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Lab - Where am I? - It's a PRISMS lab. The kids get 4 pirate treasure map directions and connect them on a piece of graph paper. They follow the directions in a different order, starting in the same place (Vector addition is commutative) and come up with a shorter set of directions that accomplish the same thing. Usually you will get a kid who comes up with a single angle magnitude vector, and if you are lucky, you get a kid to come up with a component vector.
In the video I try to stick to Trig angles. Since then I have resorted to just using NESW compass angles. You have to put the page landscape to get those to stay on the page. The circular protractors and maps live in a side drawer under the cell phone palace on the West wall in the room.
Demo- Two Cannon Balls. One shot out. I put up the Quandary, and have kids make predictions, then I use the solenoid sphere launcher. The important thing is that the balls land at the same time. Ask them to listen for the sound of them striking the counter top. Make sure the launcher is level - I eyeball the cabinets in the back of the room. I then introduce the notion that horizontal and vertical motion are independent.
This lives in the kinematics cupboard in the center cabinets.
Demo- Ball and Cart. Show how pulling the pin out makes the ball launch straight upwards, then have them predict where the ball will land if the ball is shot up as the cart is moving. They can predict "Before the cart" "In the cart" or "Behind the cart". Once they have voted, do the demo, and have a student explain why this is the independence of horizontal and vertical motion. This lives in the kinematics cupboard in the center cabinets.
Demo - Trajectory of Water. I have a ruler with hanging masses that form a parabola. I use an overhead projector, and attach it to a faucet, and project the water, first horizontally, and then I tilt the water. This is stored on top of the cabinets in the storage closet behind my desk.
Demo - Monkey and Hunter. A marble gun with an electromagnet that releases a target just when the marble exits the gun. I do it level first, and then I do an upward trajectory. This is stored in the center glass cabinet on the left side. The target is under the cellphone palace in a drawer.
Lab - Air Rocket Competition. Students use the range equation, and their calculated velocities for the rockets to calculate the angle to launch rockets at. I give them 5 shots or 5 minutes, whichever comes first, and I have them go 2 groups at a time. Then the tradition is to try to get the longest field goal.
Typically I use the 50 yard line and launch from the goal line of American Football on the athletic field. There are a couple turf fields, so if the Band is practicing on the main field, you can use the upper field. I tell them the range when they get out there so they have to calculate it in the field
Demo - Boat Crossing River, I have a student pull paper slowly walking backwards to create a moving paper river, and then I send a motorized car across the paper. I show upstream, downstream, straight across, and then the perfect angle that goes straight across. I go on a rant about whitewater maneuvers that probably is boring.
You need three students to help - one to hold the river, one to catch the "boat" on the other side, and send it back, and of course one to pull the river at a constant speed. When I am doing the bit with the angle to go straight across, I have the river puller practice making it work. haha.
The car lives in the kinematics cupboard in the center cabinets, and the paper is on a cabinet in the NW corner of the room under the airtracks.
Lab - Marble Lab -The classic! Students determine the speed of a marble after it rolls down a fixed ramp. They then predict where it will land on the floor, and place a cup there.
The help site is very helpful: https://sites.google.com/a/ttsd.k12.or.us/tuhsphysics/home/htp-physics-g/two-dimensional-motion-and-vectors/g-marble-lab
Lab - Various Simulations - using the PhET sims. The website lays it out pretty well:
For IB: Cliff Arc PhET lab
For G: .:. Cliff PHET .:. Arc PHET
For both - Boat crossing River sim lab in Canvas. There is a sim that does this pretty well, and the Canvas assignment is a quiz on that.
Here is the sim:
Lab - Various
Demo- Various
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