19 Sep 2006
I conducted the 2nd lesson on "General Wave Properties" with a focus on longitudinal waves. The lesson plan is similar to the first lesson. It begins with a group activity to help students to visualise longitudinal waves using a slinky. This is followed by pair work on a computer applet to investigate the concept of displacement over time and at different positions of particles experiencing a longitudinal wave motion.

13 Sep 2006
I conducted the 1st lesson on "General Wave Properties" with kind assistance from Elsie (ETD), Wan Eng and Peici in facilitating the students' activities. Some learning points:
1. Activity A1: group use of slinky to visualise transverse waves
- need close teacher supervision and facilitation
- some students prefer to have "fun" rather than focus on task given
- students are not used to describing observations of physical phenomena - in terms of language and vocabulary use
2. Activity A2: pair work on PC using applet via internet to investigate graphical representation for transverse waves
- close teacher supervision also required
- internet access may be slow on some PCs
- students have difficulty with concept of displacement (although concept was taught under "Kinematics") - prior discussion would be helpful.
- plotting a displacement-time graph also poses some difficulty - a guided approach to use numerical values to plot such a graph may be useful
- comparing the differences between displacement-time and displacement-position graphs may need more guided questions to bring out relevant features
- more capable students prefer individual PC work - they are more independent.

11 Sep 2006
Planning inquiry-based lesson on "General Wave Properties" with a focus on understanding of graph representation of transverse and longitudinal waves.
Tentative ideas:
Class: 308; Venue: Computer Lab 3;
Resources: slinky springs, web-based applets -
http://www.ngsir.netfirms.com/englishhtm/Lwave.htm
http://www.ngsir.netfirms.com/englishhtm/TwaveA.htm
- powerful simulations to help students visualise wave motion graphical & representation
Activities:
1. introduction to wave properties and terms
2. group work - handle slinky springs to create transverse & longitudinal waves
3. pair work - explore features of waves using web-based applets with guided inquiry-based worksheet.