Strategies, successes and resources for “Explore” stage

[admin]

In the For You To Do, students are meant to “Explore” the phenomena of the activity, making careful observations and drawing some conclusions about what is at work. What successes did you have in facilitating this? Did you develop or locate any resources you would like to share with other teachers?

[admin]

Did you have any problems with the “For You To Do” section? 

[Becky Reynolds]

What was the suggested alternate material for use as the track in this activity? Something about trim?

[Danielle Joslin]

I think the track that was suggested was the plastic flexible molding that you can buy at a hardware store. 

[Sandy Shutey]

We suggested using cove molding.  It is sold at hardware stores in very long pieces.  It is used for a connection between ceiling and wall or floor and wall.  It is cheap and can be bent even in curves if you want centripetal force.

[Katheryn "Katy" Shannon]

In order to have a smoother surface for the first part of the activity utilze a pyrex cooking bowl rather than the salad bowl.

[Katheryn "Katy" Shannon]

What was the suggested alternate material for use as the track in this activity? Something about trim?

You could also use clear plastic tubing and ball bearings to roll inside.  Note:  Do not blow into the tubing - condensation could affect the system.

[Dan Wood]

In the For You To Do, students are meant to “Explore” the phenomena of the activity, making careful observations and drawing some conclusions about what is at work. What successes did you have in facilitating this? Did you develop or locate any resources you would like to share with other teachers?

Hello out there in AP Piloting Land   Just finished Activity 1 and the Challenge Rubric for my two block classes of AP this term.  My first block class has 30 students, that I've divided them into 6 groups of 5 students using Mark Klawiter's idea of grouping kids by their personality traits (Thanks Mark ).  The rubric for the Challenge was easy to do, but because the students had complete autonomy for setting the criteria, it did not turn out like the one we professionals did this summer in the workshop.  The first problem we had with the activity was instructing the students how to keep a neat and legible notebook. My group leaders are helping me check the notebooks for completeness.  The second problem we faced was defining what "recovery distance" was.  Most students thought it meant measuring the distance the ball rolled down the salad bowl, up the other side and back down the bowl and up the side from which it started.  Once they figured out it was just the distance from the center of the bowl up the opposite side from where the marble was dropped, the distance was easier to measure.  When writing the recovered distance to starting distance ratio as a fraction, and then a decimal, it seem to make more sense to the kids if we extended the idea of a percentage of the starting distance.  For example, "When we started the marble at the top of the salad bowl, it recovered 80% of the distance it traveled down the bowl when it traveled up the other side of the bowl."
      When we extended the activity and used the pipe insulation tubing, we found we got better results if we used 5 foot pieces of the tubing instead of the short ones in the kit.  The foam tubes are relatively inexpensive and easily cut.  Finally, all the Challenge groups committed to producing a voice-over video clip of the physics in a sporting event.  Our school has a vocational commercial art class and the instructor and a former student are going to teach us how to edit, title, and properly voice-over a video clip.  I will keep you all posted.

[Matt Anthes-Washburn]

In the For You To Do, students are meant to “Explore” the phenomena of the activity, making careful observations and drawing some conclusions about what is at work. What successes did you have in facilitating this? Did you develop or locate any resources you would like to share with other teachers?

Hello out there in AP Piloting Land Just finished Activity 1 and the Challenge Rubric for my two block classes of AP this term. My first block class has 30 students, that I've divided them into 6 groups of 5 students using Mark Klawiter's idea of grouping kids by their personality traits (Thanks Mark ). The rubric for the Challenge was easy to do, but because the students had complete autonomy for setting the criteria, it did not turn out like the one we professionals did this summer in the workshop. The first problem we had with the activity was instructing the students how to keep a neat and legible notebook. My group leaders are helping me check the notebooks for completeness. The second problem we faced was defining what "recovery distance" was. Most students thought it meant measuring the distance the ball rolled down the salad bowl, up the other side and back down the bowl and up the side from which it started. Once they figured out it was just the distance from the center of the bowl up the opposite side from where the marble was dropped, the distance was easier to measure. When writing the recovered distance to starting distance ratio as a fraction, and then a decimal, it seem to make more sense to the kids if we extended the idea of a percentage of the starting distance. For example, "When we started the marble at the top of the salad bowl, it recovered 80% of the distance it traveled down the bowl when it traveled up the other side of the bowl."
 When we extended the activity and used the pipe insulation tubing, we found we got better results if we used 5 foot pieces of the tubing instead of the short ones in the kit. The foam tubes are relatively inexpensive and easily cut. Finally, all the Challenge groups committed to producing a voice-over video clip of the physics in a sporting event. Our school has a vocational commercial art class and the instructor and a former student are going to teach us how to edit, title, and properly voice-over a video clip. I will keep you all posted.

Dan,
Thanks for sharing so much detail on your first activity. What tool did you use for personality traits for the grouping? Your coordination with the video group sounds exciting!

[Dan Wood]

In the For You To Do, students are meant to “Explore” the phenomena of the activity, making careful observations and drawing some conclusions about what is at work. What successes did you have in facilitating this? Did you develop or locate any resources you would like to share with other teachers?

Hello out there in AP Piloting Land Just finished Activity 1 and the Challenge Rubric for my two block classes of AP this term. My first block class has 30 students, that I've divided them into 6 groups of 5 students using Mark Klawiter's idea of grouping kids by their personality traits (Thanks Mark ). The rubric for the Challenge was easy to do, but because the students had complete autonomy for setting the criteria, it did not turn out like the one we professionals did this summer in the workshop. The first problem we had with the activity was instructing the students how to keep a neat and legible notebook. My group leaders are helping me check the notebooks for completeness. The second problem we faced was defining what "recovery distance" was. Most students thought it meant measuring the distance the ball rolled down the salad bowl, up the other side and back down the bowl and up the side from which it started. Once they figured out it was just the distance from the center of the bowl up the opposite side from where the marble was dropped, the distance was easier to measure. When writing the recovered distance to starting distance ratio as a fraction, and then a decimal, it seem to make more sense to the kids if we extended the idea of a percentage of the starting distance. For example, "When we started the marble at the top of the salad bowl, it recovered 80% of the distance it traveled down the bowl when it traveled up the other side of the bowl."
 When we extended the activity and used the pipe insulation tubing, we found we got better results if we used 5 foot pieces of the tubing instead of the short ones in the kit. The foam tubes are relatively inexpensive and easily cut. Finally, all the Challenge groups committed to producing a voice-over video clip of the physics in a sporting event. Our school has a vocational commercial art class and the instructor and a former student are going to teach us how to edit, title, and properly voice-over a video clip. I will keep you all posted.

Dan,
Thanks for sharing so much detail on your first activity. What tool did you use for personality traits for the grouping? Your coordination with the video group sounds exciting!

Matt, Before I went to Boston for our workshop, I attended a conference in Nashville for "High Schools That Work."  Kate was also at this conference.  The personality trait inventory I used was published by a Mr. Bill Denney, from Indiana.  His website is <www.middleschoolconsulting.com> if you want more info about him.  The trait inventory is really fun to do with the kids.  It's based on a composite score of your traits.  The four categories students are classifed by are 1.  Lions - Many kids score them selves as lions and the traits are those of leaders, not followers.  2. Otters - Otters don't like to follow directions and like to have fun.  I'm an otter.  3.  Golden Retreivers - These students are the loyal followers, and the last personality group are the beavers.  4.  Beavers are your analytical kids, industrious, etc.  I can fax you the inventory if you want, along with the different group descriptors.  Good physics teachers are score as otters, closely followed by characteristics of lions.  Always good to hear from you. Dan

[Tracy Greeley-Adams]

Great ideas Dan thank you.  I used the 5 foot sections of insulation as an extention for those done a little early to predict and do trials of where the ball was going to go depending on how high the starting distance was.  It was a great way for them to really visualize for question 8.  They then demonstrated what they found to the rest of the groups who may have struggled and took longer to complete the activity.  (especially in the heat were are experiencing).  My students were as astonished as I was in July regarding to where the ball would go.  I also found the pyrex bowls to be a good bowl since I did not have the equipment (and stop stressing george).  I had several different sized bowls which help "force" the students to do their own work and for some to try out their ideas on different sizes. 

Miss you all,
Tracy

[Milly Rixey]

Becky, I found a great vinyl track at home depot. It was in the vinyl storm door and window section. It is eight feet long.

[Matt Anthes-Washburn]

Lesson plan for Activity 1, and homework for the week:

[Milly Rixey]

I got terrible ratios in the first part of the activity. The ratio of recovery distance to starting distance ranged from 60% to 100% with three different types of bowls. I used the vinyl track in the second part of the activity and thought that if the slopes were equal on both sides it would have been good to use for both parts of the activity instead of the bowls.
  It was hard to get the kids to do both parts and stay on "track"so I did the second part by demo. I used ring stands on each end to hold them at a constant height. We then lowered the ring on the end ramp to show the increase in recovery  distance and that the ball stopped after reaching its starting height.
  We did the reflection by having the groups get a picture from a sporting magazine and relate it to inertia and Newton's first law. we used this as the third question in the 4q's.

[John Scholtz]

Here are some homework things I typed up for the students and parents,

I miss the nights in boston!!!