Table of contents

The International Baccalaureate has long been recognized for providing breadth in 16-18 education. This article examines whether it can also provide the depth to match A-levels by comparing IB Higher Physics with A-level Physics.

The systems approach to teaching energy for 15-16-year-old students in a recently published Dutch physics textbook (Licht et al 1990) is characterized by the definition of a system and the study of energy exchange between the system and its environment. The energy exchange is visualized in an energy-budget diagram showing input energy, output energy and the change in energy content of the system. Strengths of the approach are (a) the use of energy as a unifying concept linking various branches of physics, (b) the power of the method in provoking rather fundamental questions from students and (c) a consistent approach to problem-solving. Weaknesses are (a) students do not immediately use the method correctly - they have to be trained in it explicitly, and (b) the method raises some physics questions that are above the level of the students. However, this problem has been overcome through acceptable simplifications.

The National Curriculum in Science attempts to be both modern and accessible to all. But are either of these two aims realistic as far as physics is concerned? This is the second of two articles raising questions about current orthodoxy.

Results of a survey conducted amongst undergraduate physics students in Singapore suggest that female students perform less well in examinations than their male counterparts. The underachievement of many female students appears to be correlated to their less independent learning methods.

We present the content and the structure, of a constructivist curriculum in which fluids are introduced in secondary education. The design principles and the major ways in which it differs from a traditional curriculum are highlighted.

This is the third and final part of a paper presented at the 1991 Pan-American Science Conference in Venezuela. The first part appeared in the January 1993 issue and the second in the March issue.

Radon in domestic water supplies has been monitored by 504 schools throughout the UK. The results show that the levels of radon in drinking water are well below the threshold value of 100 Bq l^-1, but vary significantly from county to county.

An initiative to develop CAL programs for the physics curriculum in Hong Kong is described. The advantages of learning through simulations are discussed using some of the programs developed as illustrations.

A circular air track is used to investigate the drag experienced by a rider as it moves round the track.

Many A-level and first-year university courses in Physics include an experiment in which the wavelengths of the emission lines of a discharge lamp are measured using a diffraction grating mounted on a standard student spectrometer. The accuracy obtained in practice is usually disappointing as the groove spacing is not accurately known. Therefore a common approach in laboratory courses is to use the wavelength of a known line to calibrate the groove spacing in the grating. Any error in this preliminary measurement, however, is propagated as a systematic error to subsequent measurements. A more instructive approach to the analysis of the data available in this experiment, involving a consideration of both random and systematic error, is outlined.

A computer-interfaced experiment to determine the vapour phase (P-T) diagram of water is described

A missing toolJ A Poulis and G Verkerk University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Eddy current demonstration revisitedBrian Hasson Laboratory Coordinator, Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, USA

Analogies for Ohm's lawN Gauthier Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario K7K 5L0, Canada