mystified by Newton s law of motion? You re not alone and help is at hand. The stop Faking It! Series is perfect for science teachers, home-schoolers, parents wanting to help with homework all of you who need a jargon-free way to learn the background for teaching middle school physical science with confidence. With Bill Roberton as your friendly, able but somewhat irreverent guide, you will discover you CAN come to grips with the basics of force and motion. Combining easy-to-understand explanations with activities using commonly found equipment, this book will lead you through Newton s laws to the physics of space travel. The book is as entertaining as it is informative. Best of all, the author understands the needs of adults who want concrete examples, hands-on activities, clear language, diagrams and yes, a certain amount of empathy. Ideas For Use Newton's laws, and all of the other motion principles presented in this book, do a good job of helping us to understand, explain, and predict the world around us. We can use them to get to the Moon, design roller coasters, and develop safety regulations for cars. However, there are situations in this book where all the motion stuff is just plain wrong-- as a result of Albert Einsteins' corrections to the law of motion--which will be addressed in another Stop Faking It! book. Additional Info Science Discipline: (mouse over for full classification) Acceleration Friction Gravity Inertia Mass Newton s laws of motion Speed Vectors Velocity Experimenting Using mathematics Intended User Role: Curriculum Supervisor, Elementary-Level Educator, Middle-Level Educator, Parent, Professional Development Provider, Teacher Educational Issues: Classroom management, Curriculum, Informal education, Inquiry learning, Instructional materials, Professional development, Teacher content knowledge, Teacher preparation Contents Preface SciLinks Chapter 1: Newton s First One Chapter 2: In Which We Describe Motion and Then Change It Chapter 3: Newton s Second One Chapter 4: There s No Such Thing as Gravity The Earth Sucks Chapter 5: Newton s Third Chapter 6: Round and Round and Round In the Circle Game Chapter 7: To the Moon, Alice! Glossary IndexReviewIf I only knew then, what I know now. This past school year, I was asked to teach my fifth graders a science unit on Motion and Design. Having very little physical science content knowledge, I was uncomfortable answering any questions throughout the unit. I just wish I would have known about this book before. This book is written in an easy-to-understand and often humorous manner. Each chapter contains a simple experiment with household items followed by a straightforward explanation of the science concepts behind the experiment. Thanks to this quick read, I have a greater understanding and more confidence in my ability to teach Newton's Laws of Motion. --Reviewed by: Heather S on June 20, 2009Teach Force and Motion with Humor. If you are seeking a book to build background knowledge and conceptual understanding of force and motion, look no further. William C. Robertson covers all the bases, including simple object lessons, with delightful humor. You will be thrilled with this book, and your students will really understand and not need to "fake it" at all! --Reviewed by: Karen McCollister (McKinney, TX) on July 15, 2008I enjoyed the author's humorous way of presenting something so serious. It is inquiry build (except the given answers). I used the activities presented by the author to give as many opportunities as possible to my students for building an operational definition for force or motion...In addition, this book gave me something we rarely do in the classroom...apply the concepts of force and motion outside of the classroom...Awesome book. --Reviewed by: Daniela Thornton (Colbert, WA) on November 6, 2007