I came across the Stuff You Should Know video podcasts while searching iTunes. This podcast is one of the several series presented by HowStuffWorks.com.
I watched about a dozen of these video podcasts, and I really enjoyed all of them. They're entertaining and educational at the same time. Some are short (one minute) videos of Chuck and Josh discussing some idea, fact, or concept. The video shows the guys talking about the subject in different venues. They might be at the batting cage, playing racquetball, getting a pedicure, getting a haircut, riding the subway, or walking around town. Other podcasts are the "game show" edition in which one person will spend sixty seconds educating the other on a particular concept, and then the other person has to explain it back to the teacher. As the student explains it back to the teacher, graphics show the viewer if the person is right or wrong. The teacher then grades the student and explains what was wrong or gives additional information.
A few of my favorite short segments are the one about body farms, the one about feats of hysterical strength, and the one about zombies.
Two of my favorite "game show" podcasts are the one about digging a hole on the moon and the one about frames of reference ("Reference Those Frames") and what would happened if you fire a bullet on a train that's moving at the same speed as the bullet. The latter podcast is more complicated, so I'll summarize what I learned in the "Hole in the Moon" podcast, which can be accessed through this link:
In the "Hole in the Moon" podcast, Chuck discusses the relationship between gravity and mass by explaining that if a person dug a hole through the moon and then climbed down it with a very long ladder, it would get increasingly more difficult to get to the center because of the mass above you. Once you get to the center, you'd experience a sense of weightlessness because of the equal mass surrounding you. Past the midway point, it would be very easy to get to the other side because of the pull of the mass below you. Basically, you are pulled up to the top and then pulled down to the bottom. Chuck explains that if you just jump in, you would accelerate to the midpoint and then decelerate to the bottom. There, you would be pulled back to the top and then fall again, experiencing a yo-yo effect.
These podcasts would be nice to use as warm-ups in a class. It would also be fun to have teachers take turns sharing something off-subject, random, or quirky at department or committee meetings. If they just begin looking around for fun, they'll quickly discover how to integrate podcasts into their classrooms.
By the way, if you want to watch "Reference Those Frames," here's the link:
No comments:
Post a Comment