Physics Mechanics Modeling: Unit 1

Unit notes here. Disclaimer: these notes are scanned from a composition notebook, which makes the formatting awkward when put into pdf format. Also, I make no claim for any of the work in the scanned notebook or worksheets to be absolutely correct, as they were all a work in progress and have not been altered from their original format.

-After getting students into groups (and change groups routinely so that students do not get entrenched in the same roles), start off the year with a get to know you white boarding session

Each person draws a picture representing themself on the board, and then they draw 1 picture as a group in the center of the board, representing something that is unique to their group.
Set the tone for what group work and white boarding will be like

The Inquiry Project- Discussion Videos

Give students prompts to use for discussion
Address each other by name
Give students expectations/norms. discuss, revisits, remind at the start of discussions
If you just let reliable kids talk, "the rich get richer and poor get poorer"

Do another session with "I like when teachers…", "I don't like when teachers…", and then the teacher does a "I do/don't like when students…"

-Incorporate the FCI pre-test into the start of the year and explain its background and importance. It might be beneficial to do it as a class, broken into smaller chunks.

You guys all have ideas of how the world works based on your experience and we're going to have lots of discussions about your ideas this year. We all come to the table with a lot of different background experiences- none of us are confused about that here. :)
Example for discussion: The real meaning of mph video- some people will get this, some won't. You all will fall in different categories of having more or less understanding at different times throughout the year. This girl does a really good job of applying her understanding the idea in question at first, but then she gets more confused, and she does not have the same understanding that her husband does. Let's be understanding of each other and let each other discover meaning as it comes to them- you cannot force someone to understand something by telling it to them.
I will be giving you new experiences to challenge and add to what you know. You will be developing ideas through your experiences and then apply those concepts to new situations.
Have a growth mindset- show students this video! Teachers need to praise students for the effort and hard work, not intelligence! "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard!"
Could incorporate the bouncy ball bouncing back under the table, verses forward, verses straight down

-Lab: I want to see if you guys can create a relationship… what's on this side of a meter stick? The other side?

Is there a relationship between inches and centimeters? This is your research question.
This is a crucial moment- follow group expectations and nobody likes a no-it-all. People don't want you telling them everything- let people have their own aha moment- ask them questions to help them.
Can you start with a t-chart for data and then make a group to represent your data? Make sure you have at least 5 data points!
Students collect data and put it on a white board. Every section on the whiteboard needs to be in different colors. The axes, dots, and line all need to be different colors. Perhaps have students record their own information for note example purposes after the discussion. Have students check each other's work and measurements as they work together. Do NOT conquer and divide!
For the teacher to do while students are working:

Walk around and monitor student progress. "I appreciate the work you are doing in the discovery process."
Probe for deeper understanding- question them for them to go farther in their thinking
Scaffold the steps for them step by step- do give all of the directions at the beginning- they'll forget them anyways. Maybe write the directions on the board though in case I don't get to a group in a timely fashion?
Try to know what they know and get them to know what they know- make them think about why they did something
Watch for: cm/in vs. in/cm (talk about inverses later), labels and numbers (pick a good range) on graphs, multiple ways of doing this (measure actual objects, piece of paper around the stick)

Have students then circle up for discussion. (Remember in discussion- "no hogs, no logs")

Why did you put in and cm where you put them on the graph?
Why did you draw the line to (0,0)? Did you measure it? A good question to always ask yourself when making graphs in this class.
So let's talk about this… what do you see? (increase/decrease?, linear?)
Can you see in patterns in the data? (easier if using whole integers)
Can you find the slope of the line? Must include number and units!
Can you write an equation for the line?
Can you write a sentence to describe the slope? It must start with "for each" or "for every".

Follow-up with discussing different types of graphs:

direct vs. inverse
linear (y=mx+b) vs. parabola (y=Ax^2) vs. square root (y=Ax^0.5) vs. hyperbola (y=A/x) - what do the equations for each look like? Don't worry- your technology can figure out these equations for you! I will try to keep the graphs simpler (linear) for younger students.

-Unit 1 Worksheet 1 - Graphing practice

-8 Mini Lab Stations- have students complete as many as they can in a set amount of time

What has to be included in every writeup/white board?

Title/names
Research question
Predictive graph- it's SO important to commit to an opinion ahead of time. "These are very good, not necessarily because they are right, but because they are testable."
Data data- include units
Diagram/1sentence explanation of what was done (process/procedure/setup)
Graph with labels- include units
Slope and "for every statement", if linear
Equation of the line- may use technology to find the line of best fit after plugging in data points and making a scatter plot
Conclusion to the original question- direct/inverse, linear/parabola/hyperbola/square root

Show students the materials provided. For each set of materials (as you're going over them) ask:

What do you notice is different about these?
Could we do a lab on that?
How are you going to measure ____ and ____? Choose data points that have a factor of 10 if possible.

Have students come up with the research question for each:

Dowels of different lengths- What is the relationship between mass and length
Cardboard cutout shapes (some irregular)- What is the relationship between perimeter and area? (explain using graph paper for area- print squared graph paper where squares are 1cm x 1cm)
Mystery items in a cup with the number of items in the cup written on it- What is the relationship between the number of objects and the mass?

What does the y-intercept mean?
What does the slope mean?
What is the mass of each object?
What would the mass be if there were 10 objects?

Pendulum- what affects the amount of time to swing back and forth once (period)? (discuss benefits of timing more than 1 swing to get the period and constants for each experiment)

What is the relationship between the length of the string and the period?
What is the relationship between the release angle and the period?
What is the relationship between the mass and the period?

Different size spheres- What is the relationship between volume and mass? (explain water displacement)
Circular objects- What is the relationship between diameter and circumference? (string to find the circumference)
More circular objects- What is the relationship between diameter and area? (graph paper for area; come up with area formula after using equation and looking at data table)
Balancing fulcrum- What is the relationship between mass and distance from the center? (try picking biggest rand smallest numbers possible and at least 3 numbers in the middle)
Perhaps pick some other relationships related to students to also include- hand width vs. wing span, etc.

Each lab must have at least 5 data points each - again, NO dividing and conquering
Students must come up with all numbers on their own from measurements- no using formulas, googling, etc. You may only check your numbers after you are done.
After the designated time period, assign each group 1-2 labs to white board. Have it so that each lab the class is white boarding has as least 2 groups white boarding it in order to provide that important critical competitor.