Knotbooks is a very cool service that allows users to create, collaborate and share customized, self-guided physics lessons. The goal of the site is to" make all of physics accessible, understandable, interactive, and free".

The site is free to use and you can either create an account or login using a variety of other accounts, such as Facebook, OpenID, Myspace, WordPress, Google, Twitter, and many others.

You can create self-guided multimedia lessons, study guides, and other resources using a huge resource of knowledge and information from their partners. You can also modify existing Knotebooks for your own use and collaborate and get help on any topic in physics from the community and resources. Text, animations, videos, and much more are all a part of Knotebooks.

While it is only for Physics, I see this as a great model to use in all topics.

READ MORE - Knotebooks - create, collaborate, and share multimedia lessons in Physics

APlusPhysics is a site with a plethora of resources for physics students and teachers. It includes an entire college prep physics course online, from tutorials to animations to integrated quizzes and solutions based on five+ years of standardized physics tests (question bank of close to 500 questions).  In addition, there’s a physics discussion forum, student and educator blogs, physics activities, review videos, etc.  


The courses are based on the Regents and AP Physics exams and material. There are projects, such as catapult and mousetrap cars, a physics news section, and a section for educators. 


This is a great resource for teachers to use with a class, or to send their students to for reinforcement and enrichment. 

READ MORE - Physics Resource - great for students and teachers

PhET is an awesome resource from the University of Colorado at Boulder. The site has interactive simulations for physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, and math that teachers and students can use.

The simulations can be run on the site or downloaded. The simulations are accurate and real and can help students learn concepts in more depth. They are easy and fun to use, and really do demonstrate the concepts well. In the physics ones I use, a big benefit is that students can quickly and easily change variables and conditions and then see what happens. This is very hard and time consuming in many hands on labs.

The simulations are also a great alternative to live labs if you don't have the resources available. Some of the simulations are better than any hands on lab because the students can truly see and understand what is happening.

You can search by topic, grade level, or just see the newest ones added. There are teacher resources for many of the simulations. Teachers who use the simulations post lesson plans and resources to the site for others to use also.

I use the Physics simulations in my classroom and they work great. This is one of those sites that every science and math teacher needs to check out.

Here's a list of some of the new simulations they have:

READ MORE - PhET - free online science and math simulations

In my physics classes, when we study work, energy and energy conversions, I relate it to amusement park rides such as roller coasters. The students can all relate to these things and they are great examples of work being done to give an object (the roller coaster) potential energy which then gets converted to kinetic energy and so one. We are also able to bring in forces, friction, and other topics. The students love it, it keeps their interest, and they learn!

One activity I had them complete right before the Thanksgiving break is to play an online game. Yes, I said it, a game. The game is Roller Coaster Creator. I found the site by doing a Google search and played it myself first. It is a lot of fun, but I wasn't sure how educational it was. So, I tried it out on my students. They loved it. They all tried to get the highest scores and the best designs. But, more importantly was the conversations they were having while using it. They were talking like physicists and engineers. "We have to increase this hill so there is more potential energy". "There is too much friction." "That loop will create too much g-force for the passengers." "In order to have the car jump that gap, we need a different angle and more velocity."

The conversations were great! I was so happy to see them learning and applying the concepts that they had learned while having fun!!

Now, I just have to keep this fun level going and get some more great activities for them.

Share your educational games (or games you've used in education) with us.

READ MORE - Roller Coaster Game as Learning Tool in Physics