PhET Blog

We’re excited to announce our very own Trish Loeblein, PhET K-12 Specialist, was honored to receive the ACS 2013 Colorado High School Teaching Award.

Trish has taught all levels of science including chemistry, physics and math, including many AP courses. Trish was recognized because she “brings an enormous energy to the classroom” and “goes out of her way to teach difficult concepts in a more tangible manner, a skill which is necessary for challenging chemistry and physics courses.”

Congratulations Trish!

We’re excited to add our last Java-based simulation, Energy Forms and Changes. Explore how heating and cooling iron, brick, and water adds or removes energy. See how energy is transferred between objects. Build your own system, with energy sources, changers, and users. Track and visualize how energy flows and changes through your system.

We will be upgrading the PhET server on Friday, April 19 at 5:30 PM Mountain Daylight Time. During this time, PhET (http://phet.colorado.edu) will experience periods of unavailability. We expect that the outage will last only 30 minutes and that we will be back online very quickly. However, if you experience issues, please e-mail the PhET Help Desk at phethelp@colorado.edu.

Thanks for your patience during our system upgrade.

We’ve been busy working on making our simulations iPad compatible. We hope to have a number of them ready over the summer so they will be available for the 2013-2014 school year, including Build an Atom, Concentration, and Ohm’s Law.

Right now user donations are our key source of funding towards converting simulations to HTML5 and bringing them to iPad and Android tablets.

So please consider donating today. And, thank you to those of you who have already donated. Your support will help keep our work funded through the summer.

Donate Now to help support iPad compatibility!

In the middle of modern physics? Try our “Intro to Photoelectric Effect Interactive Lecture.” These lecture notes include many concept questions and an interactive lecture demo, for a 2-3 day introduction to the Photoelectric Effect.

In a new report by the Software & Information Industry Association, “Guide to the Use of Open Educational Resources in K-12 and Postsecondary Education,” open educational resources, like PhET are “here to stay.” This white paper from the SIIA’s Education Division’s working group was written to provide an increased understanding of OER’s impact and usage in schools.