Back to grants list     Part I. Applicant and Project Information   Title of project: Bringing Physics Labs into Real Time Project manager: Elisabeth A. Angus School: High School Curriculum: Science   Part II: Grant proposal   Summary: Up-to-date computers are badly needed in the High School physics lab. Because the data are graphed instantly, computer-based labs allow students to see the data generated by an experiment in “real time”. Well-running computers can provide a powerful, “real time” graphical representation of the data as it is being generated. As it stands now, students wait an average of 30 minutes before they can even connect with the network. Typically there are only 3 unreliable, out-of-date computers that can be booted up at all. It is now impossible to maintain a computer-based lab program, much less to implement new labs. Physics labs require sensors and interface boxes, but without a reliable, fast computer, they cannot be used at all. Physics teachers in the WHS science department have been among the first in the science department to implement computer-based labs. Ironically, we are now in jeopardy of losing our capacity to do them. With over 250 students and 3 teachers using the lab weekly, we are on the verge of going back to the era when physics labs used stop watches and meter sticks to gather data. Physics labs of other high schools of equal standing routinely use computer-based instruction, so the WHS physics program would no longer be able to meet the guidelines of the MA Frameworks in Physics.   Part III: Grant Amount Supplies: $299.88 Equipment: $9,588.00 Personnel: $0.00   Total costs: $9,887.88 Back to grants list