EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS

  • 3rd Period Conceptual Physics – Extra Credit Assignment Description

From now until the end of the year, you will be able to do Extra Credit assignments to cancel out some of the assignments you may have turned in late, missed or where you got a 0 for whatever reason on a review day.

The extra credit assignment is to work through some of the homework problems or concepts and document what you did and what sites you used along with a brief review of them.

Credit is earned when you complete (for extra credit) by making 3 postings on the newsgroup for at least 3 different resources you used.

  • POSTING REQUIRED DETAILS

  • the  question number and/or general concept
  • PAGE or RESOURCE TITLE
  • the page source or author (i.e. Los Alamos National LAB, NASA , NOVA, etc.) the link to the page
  • that concept or question you investigated
  • a rating of  1 to 5  (1-'DUH, waste of time' , 2-'Sure, but I could don't know anymore than I already did', 3-'hmm, that makes more  sense now',4-'Gee, is  that  what that means!”, to 5-'NOW I GET IT!')
  •  Brief explanation of what was good or bad about it. If was bogus it’s ok to say so as long as you say how it you might fix it. Good or bad make some suggestions for how it could be made more useful, interesting, relevant, or accessible ( How could it be improved)

  • DETAILS

    • Purpose

These extra credit assignments are intended to introduce you to alternative methods of learning core class content. It is also hoped that you use this opportunity to explore how your physics lessons are relevant to things familiar to you, whether it is something you do or something you are interested in. Finally, its is hoped that when you do find a resource that is useful you communicate to your teachers and your classmates what that resource was, where it can be accesses, what it helped you with, and why it was useful to you.

I also hope that you use this opportunity to explore both physics and something of interest to you and think about how one is related to the other.

Because this is an exploration opportunity, you are free to propose an alternative assignment. You may do so but only with prior approval. If doing a web-based assignment is problematic, I will also consider written reports of similar research. Also since you have to opportunity to re-take exams from earlier in the semester, you should combine your preparation for the make-up with and extra credit assignment for that chapter.

For those of you that plan to you are re-taking a test from an earlier chapter you should consider doing the extra credit assignment as part of your preparation for the make-up exam.

  • Conditions

  • You must be on time with everything for the rest of the semester unless you have a legitimate excuse or none of your extra-credit work counted! NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS or PROGRESS REPORTS or SLACKING ON THE REVIEW questions for the rest of the semester

  • You will be allowed a maximum of two extra credit assignments per chapter, the more you do, and the more critical I will be of it

  • You must answer any follow-up questions that I have for you.

  •  You must monitor your postings and respond to any of your classmate’s replies with questions about your posting.

  •  You must be prepared to discuss your postings with me and/or the class to demonstrate that you considered the resource carefully.

  • The work must clearly be yours. You may collaborate and use the same resources but I expect to see you write something completely different or in much, more detail.

  • When

Postings must be done by submitted to me by 5 pm on the day following that chapter's exam but should be posted the previous evening, or printed versions by beginning of class that same day.  

Value

  • One late homework/progress report offset by each extra credit assignment.

  • One missing HW for two.

  • If you have done everything  on time all semester long you may skip a maximum of 1 of the remaining 3 homework assignments for chapters 18-20 by completing 2 extra credit assignments.

  • What you need to do

The following is a description of what I want you to do for chapter 17 and/or chapter 18 to get credit.

Post 3 brief reviews of 3 DIFFERENT pages or sites you used to research key concepts or specific homework or review questions from the current or next chapter that you found helpful in either understanding the concept or answering the question. I do not want you to use examples where you just looked up a number or a word. Just simply looking at it is not enough. If you review something and did not find it useful, you must explain why it wasn’t and how you would improve it.

  • The three resources you review should be three different sites for the three different questions or concepts. Exceptions may be accepted if a resource is particularly comprehensive or helpful.

  • The resources should also be of different types. Examples of different types would include sites that are primarily on-line textbooks, animations, simulations, games, videos, on-line tutoring resources/newsgroups, or downloadable software/databases

  • Which concepts to look at are up to you? If you pick homework or review questions that have one-word or T/F answers focus on the ‘EXPLAIN’ or ‘WHY?’ part of the question.

  • If you already understand everything in the chapter then you should look for examples of real-world applications of the concepts in areas you are interested in.

  • If someone else has already posted a review of the same resource you were doing make sure your review is distinctly different from theirs either in what concept you used the resource for or how your experience was different that theirs.

     This will be handled on a first-come-first-serve basis. Stake out your claim to a site to avoid having to worry about this. I would suggest you make a posting with the name and URL (link) to the resource and the concept you are using it stake your claim to it for before you spend much time on it and then go back and add to or reply to you original posting.

  • HOW YOU GET CREDIT

  • Be on-time with the remainder of your regular assignment

  • Post three different reviews on the newsgroup (1 for each resource) in the appropriate forums by the required deadlines.

  • Turn in a printout of your postings and one screen capture or printout from each of the three resources.

  • Complete any follow-up tasks you are asked to do.

  • Monitor your postings and respond to classmate’s inquiries if made.

  • YOUR POSTING SHOULD LOOK SOMETHING LIKE THE FOLLOWING

EXAMPLE
EXAMPLE #17.1.x NEWSGROUP POSTING FOR CHAPTER 17
For extra credit assignment you must do 3 different postings similar to this

QUESTION #                 : review questions #69,73,78

MAIN CONCEPT           : USING THE PERIODIC TABLE

PAGE TITLE                 : PERIODIC TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS

URL                             : http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/default.htm

Author/Organization   : LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LAB CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT

CONCEPT                    : Using the periodic table as a way to quickly determine chemical and atomic characteristics based on where they are on the table. Elements side by side on the periodic table differ by one proton in their nucleus, the number of protons is the ATOMIC number listed on the chart that defines what element the atom is. ATOMS directly above or below have same number of electrons in their outmost orbital shell.

Rating:(5 - NOW I GET IT!)  

 It really helped to be able to click on elements and see a picture of their atomic structure. I learned that you can find out what element would result when a proton is removed or added to an atom of a specific element by just looking at the elements right next to it on the table. Using this site helped me see how chemists can use the chart as a tool to make their jobs easier. The additional tutorials and history made it all fit together a little more clearly.
When done print out a  copy of your posting and the resources you list to turn in to me or put them together in an MS Word document and email it to me. If it is late I may not accept it so it is a good idea to hand me a piece of paper even if you do email it to me. Take a screen capture( go to software page) of  it and  paste it into  a word document an email it to me  How you document it is not as important as what you learned.

  • OTHER COMMENTS
  • BE PREPARED TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR POSTING FROM ME.
  • IF IT IS APPARENT THAT YOU DID NOTHING BUT LOOK BRIEFLY AT THE SITE LISTED, THAT WILL NOT BE COUNTED. If you are going to review a site that has already been reviewed, you may want to think twice as I will be much more critical or duplicate reviews.
  • If you are not sure, post more than the minimum three reviews. Quantity is almost as good as quantity for this type of assignment.
  • Don’t get stuck on one site, try out a variety. Do your own searches. Try anther search engine than Google. (you will get different results for the same searches
  • I  AM NOT LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE OF YOUR COMPUTER SKILLS. I AM LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE OF YOUR USING THE WEB AS A TOOL TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND PHYSICS.

  • Creativity is encouraged

Explore. Enjoy. Propose an alternative assignment if you have any ideas. I will consider anything reasonable that fits within the constraints of this semesters’ coursework.


 

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Copyright © 2005 -  S. B. EglI