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Innovative Educator: Teacher in Meridian gives students 'crash course' in physics

Science teacher Ken Hosier uses real-life scenarios to help his students make sense of physics.

MERIDIAN, Idaho — Physics can be a difficult and daunting subject to learn. So, a teacher at the Ambrose School in Meridian uses real-life scenarios to help his students make sense of it. In fact, he gives his students a "crash course" in physics.

"A lot of the labs they initially do when they're younger are cookie cutter labs," science teacher Ken Hosier said. "So I try to get them to think outside the box."

Or for one series of lessons, he gets them to think "on the track."

"So they're crashing cars trying to look at impact forces and momentum impulse," Hosier said.

Mini hand-sized cars on mini desktop tracks.

Hosier has been using the tabletop car and track systems for lab experiments for the last couple of years. The electronics connected with the cars and tracks take the measurements of impact forces and momentum impulse.

"If you think of an airbag and the way it's deployed and how it decreases your momentum, they (the students) are trying to come up with ways to design cars that can decrease momentum, increase impulse to prevent further injury during a car accident," Hosier said.

Students modify their cars with sails, springs, magnets and even with half of a rim of a Styrofoam cup taped to the front of the little cars as bumpers.

"It's just super cool. We have different magnets that propel each other and we can work with springs and see how different forces affect," said student Riley Campbell.

Hosier says it's about getting the students to soak up the subject matter with hands-on learning rather than only a lecture.

"I think the goal of any teacher is not to be the sage on the stage. It's to get them engaged with the content," Hosier said.

And the students say the approach works.

"Not just having Mr. Hosier up there saying this is an equation or something," student Paul Yenor said. "We're actually getting to apply it to a real-life case scenario."

"There's a lot of people who, me specifically, listening is a harder way to learn than just working with it and seeing it happen," said Riley Campbell.

Mr. Hosier loves what he sees happening in his classroom.

"I love the moment when there's that Ah-ha moment," Hosier said. "When a student finally gets a concept and they see it for the first time. Or when you push them and you challenge them and they work hard and accomplish something and they can see their accomplishment those are the moments why I teach."

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KTVB features an Innovative Educator every Monday on Today's Morning News. If you would like to nominate an Innovative Educator, send an email to innovativeeducator@ktvb.com. Please include the teacher's name, school and why you think they are innovative.

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