AP Physics: Tic Tac Bounce

As part of the toilet paper practical, I asked students to calculate the final velocity of their unwinding roll using a v-t graph and using an LOL diagram. The discrepancy between the two velocities prompted some good discussion, which lead nicely into Kelly O’Shea’s bouncing Tic Tac demo and the idea of rotational kinetic energy.

Physics: Board Meeting

Students whiteboarded their data from the snakey spring lab. There were still more groups than I’d like who had results that were definitely not an inverse relationship between wavelength and frequency. The big problem seems to be in finding the frequency; we haven’t made much use of that term, so I think students are not attaching much conceptual meaning to it, in spite of the pre-lab discussions. We also didn’t do as much as I usually do with position vs. time graphs for simple harmonic motion, which seems to be making wavelength a tough concept to grasp. Next year, I need to rethink my unit on springs and pendulums to build a better foundation.

Chemistry Essentials: Limiting Reactant Problems

Students worked on some written limiting reactant problems. It was a much tougher leap than in past years; this class isn’t as comfortable with using particle diagrams as a tool for thinking, and I think that made limiting reactants feel more like something new than a natural step in what we’ve been doing.