Physics class... what a fun week it's going to be...

[DrPizza]

Let's see... tomorrow is review for Friday's test.

Tuesday: dropping a pumpkin from the roof of the school onto the sidewalk below, video-taping the fall, and doing a 60 frames per second video analysis of the fall.

Wednesday: 2nd ballistics lab: based on the time for a water balloon fired vertically to return to the ground, students will pull an angle out of a hat and calculate the range if the balloon was fired at that angle. I'll be waiting at that location for experimental verification of their calculations. I think our new principal is going to agree to join me. (we become targets; if their data and calculations are correct... wet targets.

Thursday: Gonna settle the plane taking off on a treadmill thing: Measure the force exerted on someone wearing rollerblades who is standing on a treadmill as the speed of the treadmill is increased.

Hmm... maybe I'll move Thursday's activity to tomorrow, and the review to Thursday. I hate reviewing right before a test though.

 

[mugs]

What are they using to fire the balloon? I hope you'll be standing a few feet in front of the calculated range, it'd suck if only your feet got wet

 

[MrPickins]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Let's see... tomorrow is review for Friday's test.

Tuesday: dropping a pumpkin from the roof of the school onto the sidewalk below, video-taping the fall, and doing a 60 frames per second video analysis of the fall.

Wednesday: 2nd ballistics lab: based on the time for a water balloon fired vertically to return to the ground, students will pull an angle out of a hat and calculate the range if the balloon was fired at that angle. I'll be waiting at that location for experimental verification of their calculations. I think our new principal is going to agree to join me. (we become targets; if their data and calculations are correct... wet targets.

Thursday: Gonna settle the plane taking off on a treadmill thing: Measure the force exerted on someone wearing rollerblades who is standing on a treadmill as the speed of the treadmill is increased.

Hmm... maybe I'll move Thursday's activity to tomorrow, and the review to Thursday. I hate reviewing right before a test though.

Be careful, the rollerblader might take off.

I like the waterballoon experiment.

 

[DrPizza]

waterballoon slingshot to launch the water balloons. I mount it on a few pieces of angle iron that are pounded into the ground and braced. I also mount a large protractor, and use a long loop of string so the launcher is pulled back a consistent distance each time. The students definitely enjoy the activity, and it's amazing how much thought they put into it. (i.e. closing their eyes and using sound to measure the time in the air, so that it's the same type of stimulus each time when they're using the stopwatch; reducing human error, approximately calculating the time it would take to go from head level to ground level, etc. They pay attention to all the details and do everything they possibly can to eliminate error.)

What's really funny is that a few years ago, the slingshot was almost exactly 5 meters from the curb in the parking lot... the students responsible for measuring the distances "forgot" those 5 meters when they put a scale on the ground. Every waterballoon landed 5 meters in front of me; it wasn't until afterward that we figured out their error. I've since purchased 100 meter tape measure to eliminate that problem.

 

[Born2bwire]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Thursday: Gonna settle the plane taking off on a treadmill thing: Measure the force exerted on someone wearing rollerblades who is standing on a treadmill as the speed of the treadmill is increased.

That's right, indoctrinate them while they're young.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Born2bwire

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Thursday: Gonna settle the plane taking off on a treadmill thing: Measure the force exerted on someone wearing rollerblades who is standing on a treadmill as the speed of the treadmill is increased.

That's right, indoctrinate them while they're young.

lol.

 

[DrPizza]

Shhhh! Don't tell anyone... I've successfully started a thread that mentions a plane on a conveyor belt, and there aren't 200 replies from people who say it won't take off