AP Physics: Collision Types

We whiteboarded the results of Friday’s Direct Measurement Videos to get to the definitions of elastic and inelastic collisions. A lot of groups tried to answer purely conceptually, in spite of some quantitative questions on the activity. I think these groups were treating each question as separate, rather than thinking about how one answer could help them with the next piece of the activity. I want to make better use of lab notebooks (most likely starting next year) as a reflective tool, which I think might help students see more connections between problems.

Physical Science: Building Again

Students worked on their second round of building. I upped the cost of paper cups, which were the most popular material on the first go around, which lead to a little more variety in egg holders. I also did another round of visiting each group and asking them to explain their design choices using Newton’s Laws, and I can tell students are getting more confident with this skill.