emmaphys.bsky.social
Physics teacher, #iTeachPhysics, #ModPhys, #eduSky, she/her, Ph.D
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212 following
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I do an activity where I put this whole thing on a scale, then have students draw force diagrams and predict whether the scale reading will change when the floating globe is removed.
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This is so cool!
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Pinning this to remind myself to do it with my class! 📌
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I know, I’m loving being able to use force as an independent variable in the N2L lab so easily!
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I love the ability of the Vernier fan cart brackets to hold multiple fans. Such a game-changer!
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Sure :)
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My 9th graders find them extremely fun. But they’re basically big middle schoolers who find pretty much everything extremely fun. Except for things that are extremely not fun.
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Probably a difference between 9th and 11th grade! We focus on motion maps much less in my 11th/12th-grade class. Students are much more comfortable with graphs by then.
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🤣 It’s a great transition sequence!
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100%. And motion maps really help them to understand graphs better, the way we use them to physically build a graph for the first time. Saw that for the first time in the #ModPhys CMPF-B workshop with the great @mrsgphysics.bsky.social! Works so well for 9th graders.
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of the ball’s motion on the ramp. From those motion maps, they made a P-t graph. And then they placed a mini-photogate at each motion map dot, in turn, to collect data for a V-t graph. So motion maps are our touchpoint. For my higher-level classes (>9th), they can use graphs right away. (3/3)
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Later, we make motion maps out of Play Doh dots and a whiteboarded position axis, and then shift them over onto a perpendicular time axis to make our first P-t graphs. Yesterday, we did our paradigm lab on acceleration, and the very first thing they suggested we do is collect a motion map (2/3)
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Motion maps for me are higher, but that’s specifically for my 9th-grade physics classes and not my higher-level classes. In 9th grade, that’s our foundational diagram for our model of motion. We use motion maps (not P-t graphs … yet) to represent our constant-velocity buggy data. (1/3)
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See, if they had just included units in their thinking, this whole tragedy could have been avoided.
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🎢 Brilliant demonstration from @cossettej.bsky.social of the relationship between normal force and friction force on a car.
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Register for the Sneak Peak for free at bit.ly/Intro-SP and for the full course at bit.ly/IntroModSpring25
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Want a Sneak Peak? Join us for an hour-long webinar on Tuesday, Dec. 10 to get a (fun!) preview of the course.
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But this method leaves more space for writing their names in fancy lettering and drawing doodles of random animals.
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Why have I never thought to do this?
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Ahhh I have missed these! Maybe I should finally join! But I need to up my nerdy shirt game.
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This is everything.
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📌
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Ah gotcha - mine’s a bit different. They check their answers by listing up the index card and taking the actual measurement from the hidden spring scale (or mass or scale). And it’s not graded — this activity is how they first figure out to solve problems with forces, so it’s just for learning.
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Jk they hated it, but their prediction was spot-on. Only after they solved it, I showed them how to tilt the coordinate system and they were immediately convinced that this is The Way.
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And finally, I did this one with my 11th/12th graders today. They measured the ramp angle & mass, and predicted the reading on the cart’s internal force sensor. This was their very first ramp problem, so of course none of them tilted their coordinate system and they had some Fun With Trig.
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And a few more. These are for my 9th graders, still on Day 1 of force problem-solving. Spending plenty of time on FBDs and vector addition diagrams in previous classes meant that they could figure out how to solve these problems themselves.
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Takes a while to set up but every year I’m re-convinced that it’s well worth it!
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And here is another example! This one is for older students who can do trig. The mass is known, and students can use a protractor to measure the angle. Predict the readings on the two spring scales.
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I set them up. It takes a little while, but I don’t do it all at once. You could have students design and set them up, too, but that would need to come later in the unit for me. This is my 9th graders’ first time solving problems w/ balanced forces, so a design problem would be too bit a bite.
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Adapted from @kellyoshea.bsky.social of course! kellyoshea.blog/2018/06/28/p...
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Yay, thanks!
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Ooh, now I want to print one of these! Would you mind sharing the file, or is it appearing on your blog at some point?
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My class decided that rubber bands are not actually Hookean, but that within a certain range of stretch distances, a Hookean model could make pretty good predictions.
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We did this same thing yesterday!
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Thanks for setting it up!
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Just kidding, I see that I’m already there! I forgot to check in my excitement about the Modeling starter pack.