PhET Interactive Simulations (https://phet.colorado.edu/), a project of the University of Colorado Boulder, provides fun, free, interactive, research-based science and mathematics simulations for use across, primary, secondary, and higher education levels. We extensively test and evaluate each simulation to ensure educational effectiveness. All simulations are open source and free to all students and teachers.

Teaching Electricity and Magnetism with PhET Simulations
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Teaching Electricity and Magnetism with PhET Simulations


Instructors: Rebecca Vieyra
Instructors


Included with
Recommended experience
Recommended experience
Intermediate level
This course is appropriate for teachers of conceptual or algebra-based physics. Prior course: “Introduction to PhET Simulations for STEM Education”.
Recommended experience
Recommended experience
Intermediate level
This course is appropriate for teachers of conceptual or algebra-based physics. Prior course: “Introduction to PhET Simulations for STEM Education”.
What you'll learn
Develop familiarity with PhET’s electricity and magnetism simulations.
Engage as a learner with model lessons for planning your own electricity and magnetism activities.
Design your own sim-based plans for teaching electricity and/or magnetism.
Skills you'll gain
Tools you'll learn
Details to know

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There are 10 modules in this course
In this module, you will get an overview of PhET’s simulations for electricity and magnetism, including a brief tour of the PhET website, making a teacher account (if you don’t already have one), and thinking about when and why to incorporate simulations into your teaching.
What's included
12 readings2 assignments4 discussion prompts1 plugin
12 readings•Total 82 minutes
- Course Updates and Accessibility Support•1 minute
- Welcome!•2 minutes
- Teaching Introductory E&M with Simulations•15 minutes
- Accessing PhET Simulations and Teacher Resources•10 minutes
- Create a PhET Teacher Account•5 minutes
- Topics in E&M•5 minutes
- External Resources to Support Your Understanding•10 minutes
- Open Play with Build an Atom•5 minutes
- Benefits of Open Play•5 minutes
- Facilitation Tips for Open Play•3 minutes
- Role of Simulations in Contrast to Physical Experimentation•20 minutes
- Introducing the Next Modules•1 minute
2 assignments•Total 35 minutes
- Navigating the E&M Collection•5 minutes
- Prior Knowledge in E&M•30 minutes
4 discussion prompts•Total 55 minutes
- Reflecting on PhET's Collection•10 minutes
- A Hierarchy of Concepts in E&M•20 minutes
- Reflecting on Open Play with Build an Atom•10 minutes
- Role of Simulations in Contrast to Physical Experimentation•15 minutes
1 plugin•Total 20 minutes
- Pre-Survey•20 minutes
In this module, you will review the concepts of electric charge and electrostatic forces from the perspective of a learner, using PhET simulations to bring key ideas to life. Along the way, you’ll pause to consider how to teach these ideas effectively.
What's included
17 readings6 assignments7 discussion prompts
17 readings•Total 130 minutes
- Welcome to Electrostatics•3 minutes
- Open Play with Balloons and Static Electricity•5 minutes
- OpenStax: Static Electricity Ch 18.1•20 minutes
- Student Challenges with Electric Charge•5 minutes
- Digging Deeper into the Organization of Charges•1 minute
- Open Play with John Travoltage•10 minutes
- Video Primers: Balloons and Static Electricity & John Travoltage•6 minutes
- Introduction to Coulomb’s Law•10 minutes
- Challenge Prompt #1 - Variables Affecting Electrostatic Force•10 minutes
- Addressing Challenge Prompt #1•10 minutes
- Additional Challenge Prompts•3 minutes
- Proportional Reasoning with Coulomb’s Law•10 minutes
- OpenStax High School Physics 18.2•10 minutes
- Reflecting on Ranking Tasks•10 minutes
- Connecting Electric and Gravitational Interactions•2 minutes
- Electric Forces vs. Gravitational Forces•10 minutes
- Reflecting on Module 2•5 minutes
6 assignments•Total 70 minutes
- Balloons and Static Electricity Comprehension Questions•7 minutes
- Self-Assessment for Electric Charge•6 minutes
- Induction and Polarization in Balloons and Static Electricity•7 minutes
- John Travoltage Comprehension Questions•5 minutes
- Ranking Tasks•15 minutes
- Finding Charge and Coulomb's Law Activities•30 minutes
7 discussion prompts•Total 95 minutes
- Reflecting on Open Play with Balloons and Static Electricity•5 minutes
- Representations in Balloons and Static Electricity•10 minutes
- Using Simulations to Address Student Challenges•20 minutes
- Reflecting on Open Play with John Travoltage•10 minutes
- Challenge Prompt #1•10 minutes
- Additional Challenge Prompts•30 minutes
- Electric Forces vs. Gravitational Forces•10 minutes
In this module, you will take a step back from physics content to focus on pedagogical strategies. In the prior lessons, your exploration of PhET simulations was guided by a variety of teacher-created questions, including questions that could best be used when leading discussions with the whole group, using a projected simulation. Learn how to create the best context to promote student inquiry.
What's included
6 readings2 assignments4 discussion prompts
6 readings•Total 39 minutes
- Student Questions and Teacher Questions•5 minutes
- Prediction Questions Overview•5 minutes
- Prediction Questions: Whole Class Inquiry•5 minutes
- Prediction Questions: Interactive Lecture Demonstration•10 minutes
- Prediction Questions: Concept Questions•10 minutes
- Prediction Questions: Other Formats•4 minutes
2 assignments•Total 30 minutes
- TIPERs Prediction Questions•10 minutes
- Finding Teacher-Contributed Questions•20 minutes
4 discussion prompts•Total 55 minutes
- Nature of Questions•30 minutes
- Prediction Questions: Whole Class Inquiry•5 minutes
- Prediction Questions: Interactive Lecture Demonstration•10 minutes
- Prediction Questions: Concept Questions•10 minutes
In this module, you will learn about electric fields and electric potential.
What's included
17 readings5 assignments5 discussion prompts
17 readings•Total 198 minutes
- What is a Field?•3 minutes
- Open Play with Charges and Fields•5 minutes
- Activity Sheet with Charges and Fields•30 minutes
- Superposition Principle•10 minutes
- Electric Field Hockey•20 minutes
- OpenStax High School Physics 18.3•20 minutes
- What is Electric Potential and Voltage?•5 minutes
- Scaffolded Exploration of Electric Potential and Voltage•20 minutes
- Visualizing Electric Potential•10 minutes
- Additional Resources for Visualizing Potential•10 minutes
- Comparing Electric Field and Potential•10 minutes
- Video Primer: Charges and Fields•5 minutes
- Electric Field, Potential, and Potential Energy•10 minutes
- Exploration with Capacitor Lab: Basics•10 minutes
- Multiple Ways to Represent an Electric Field•5 minutes
- Student Challenges with Electric Field, and Potential, and Potential Energy•5 minutes
- OpenStax High School Physics 18.4•20 minutes
5 assignments•Total 100 minutes
- Electric Field Comprehension Questions•10 minutes
- Determining the Nature of Charge from Equipotentials•20 minutes
- A Closer Look at Electric Potential•20 minutes
- Electric Field, Voltage, and Potential Energy Comprehension Questions•20 minutes
- Finding Charges and Fields & Capacitor Lab: Basics Activities•30 minutes
5 discussion prompts•Total 50 minutes
- Single and Double Source Charges•10 minutes
- Representing Electric Potential and Voltage•10 minutes
- Comparing Electric Field and Potential•10 minutes
- Reflecting on Exploration with Capacitor Lab: Basics•10 minutes
- A Personal Reflection on Field Concepts•10 minutes
In this module, you will again take a step back from physics content to focus on pedagogical strategies. In the prior lessons, your exploration of PhET simulations was guided by a variety of teacher-created questions, including challenge prompts that scaffold learning when students have direct access to manipulate the simulations themselves.
What's included
3 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts
3 readings•Total 20 minutes
- Challenge Prompts Overview•10 minutes
- A Note About Limiting Instructions•5 minutes
- Summarizing Question Types•5 minutes
1 assignment•Total 10 minutes
- Identifying Challenge Prompts•10 minutes
2 discussion prompts•Total 30 minutes
- Reflecting on Challenge Prompts•10 minutes
- Creating Challenge Prompts•20 minutes
In this module, we shift our attention from charges at rest to charges in motion. Our goal is to help you leverage the natural relevance and excitement that electric circuits offer so that students see circuits not just as diagrams on paper, but as tools for solving real-world problems and imagining new inventions.
What's included
28 readings5 assignments7 discussion prompts
28 readings•Total 332 minutes
- Can you Light the Bulb?•10 minutes
- Can you Light the Bulb? - A Video Vignette•5 minutes
- The Circuit Challenge•30 minutes
- Reflecting on Circuit Challenge•10 minutes
- Simple Circuits•3 minutes
- Measuring Current and Voltage•15 minutes
- How are Voltage and Current Related?•30 minutes
- How Does Voltage Affect Current?•10 minutes
- Role of the Component•20 minutes
- How Does the Component Type Affect Current?•5 minutes
- Ohm's Law•5 minutes
- Reinforcing Concepts with Battery-Resistor Circuit•10 minutes
- Strengthening Proportional Reasoning with Ohm's Law•5 minutes
- Video Primer: Ohm’s Law•4 minutes
- OpenStax High School Physics Ch 19.1•20 minutes
- Series Circuits•10 minutes
- Parallel Circuits•10 minutes
- OpenStax High School Physics Ch 19.2 & 19.3•30 minutes
- What Determines the Brightness of a Bulb?•10 minutes
- Introducing Power•10 minutes
- What Brightness Really Depends On•3 minutes
- OpenStax High School Physics Ch 19.4•10 minutes
- Resistance in a Wire•10 minutes
- Empirical vs. Cause-and-Effect Relationships•3 minutes
- Video Primer: Resistance in a Wire•4 minutes
- Advanced Features and Video Primer: Circuit Construction Kit: DC•10 minutes
- Learning Challenges with Circuits•10 minutes
- Advanced Features: More Simulations•30 minutes
5 assignments•Total 61 minutes
- Applying Knowledge from the Circuit Challenge•10 minutes
- Using a Voltmeter and Ammeter•15 minutes
- Calculating the Resistance of an Unknown Component•10 minutes
- Equivalent Resistance•20 minutes
- Making Sense of the Data•6 minutes
7 discussion prompts•Total 85 minutes
- Why Was Lighting the Bulb So Difficult?•10 minutes
- Create Your Own Circuit Challenge•30 minutes
- Analyzing the Voltage and Current Relationship•10 minutes
- Sharing Your Results•10 minutes
- Comparing Power and Brightness•5 minutes
- Resistance in a Wire•10 minutes
- More Simulations•10 minutes
Already throughout this course, you have used multiple models, and you have engaged in modeling of physical phenomena. In this module, you will learn about models and modeling as an underlying process skill that can enhance your use of PhET simulations.
What's included
4 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts
4 readings•Total 47 minutes
- Models and Representations•10 minutes
- Modeling with Graphical and Mathematical Representations•30 minutes
- A Note About the Limitations of Models•5 minutes
- How Much Modeling?•2 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Modeling with a Parallel-Plate Capacitor•30 minutes
2 discussion prompts•Total 30 minutes
- Modeling with Graphical and Mathematical Representations•20 minutes
- Modeling in Your Classroom•10 minutes
In this module, you will explore magnetic fields and electromagnetic induction from the perspective of a learner using simulations. While magnets are familiar to many students, the mechanism behind their behavior is invisible and frequently misunderstood. Our goal in this module is to help make magnetic fields visible, directional, and meaningful.
What's included
16 readings4 assignments4 discussion prompts
16 readings•Total 159 minutes
- A Different Type of Field•4 minutes
- Mapping the Magnetic Field of a Bar Magnet•10 minutes
- Magnetic Field of a Bar Magnet•10 minutes
- From Magnetic Field Vectors to Magnetic Field Lines•5 minutes
- More Sources of Magnetic Fields•10 minutes
- OpenStax High School Physics Ch 20.1•30 minutes
- Scope of this Module•3 minutes
- Where Electricity and Magnetism Meet•2 minutes
- Inducing an Electric Current in a Coil of Wire•10 minutes
- What is Electromagnetic Induction?•5 minutes
- What Affects the Strength and Direction of the Induced Current?•10 minutes
- OpenStax High School Physics Ch 20.3•20 minutes
- Electromagnetic Induction in the World Around Us•10 minutes
- Exploring the Generator•10 minutes
- Exploring the Transformer•10 minutes
- OpenStax High School Physics Ch 20.2•10 minutes
4 assignments•Total 40 minutes
- Magnets and Electromagnets Observations•10 minutes
- Which Actions Induce a Current?•10 minutes
- Generator Behavior•10 minutes
- Transformer Behavior•10 minutes
4 discussion prompts•Total 50 minutes
- Exploring the Magnet and Compass Sim•10 minutes
- Exploring the Magnets and Electromagnets Sim•20 minutes
- What Affects the Strength and Direction of the Induced Current?•10 minutes
- Generators and Transformers as Learning Tools•10 minutes
In the past modules, you engaged with over a dozen powerful PhET simulations. Now, it’s time to think about how you plan to integrate these simulations–and effective strategies for using them with students–into your teaching.
What's included
6 readings1 peer review
6 readings•Total 27 minutes
- Developing a Portfolio•5 minutes
- Selecting PhET Simulations•5 minutes
- Activity Plans and Strategies•5 minutes
- Narrative Reflection•5 minutes
- Supplemental Resources for Teaching E&M: LabXchange•5 minutes
- Instructions•2 minutes
1 peer review•Total 120 minutes
- Portfolio Submission & Peer Review•120 minutes
In this module, you will take appropriate steps to complete the course and download your certificate.
What's included
1 reading1 plugin
1 reading•Total 2 minutes
- Get Your Certificate•2 minutes
1 plugin•Total 20 minutes
- Post-Survey Evaluation•20 minutes
Instructors


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