Films for Science Teachers
I have written, produced and directed a number of educational TV series, ranging in subject matter from a history of particle physics to key ideas covered in GCSE Science. Click here for a selection of videos I’ve developed and produced to help science teachers with the effective use of demonstrations and practical work as part of their lessons. Most of the films were made with my friend Jonathan Sanderson of StoryCog.
I had the pleasure of watching Alom and Jonathan work on a couple of these videos under the supportive eye of David Sang. The care and attention to detail in both the production values and the physics teaching ideas that can be gleaned from these videos is a testament to how hard Alom and his colleagues work on them.
Demo the movie is a brilliant call to arms to help science teachers see the benefits of science demonstrations in the classroom. To my shame I still don’t do enough but these videos help inspire me to try new ideas out.
i have viewed these and have used some in the classroom. It has also prompted discussions with colleagues about how demos were presented to students and the reasoning behind why we use them. I’d like to think more are being produced.
Your videos of demonstrations have been very useful. I know of experienced technician who have used your monkey and hunter video to support them in getting the demo to work. In the past few years I have found myself without an experienced physics technician and as a result having to set up my own demonstrations, your capacitor video gave me confidence to try this. The jelly bean wave machine was something new to me when I saw the video and is now a firm favourite. I hope you will continue to make more videos like this, showing teachers how to successfully demonstrate physics concepts in their classrooms.
These videos are a fantastic resource for teachers and for use in the classroom with students. The monkey-hunter demo is a tough one to get right, and so having the intricate detail provided in the video here is an excellent option to clearly demonstrate the physics to the students.
After watching the bin-bag capacitor and jelly-baby wave machine videos, we immediately set about making them. The bin-bag capacitor now sits as a mainstay practical for the Y13s – who love to see the sparks (!) and also much more clearly envisage the construction of a capacitor. Likewise, the Y9s get to see the wave machine when they begin to study waves – and it is a great way to demonstrate wave movement, especially in contrast to the slinky model. Moreover, the wave machine is used regularly in our open days – everyone getting something from it.
I look forward to utilizing Alom’s videos more and more. His explanations are clear and succinct, and the video style is simple and easy to access for all. It’s a difficult thing to do well, and he does just that!
Gorgeous videos from passionate science educators. Thank you.