VOA标准英语2010年-Website of the Week – Physics Intera

（单词翻译）

Time again for our Website of the Week, when we showcase interesting and innovative¹ online destinations.

This time it's an educational site where principles of physics are illustrated² with interactive³ animated⁴ experiments that you can perform on your own computer.

"The PhET website is a collection of 85 simulations for teaching and learning science. So our main goal is to help students better understand the science of the world around them, but instead of telling students how something works, our simulations let them discover important science concepts for themselves and really learn and engage through scientist-like exploration," says Kathy Perkins.

Perkins is co-director of the Physics Education Technology, or PhET Interactive Simulations website.

Despite the name, the site includes animated simulations in biology, chemistry, and other disciplines, as well as physics. You can build your own solar system, model the hydrogen atom, or explore the properties of a gas as you change its temperature and other variables.

Another simulation allows you to design and modify a simple electrical circuit.

"So when you open up, you can drag out wires and batteries and bulbs," explains Perkins. "And as you connect them, as soon as you complete a circuit, you'll see the light bulb light up and the electrons shown in the wires circulate around the circuit."

The simulations look like entertainment, but Perkins says the design of each has been tested for its educational value.

"And then we do user testing with students, to ensure that the user interface⁵ is easy to use, and that the visual representation and the controls we include in the simulation actually leads to a correct interpretation⁶ of the underlying⁷ science."

The simulations can be used in the classroom, and the site has materials to help teachers make best use of it. Or you can just run the sims and learn by doing online at phet.colorado.edu, or visit our site, VOAnews.com, for the link to this and hundreds of other Websites of the Week.