What do you mean by Physics? Why is it so important to study Physics as a part of basic education? What is the importance of studying physics? Does it have any implication to real life?
Well, these are some of the innumerable questions that students ask whenever they are told about Physics. Students often have headaches whenever they hear the term ‘Physics’. I still remember my days when I used to tremble in fear at the very sight of my Physics book!
The reason why most students are afraid of this subject is that the subject involves lot of mathematics. From algebra to trigonometry, Physics is a subject which comprises of equations, laws, calculations, derivatives, etc. It is one of the most complex parts of science education. It becomes difficult for students to understand various big and complex aspects of Physics.
Physics is a natural science which helps us to have a better understanding of the world around us. If you are a football fanatic, you will able to relate physics with it. At a glance, it may seem that there is just chaos and confusion all around. But once you understand the rules and techniques of the game, you will simply love football. With these rules of the game clear in our minds, we can have a better understanding of the game and gradually be in love with it. In a similar way, once you are aware of the basic concepts and fundamentals of this subject, you will love Physics.
The real world is quite different from the world which various books portray. These bookish concepts are not enough to understand a subject. There are some students who understand better with examples, observations and experiments. Classroom teachings are not enough to make them understand concepts of the subject. It is then that teachers and parents should try implementing practical examples.
If you are a parent or a teacher who wants to improve a child’s understanding of Physics, then here comes the solution. You should try out the practical examples listed below which will make your child love the subject and have a clear understanding of its concepts too. You can even go through How to inspire a lasting love for Physics in your child.
5 practical examples to make a child love Physics
- Wave Models-
Information gets transmitted by many ways- through sound, light, radio, television etc. Each of this information gets transmitted through waves like sound waves, light waves, television waves, etc. Your child may at once think that he knows about water waves only. In such a case, you can explain your child through the model of water wave. It will help him in relating these waves with those water waves he has seen so far.
Tell him that just like the water waves carry energy with them, in the same way these sound waves and television waves carry energy. The other waves too get reflected when they get hit by some hard surface. Draw a diagram and show him that just like the water waves’ energy gets absorbed once they touch the beach, the energy which these other waves carry too get absorbed once they strike various substances. Waves communicate information by changes in their height, amplitude, frequency.
- Cereal-
You may be wondering what relation cereals have with physics. You will understand it gradually.
Give your child a bowl of milk. Now pass on the jar of cereals to him. Ask him to pour as much cereals he wants into his bowl of milk. Show him that these cereals either cling to the sides of the bowl or have clumped together. Ask him to try to press them down. You will see that they still keep on floating above. This is what scientists call the Cheerios effect.
According to this anything that you pour like cereals, fizzy soda bubbles will float due to the geometry of a liquid’s surface. It is the surface tension which makes the surface of the milk cave in the middle of the bowl. As the water molecules present in the milk are attracted towards this bowl, the milk’s surface moves upward along the bowl’s edge. It is due to this reason that cereals will float and cling to the edges or get clumped due to the surface tension in the middle of your milk bowl.
- Foam-
Has your child already taken his bubble bath? Even if yes, next time when you wash your hand or utensils, ask him to notice that foam arises. Now ask him if foam is a gas, a solid or a liquid. You will see that it’s quite confusing for him to come to a definite conclusion. Through this you can explain him the composition of gas, liquid and solid in various substances.
According to a physics professor, foams are made of 5 % liquid and 95% gas. But it does not mean that that they cannot be solids. Whenever you see foam taking a particular shape, it is a solid.
- Balancing a see-saw–
Take your child to the nearest children park from your home. Now go to the see-saw. Ask your child to sit in one corner of the see-saw and you take up its other side. It is quite obvious that your weight will be much more than your child. Tell him that this see-saw is unable to balance properly as there are two different weights in each side. It is due to this that you are on top while your child is down.
Now you can get up and ask someone who is of same weight like your child to sit on your place. Once the see-saw balances, tell your child that since there are equal torques, the system gets balanced thus both of them are in the similar position.
- Make him notice the walking style-
Tell your child about Newton’s third law that there is an equal and opposite reaction to every action. Now take him for a walk outside. Ask him to notice the walking. Tell him that just when he puts his foot on the ground, he is applying some force there.
Now after receiving this force, the ground too applies an equal force onto your child’s foot in the opposite direction which makes him move forward.
Examples which are listed above are some of the easiest to understand examples which impact our day to day activities. Give these examples to your child and see how your child falls in love with this magical subject of Physics. Else than this, you can take help from professional websites for more innovative ideas.