Author Archives: Peter Newbury
Problem solving like a physicist
In my role in the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative at the University of British Columbia, I am often “embedded” in an instructor’s course, providing resources, assistance and coaching throughout the term. This term, I’m working with an instructor in … Continue reading
One Earth, one sky: the power of Twitter
This post was inspired by the beauty of the night sky and the interactions that followed down here on Earth. A couple of nights ago, Venus, the Evening Star, hung a few degrees below a spectacular, 3-day old crescent Moon. … Continue reading
The astronomy of Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year occurs on January 23 this year. The fact that we even have to announce the date reveals that it changes each year. That’s because the date for Chinese or Lunar New Year depends on how the annual … Continue reading
Motivation for pre-reading assignments
For the next 4 months, I’ll be working with an instructor in an 4th-year electromagnetism course. If you’ve taught or taken a course like this, let me just say, “Griffiths”. If you haven’t, this is the capstone course in E&M. … Continue reading
Six-legged spiders
Here’s a quiz for you: what’s wrong with these pictures? Did you find anything wrong? Surely you noticed the black widow spider has only 6 legs, not 8. Here’s the original – I amputated one leg with photoshop for the … Continue reading
