Day 50: EM Spectrum & Projectiles

November 19, 2015July 14, 2017 / Marta R. Stoeckel / Leave a comment

Physical Science: EM Spectrum

Students made a scale model of infrared through ultraviolet light where the length of the paper represented the wavelength of each type of light. I also had students do the calculations for how long a strip of paper would be needed to represent some other EM waves, including radio waves and gamma rays, just to give them a sense of the range the EM spectrum covers.

One group decided to turn their model into a Stroop test

Physics: Projectile Problems

Students whiteboarded yesterday’s projectile problems. I’m really pleased by the way my students are not only solving the problems successfully, but gaining confidence on some challenging material.

Day 49: Light Intro & Projectile Problems

November 18, 2015July 14, 2017 / Marta R. Stoeckel / Leave a comment

Physical Science: Light Intro

After a short quiz on sound and some discussion over final exams, I did some notes to define the term “electromagnetic spectrum”, reviewed scientific notation, and gave students the speed of light. The class was really fascinated by the speed of light and were eager to spend some time throwing out questions about the implications of light having a speed like “Does that mean some of the stars we see are already dead?” I gave the class some room to discuss what they thought about these questions, which prompted even more questions, which was great! The discussion went long enough that the students didn’t get to the lab, but I was okay with it since students were doing a lot of great thinking.

Physics: Projectile Problems

Students worked on calculations for projectiles launched at angles.I’m still having students use velocity vs. time graphs, rather than the standard equations, and students did really well with some challenging problems today. Tomorrow, we’ll whiteboard the problems.

Day 48: Experimental Error & TIPERs Projectiles

November 17, 2015July 14, 2017 / Marta R. Stoeckel / Leave a comment

Physical Science: Experimental Error

Students calculated the speed of sound based on the data they collected yesterday, then compared that to the expected result. Students found the speed using five different tuning forks, so we had some discussion about what it meant for those two different speeds to be close enough to be considered the same, which lead to some good conversation about experimental errors and why the values varied.

Physics: TIPERs Projectile Questions

I picked some questions out of TIPERs to help get my students thinking conceptually about projectiles. I was surprised at how many students struggled with a certain question where a ball is thrown upwards at two different speeds, and a student in the problem predicts that the faster projectile will reach the highest point first. Once I prompted students to sketch velocity vs. time graphs, the question ended up being pretty easy. It was a good reminder for my students to look at what tools they have, even when the problem isn’t about a calculation.

The faster object reaches its highest point in more time!

Today’s quiz on projectiles launched horizontally also reminded me why I love standards-based grading. Several students have been really working on solving problems with constant velocity and constant acceleration, and finally showed mastery when they applied those skills to projectiles today. I loved being able to give them credit for all the skills they showed, not just the big idea on today’s quiz.

Day 47: Speed of Sound & Projectiles Practical

November 16, 2015July 14, 2017 / Marta R. Stoeckel / Leave a comment

Physical Science: Speed of Sound

Students worked on the classic speed of sound lab using a closed resonance tube. Since this is one of the first labs my 9th graders do that has an accepted value, it provides a great opportunity for discussion on experimental error, which will happen once students finish the lab tomorrow.

Physics: Projectiles Practical

Students did a lab practical for projectile motion where they had to predict where on the ground a marble would land after being sent down a short ramp. In the past, I’ve used a cup, but most students hit the side rather than landing in it, so this year I used the school’s retired referral forms as carbon paper. I also pulled a jerk physics teacher move. After students got a successful prediction, I gave them a marble with a different mass and had them predict where the new marble would land without allowing them to make any new measurements. Most groups had to wrestle with it for a while and even try some calculations before realizing it should land in the same spot. I decided I need to keep this extra challenge in the practical when one student victoriously declared “Misconception changed!” after hitting their prediction with the new mass.

Day 46: Standing Waves & Mistakes Game

November 13, 2015July 14, 2017 / Marta R. Stoeckel / Leave a comment

Physical Science: Standing Waves

Students made standing waves on snakey springs and looked for the pattern in how many wavelengths could fit. The lab went a lot faster than I expected, so we also had some qualitative discussion about “Keep in Time” from Direct Measurement Videos to introduce the idea that sound has a speed.

Physics: Mistakes Game

Students whiteboarded yesterday’s problems for Kelly O’Shea’s Mistakes Game. Students are getting better at making meaningful mistakes and at asking good questions to reveal those mistakes.

Day 45: Exploring Sound & Projectile Calculations

November 12, 2015July 14, 2017 / Marta R. Stoeckel / Leave a comment

Physical Science: Exploring Sound

Students did a lab to start exploring some of the properties of sound waves. They were very impressed by the tuning forks and a lot of groups went beyond the questions I’d posed and came up with more things to explore. One thing that drives a lot of people nuts about 9th graders is their lack of inhibitions, but I’ve come to love that uninhibitedness in this class because it means they don’t hesitate to share their excitement over an interesting observation, ask a crazy question, or do an extra experiment.

Physics: Projectile Calculations

Now that students know what the velocity vs. time graphs look like for a projectile, they dove into some problems. I’m continuing having them use graphical solutions a’la Kelly O’Shea where students solve from velocity vs. time graphs, rather than getting the kinematic equations. Compared to when I’ve given students the equations, students are much more aware of how projectile motion connects to the earlier constant velocity and constant acceleration models, and therefore less freaked out by motion in two dimensions.

Day 44: Introducing Sound & Video Analysis

November 11, 2015July 14, 2017 / Marta R. Stoeckel / Leave a comment

I was out for a field trip today, so no photos.

Physical Science: Introducing Sound

Students did some reading on sound waves today and started connecting it to what they’ve learned so far about waves in general.

Physics: Projectile Video Analysis

Students recorded videos of projectiles being thrown at different angles, then did some video analysis to see how that affects how high and how far the projectile travels.

Day 43: Snakey Springs & Video Analysis

November 10, 2015July 14, 2017 / Marta R. Stoeckel / Leave a comment

Physical Science: Snakey Springs

After getting a few vocabulary terms for waves, students got out the snakey springs to start looking for qualitative relationships between wavelength, frequency, and amplitude. I was surprised at how impressed students were when they realized a wave reflects off the end of the snakey spring; as I make the course more inquiry based, I’m reminded how easy it is to assume students have certain experiences or background knowledge they just don’t have.

Physics: Video Analysis

Our awesome tech guy got Logger Pro working on the netbook cart, so today I introduced students to doing video analysis. As a class, we walked through analyzing a video of a tennis ball tossed straight up in the air so students would have some idea of what the results should look like. Tomorrow, they’ll record and analyze their own videos.

Day 42: Energy Position Project & Projectile Motion

November 9, 2015July 14, 2017 / Marta R. Stoeckel / Leave a comment

Physical Science: Energy Position Project

Students started a research project on different energy sources. As part of the project, students have to develop a support an opinion on their energy source. At the end of next week, students will give a presentation to the rest of the class on their energy source.

Physics: Projectile Motion

We finally got Logger Pro installed on a netbook cart for students to use, so I had grand plans of teaching my students to use Logger Pro’s video analysis so they could generate position vs. time and velocity vs. time graphs of videos they’d recorded. But I made the mistake of not testing the netbooks before class and found out the hard way that, while everything works just fine on the school’s desktop computers, our netbooks use an old version of Quicktime, which means no viewing videos in Logger Pro.

In my second hour, I had students record some video tossing softballs and tennis balls at different angles. For my fourth hour, I used my prep to do some analysis of one of Vernier’s sample videos and gave my students the graphs and some conceptual questions. Our tech guy spent the afternoon updating Quicktime on the netbook cart, so I’ll probably have my students do some video analysis tomorrow.

Day 41: Motors & Forces Practical

November 6, 2015July 14, 2017 / Marta R. Stoeckel / Leave a comment

Physical Science: Motors

Students built very simple electric motors, then did some playing around with them to start figuring out some of the underlying principles. This will set up some discussion for Monday on how most electricity is generated.

Physics: Forces Practical

Each lab group got a cart mass and a hanging mass, then had to figure out what angle they should set their ramp to in order to balance the forces. I wasn’t sure how into it students would get since the goal was, pretty literally, to make nothing happen, but there were still cheers when they let go and everything stayed put. My students are now convinced they can do these problems in a way that just getting the right answer doesn’t accomplish. In one period, several groups finished quickly, so I had those groups keep the same angle and cart mass, but add to their hanging mass and calculate how much time it should take for the cart to make it up the ramp. I didn’t set up the photogates, since I wasn’t sure how many groups would get through this part, but students were able to get within 0.2 seconds of their prediction using a stopwatch.