He’s not alone, many teachers are using the Web, but Steve seems very adept and progressive in the things he does. We need to encourage such efforts and help promote them, I believe. Spotlighting them whenever possible is one way, I can help.
He’s involved in a contest on a Website called Instructables.com. I propose that anyone interested in science education would learn a thing or two by visiting this website and do a good turn for a very deserving teacher and help further his educational goals by voting for it.
Note the link to several free, online software programs available for such instructional and personal use. Even the comments to his information page provide links to more free technical PC programs.
Here’s Steve’s description of what “Cheap, Easy Light Probe” is and does:
I teach high school physics and I use a lot of expensive probeware to collect data. The only reason I can do this is my school has been collecting the probes over a number of years, building our collection slowly over time. For those who aren’t science teachers, probeware refers to a collection of interfaces used to connect a variety of sensors to a computer or graphing calculator. These interfaces can allow for real time data collection and graphing or can serve as data-loggers collecting data over time.
NCSL International issues a call to action by the Metrology Community
Boulder CO, USA — According to NCSL International’s Press release dated May 28th: The US Dept. of Labor rejects petition to recognize Metrology job descriptions in its proposed 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System”
We know that Metrology is the bedrock upon which all U.S. commerce and manufacturing is built and that persons engaged in metrology/calibration activities provide services vital to the U.S. economy and national defense.
It is also widely known that in the United States there is a critical shortage of technical personnel posed to replace retiring baby-boomers.
The U.S. Dept. of Labor’s SOC provides formal recognition of job descriptions which are the basis for its Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) used by educators and counselors to inform students about career opportunities.
If the SOC does not include Metrology job descriptions neither will the OOH.
The following is the reason given by an SOC administrator as to why Metrology job descriptions were rejected; Read the rest of this entry »
About 25 years ago, I first visited the Instrumentation Labs at Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ONRL) at the invitation of the late Bob Shepard. Bob was a pioneer in many areas of temperature measurement and at that time was the Chairman of ASTM Committee E20 on Temperature. He was also head of the lab at ORNL.
He introduced me to Johnson Noise Temperature (JNT) measurement and showed me a prototype device that they had developed at Oak Ridge to implement the method as an possible alternate means to verify the calibration in situ of thermocouples in a nuclear reactor environment.
While the method was very complex, Bob was convinced it would eventually become commercially viable, if for no other reason than it was a fundamental technology related to the Absolute Thermodynamic Temperature Scale (Kelvin Scale) and required no calibration.
Work has continued to this day at ORNL and elsewhere. More recently, the staff at the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) Thermometry Group have been producing some remarkable results, prototype devices and a raft of technical papers on the subject.
First a description about this unique temperature measurement method that has been studied for more than 30 years. Read the rest of this entry »
ISO has just published a new version of the SI Guide, a small manual for the use of the SI, the International System of Units (Système International d’Unités).
The SI is a comprehensive metric and decimal system based on units and derived units. The seven base units are: length, mass, time, electric current, thermodynamic temperature, amount of substance, and luminous intensity.
The 32-page SI Guide will be useful for many people including engineers, scientists, technical writers, teachers and students. Read the rest of this entry »
Described in wonderful detail, the pinhole camera is an easy to make introduction to the world of photography as this page on the KODAK web site shows.
What is A Pinhole Camera. you ask?
It is simply..”a small, light-tight can or box with a black interior and a tiny hole in the center of one end. By using common household materials, you can make a camera that will produce pictures.”
You don’t even need a PC or a digital camera, just some simple tools a little film and some way to develop the film.
This video guides the student through the proper techniques for measuring resistance with a multimeter. It is a continuation of Part 3 which begins the topic of resistance measurement.
For news of new devices or applications visit MeasurementDevices.com where you also may post PR & New Product news at no cost, without need to register!
Some may recall the article done a while back (actually there are three) on the Science teacher, Steve Dickie, from Dearborn Michigan, who is using some very clever Internet and other technology in teaching physics to High School students. 
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