Motion

Day 43: Whiteboarding, Assessment, & Isotopes

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AP Physics 1: Whiteboarding

Students whiteboarded yesterday’s problems for a gallery walk.They are definitely taking to velocity vs. time graphs very quickly.

ap wb.jpg

Physics: Assessment

Students took their assessment on balanced force problems today. We’ve been using weekly packets, and including a groupwork reflection at the end of each packet. We’ve been consistently using the same three questions, but switched to a rubric from Colleen Nyeggen for a change of pace. Several students were very vocal that they liked that the switch pushed them to think a little differently about their participation this week.

Chemistry Essentials: Isotopes

This course usually includes the fairly classic penny isotope lab where students figure out the ratio of pre-1982 pennies to post-1982 pennies in a sealed container, but the math always felt like a black box in this course, so I came up with an alternative. Today, I tried having each group find the average mass of a random sample of pennies, then comparing that average to the mass of each type of penny. Groups really consistently saw that their average was closer to the typical mass of the type of penny they had more of, which lead nicely into identifying the most common isotope of elements on the periodic table. The key moment seemed to be when I had students whiteboard their average mass and which type of penny they had more of.

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Day 42: Problems, Practical, & Bohr Model

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AP Physics 1: Problems

Students took the plunge to solving problems for objects with a constant acceleration. There was a great moment in one class where a group was struggling with a problem, and a student said “I’m gonna be [calculus teacher]!” He then proceeded to walk the graph while describing his motion to the rest of the group, which was just what they needed to figure out the problem. Thanks, Ms. Hyers!

Physics: Practical

Students did a lab practical where they needed to calculate how much mass to hang off a string in order to balance the forces on a cart on a ramp. Students tested their calculations using mass sets that went down to 10 g, which got them close enough to be satisfying.

practical

Chemistry Essentials: Bohr Model

Students whiteboarded yesterday’s problems connecting the Bohr model of the atom to the periodic table. I remembered today that I want to re-work the problems I have to make the periodic trend in valence electrons pop out. The students who were checked in were feeling very confident by the end of the hour today. The trouble is I’m seeing more and more students check out; I’m wondering if another round of one-on-one conferences might help some students get more engaged by making it clear that they can still improve their grade.

bohr models

Day 41: Mistakes & Bohr Model

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AP Physics 1: Mistakes Whiteboarding

We wrapped up discussing the whiteboards students made on Friday for some mistakes whiteboarding. Students seem to be pretty solid on the graphs and motion maps, so we should be ready to start doing some problems tomorrow.

Physics: Mistakes Whiteboarding

We finished discussing the whiteboards students had prepped for some mistakes whiteboarding. Students seem to be getting the hang of balanced forces and are managing to connect the trig to the problems they have.

phys mistake.jpg

Chemistry Essentials: Bohr Model

Friday was not the most productive day, so students had some time to finish working on the PhET simulation, then started a worksheet connecting the Bohr model to the information on our periodic table. Students were either really on the ball today or pretty checked out; this is something I usually see toward the end of the trimester in this course, but its happening earlier than usual and I need to give some thought to how I’m going to keep my students engaged through finals.

build an atom

Day 40: Mistakes Whiteboarding & Build an Atom

/ Marta R. Stoeckel / 1 Comment

Today was one of those days, and I did not manage to take any pictures.

AP Physics 1: CAPM Mistakes Whiteboarding

We spent some time discussing the graphs for a set of problems about marbles on ramps. The one with a marble that goes up a ramp, then comes back down, lead to some good discussion. Afterward, students started prepping whiteboards for some mistakes whiteboarding with stacks of kinematic graphs.

cart on ramp.PNG

Physics: Mistakes Whiteboarding

Students did some mistakes whiteboarding for balanced force problems. They are having some trouble connecting the trig to the problems, but are making progress.

Chemistry Essentials: Build an Atom

We had a short quiz today and I had students work on PhET’s Build an Atom simulation to start connecting the Bohr model to the periodic table. The students who worked on it were very successful at getting the ideas I was after, but it was very tough to get students to work on the simulation after their quiz.

build an atom.PNG

Day 39: Graph Stacks, Vector Addition Diagrams, & Review

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AP Physics 1: Graph Stacks

Students worked on sketching stacks of kinematic graphs. I had a sub during my 2nd hour, so I’m not sure yet how it went, but my 4th hour had some great discussions. I’m looking forward to whiteboarding these problems tomorrow.

Physics: Vector Addition Diagrams

Students worked on some problems using vector addition diagrams. I had a sub during my 1st hour, so only got to see things in my 6th hour. A lot of students had trouble with the idea that the arrows on the vector addition diagram need to have the same orientation as the arrows on the free-body diagram, but I think they made progress on the idea.

Chemistry Essentials: Review

After some wrap-up on yesterday’s lab, we did some whiteboarding to review the key ideas that will be on tomorrow’s quiz, including the main atomic models we talked about and key trends on the periodic table.

atomic models.jpg

Day 38: Card Sort, Vector Addition Diagrams, & Rutherford

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AP Physics 1: Card Sort

Students worked on Kelly O’Shea’s CAPM card sort. First, they did the most basic sort they could using just the graphs. Next, they did a sort using their physics knowledge with just the graphs. Once groups had a physics-y sort they were happy with, I gave them the word cards for a third round. I liked how the progression went and there was a lot of good discussion along the way.

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Physics: Vector Addition Diagrams

Students worked through an activity from Casey Rutherford using pipe cleaners to make manipulative vectors and rearrange free-body diagrams into vector addition diagrams. I really like the way this activity drives home that forces can be balanced even if they are not equal, but it is a pain in the neck to get the pipe cleaners nice. I might try to make a version using Brian Frank’s vector manipulatives for next year.

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Chemistry Essentials: Rutherford

Students simulated Rutherford’s experiment by rolling a marble towards a set of hidden marbles and tallying how many times they hit something. In the past, I’ve had students calculate the diameter of their target marble, but the math is always kind of a black box. This year, I’m having students do the lab once with big marbles as the target and once with small marbles as the target in the hopes of keeping the focus on the key ideas.

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Day 37: Linearization, Force Representations, & Millikan Experiment

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AP Physics 1: Linearization

Students linearized their data from yesterday’s ramp lab and used the mean value theorem to make a velocity vs. time graph, then prepped whiteboards.

Physics: Force Representations

Before taking a quiz, students whiteboarded some diagrams based on yesterday’s problems. I really pushed labeling the vector addition diagrams, which seemed to help things click for a lot of students.

We’ve been including a short collaboration reflection at the end of each packet, and I was really pleased when a student working on that said it really makes her think about what she did leading up to the assessment and how it affected her learning, which was great to hear!

phys wb.jpg

Chemistry Essentials: Millikan Experiment

I borrowed an idea from Frank Noschese and had students find the mass of a penny by weighing a whole lot of film canisters with different numbers of pennies inside. Reasoning from the graph was tricky for a lot of students, but they were able to make sense of the stair step graph and reason out the mass of a single penny with some coaching.

 

Day 36: Ramps, Interaction Problems, & Atomic Models

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AP Physics 1: Ramps

Students collected position vs. time data for a cart on a ramp. I can tell that I did a better job introducing photogates than I have in the past because students flew through the data collection with nice looking results.

ramp

Physics: Interaction Problems

Students worked on some real-life balanced force problems based on Kelly O’Shea’s. There were some students who made really nice connections to the labs we’d done; there was a great moment when I heard a student use the “for every” statement we made about the slope in the force of gravity lab to figure out a station. One thing I’m thinking about is I had students start at a random station, then rotate through, but they build nicely enough that it could be helpful to figure out a way for all students to do them in order.

Chemistry Essentials: Atomic Models

Students did a reading on the main historical models of the atom. I like that students recognized that at each stage, new evidence showed a major limitation in the previous model, but I have yet to find a reading or other atomic models activity that doesn’t reinforce the myth of the “lone genius”. Afterward, we got out the gas tubes and diffraction gratings to see some of the evidence for the Bohr model.

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Day 24: Friction, Mistakes Whiteboarding, & Gas Law Problems

/ Marta R. Stoeckel / 1 Comment

AP Physics: Friction

Students worked on collecting data for variables that affect the force of friction. I have some friction blocks with a fuzzy side and a plain wood side, and asked students to make a graph of friction force vs. mass for each side, then prepare a CER for whether surface area and speed matter. A few groups opted to add a graph of friction force vs. mass for the narrow side of the block to answer whether surface area matters, and got beautiful results where the slope matched for both sides covered in the same material.

friction.jpg

Physics: Mistakes Whiteboarding

We did mistakes whiteboarding with Thursday’s problems. I dropped the ball on taking pictures, but there were some fantastic mistakes, especially on problems where neither the final nor the initial velocity is zero. I’m also seeing some great things emerge in the way my students approach discussion; in my 1st hour, there is one student who tends to be one of the most vocal, but both he and the rest of the class were very conscious of finding opportunities for other students to speak up.

Chemistry Essentials: Gas Law Problems

Students worked on some problems doing calculations with the gas laws. Since a lot of my students have very weak algebra skills, we are doing these problems proportionally. While my students worked, my co-teacher and I conferenced with each student about their grade and their progress so far.

Day 22: Spring Force, Annotating Graphs, & Pressure vs. Volume

/ Marta R. Stoeckel / 1 Comment

AP Physics 1: Spring Force

Students collected data for a relationship between the force on a spring and how much it stretches. I have them collect data for at least two different springs hanging vertically, then pick a spring where they also collect data by pulling it horizontally. I love the moment when groups call me over because something is “wrong” with their graphs because the line for when the spring is vertical matches the line for when the spring is horizontal.

spring lab.jpg

Physics: Annotating Graphs

As a stepping stone to graphical solutions for constant acceleration, students worked on annotating velocity vs. time graphs and building equations from the slope and intercept. Last year, this was really tough, so I changed some of the language I used to try and connect the annotations to the visible features of the graph a little more clearly, and it seemed to click for a lot of students.

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Chemistry Essentials: Pressure & Volume

I am being compensated by Pivot Interactives for participating in a pilot of their chemistry materials.

Students used another Pivot Interactives activity. This one used a bubble in a vacuum chamber to allow students to find a relationship between pressure and volume. In a previous lab on volume, finding the volume of a cylinder was a big hurdle for a lot of my students, so it was really nice for them to be able to use the tools in Pivot to do that number crunching without getting hung up on the math.

pivot pressure vol.PNG