Last updated on 27 November 2024
Do you sometimes find it difficult to explain physics to your students? The site "Physics Otherwise" proposes a refreshing approach to scientific popularisation. This initiative, born in 2013 at Université Paris-Saclay, transforms difficult scientific concepts into accessible and engaging content. I love it.
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A team of passionate people at the helm
Behind this project are two physicists from Université Paris-Saclay: Julien Bobroff and Frédéric Bouquet. Their particularity? They chose to surround themselves with designers, artists and creatives to rethink scientific mediation.
This interdisciplinary collaboration is the strength of the project: researchers bring their scientific expertise while creatives transform complex concepts into attractive content in a maximum of different formats on many platforms.
This approach, combining science and design, has become a school of thought and inspiration for other popular science projects, and that is all the better.
A platform with multiple educational resources
The ‘Physique Autrement’ team has developed more than 300 free educational projects. A Youtube channel, from short TikTok videos to 3D animations, posters or comics and interactive games, each format is designed to captivate different audiences.
Please note: All content is freely accessible and reusable in class on vulgarisation.fr
Flagship projects for physics at school
This site of educational resources in physics offers a lot of quality content. Among the most relevant resources for teaching, I have identified:
- Superphysics : A project that combines physical activity and scientific concepts. The ‘1000 Pumps for the Planet’ exercise makes it possible, for example, to compare different energy expenditure in practice.
- The Approxi-meter : An online game where students use their bodies as a measuring tool on sports archive videos. An original way of approaching the concepts of estimation and measurement.
- Quantum physics posters : Six downloadable posters that popularize the latest discoveries, ideal for decorating and teaching.
Practical applications in class
In primary school:
Discovering energy with the series of animations on energy with potatoes. You can use these short animations to introduce the different forms of energy in a playful way.
For the College:
TikTok short videos integrate perfectly at the beginning of the course to introduce a new concept or arouse students’ curiosity.
For high school:
3D animations on quantum effects make it possible to visualize abstract phenomena. TPs "at home", developed during containment, offer practical experiences achievable with little material.
An excellent example of scientific popularization
The innovative approach to scientific popularisation shows that scientific rigour can be combined. pedagogical creativity and even a bit of humor. The success of the platform (12 million views on YouTube, 1.3 million visitors) testifies to its effectiveness in making physics more accessible.
Why not start by incorporating a short video into your next course?By integrating these resources into your courses, you can diversify your teaching materials and make learning more interactive. Your students will love Physics Otherwise.
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A big thank you for this great relay! And don’t hesitate to dig into all our resources, they are there for that.