12 C Physics

All three Physics courses in the Ontario Science curriculum include as expectation 1 of every unit "analyse technologies…" As Physics teachers, we need to be able to explain how things work, and why things sometime DON'T work. In particular, students intending to go on into technology programs at colleges should be given a solid grounding in how Physics applies to machines. This workshop is intended to get you thinking about how you can put more technology into your Physics courses. Let's build some machines and take some machines apart. Come and find out about the Physics of Machines: levers, gears, pulleys, wheels, motors, transmissions, pumps, siphons, toilets, hydraulics, pneumatics, fiber optics, electronics, and more!

Richard Taylor decided to let out his inner teacher in 2001 after a twenty year career as a software engineer. He's having a great time playing with Physics and even a bit of Chemistry, Biology and Astronomy. Richard also likes fixing things around the house - his latest triumph was dismantling and fixing the electronic controls for his dishwasher. He would like to be able to teach Physics to more students who have technical aptitude but who may not be able to handle the math and abstract theory.