Archimedes' workshop for educators in broad community

Abstract

Two workshops on the learning of Archimedes' principle had already been carried out for students during science carnivals in Kuala Kangsar. Perak and Kuching. Sarawak in June and August respectively in 2008. A forthcoming workshop for teachers will be held early next year in 2009. The final workshop series for 2008 is going to be in Kajang, Selangor at the SMEReC conference. This workshop is targeted for a broad community of educators. The general objectives for these workshops are to enhance the understanding on concept of Archimedes and to develop the quantitative skills and to acquire feedback necessary to further improve Archimedes learning kits. However, more thoughtful feedback is anticipated from educators in this gathering. Four Archimedes activities are prepared for the workshop: (1) Bottle with marbles in water. (2) Straw submarine. (3). The up thrust of polystyrene in water; and (4). Milk bottle hydrometer. These hands-on and minds-on activities which come with worksheets and survey forms, are designed (a) to be accomplished through group collaboration. Working in pairs is expected. (b) to be completed in about forty five minutes for each activity.