My students need cart fans, pulleys, and a set of springs so that they can participate in interactive demos on motion, Newton's laws and simple harmonic motion.
FULLY FUNDED! Dr. Falin's classroom raised $312
This project is fully funded
My Students
My students need to be involved in active learning. I spent part of the summer at a workshop learning physics demonstrations that engage students. We were provided with a low-friction track, carts, force sensors and a motion detector. We need a few more items to allow us to do the demos in class.
I teach in a small rural school in West Virginia.
We have about 300 students in grades 9 through 12 and I teach chemistry, AP chemistry and physics to 11th and 12th grade students in both professional and vocational tracks. The small size of our school, and the fact that most of our students have attended school together since primary school, makes our student body a really cohesive group.
There is a high rate of poverty in our county, as is true in much of our state, but our school has consistently met academic goals in recent years. However, our students deserve more and the inclusion of a more active learning model engages and excites students about science. Our project-based physics class has increased in size so much over the past three years that a second session had to be added. Now its our turn to keep that ball rolling forward by providing them with an enriching educational experience.
My Project
These force and motion demonstrations are very interactive. The experiment will be previewed then the students will need to make an individual prediction about what they think will happen with the velocity, acceleration and force. They will then be able to discuss their predictions with their peers and come up with a small group prediction. Then we'll run the experiments using cars moving on a low-friction track with and without forces applied to on them, cars colliding on the track, cars moving with and without friction, and springs moving with different masses and spring constants. Real-time graphs for the experiment will be displayed so students connect the activity with the graph. They will be able to see how their predictions compared with what really happened. Then they will come up with examples of when that kind of motion or force is seen in the real-world. With just a few pieces of equipment they will study motion graphs, Newtons laws, and simple harmonic motion.
My students generally come into physics class with a wide range of misconceptions about motion and forces.
These misconceptions are difficult to change, but seeing is believing. These demonstrations allow nature to the authority (not me) and allow students to confront their own misunderstandings. I expect student understanding of mechanics to improve, which will provide them with a better foundation for continuing their use and study of science in college and the workplace.
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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