Research Experience for Teachers (2014-2015)
Ramping up the Understanding of Acceleration and Velocity
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Pre/Post Test: Pre-Test  Post-Test |
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The Big Idea (including global relevance) Various uses of Ramps |
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Essential Questions
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The Hook Show clips / short videos from youtube, such as, |
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The Challenge To generate the Challenge and the guiding questions, students will watch 3 different youtube videos, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aggptP6zw7Y, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yzdXZzIEik, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2EfBPgwi8E), silently jotting down their observations, without sharing their thoughts with any of their classmates. Have the students think about different factors in the crashes / videos… How could these situations have been made safer or easier? From their observations and notes they took during the videos and using Think – Pair – Share, the students will come up with the Big Idea. If needed, the teacher may bring up the topics of velocity and acceleration and have the students compare the general rates of each in relation to the different ramps that they observe in the videos. In small groups, students will then brainstorm the “Essential Questions.” Through class discussion, the class will come up with a class list of essential questions (and display this list on the board). The teacher will use guiding mechanisms to help the students come up with the essential questions that will serve as the backbone for their challenge: What variables impact the safety and specific function for different types of ramps? How can we use physics to design an ideal ramp for a specific location or to fit a specific need? The students will record these two Essential Questions. Next, the students will discuss possible real-world challenges that they could solve relating to these essential questions. The teacher will guide the students to the following design challenge: “Select a real life location for a needed ramp. Make a proposal for your ramp that you will present to the rest of the class. Your proposal needs to include a sketch or labeled diagram with measurements, a detailed description, justification for your ramp length and incline (using experimental data), and 3 graphs (position vs time, velocity vs. time, and acceleration vs time).” The goal is to have the students come up with the challenge of proposing a ramp for a specific location. Realistically, the additional constraints of the challenge will likely need to be expressed by the teacher. Still within their groups, the students will generate 3-5 guiding questions for the challenge. What do they need to know in order to complete this challenge? (If time is running short, this step can be converted into an individual homework activity instead). The students will share the questions as a class to produce a final class list of guiding questions for the challenge. |
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Guiding Questions
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ACS (Real world applications; career connections; societal impact)
Ramps are utilized in numerous ways to reduce the force required to do the same amount of work to complete a specific job or task. Students will explore a broad array of different ramp types and analyze their efficiency. One specific type of ramp students will analyze in detail is a traffic entrance ramp. Many, if not all, of the students are new drivers and it is very important for them to become aware of different safety issues that will affect them. Students will explore the dangers that freeway entrance ramps can present. Beyond simply gaining an awareness of different safety issues relating to ramps, students will also have the opportunity to become a part of the solution, through the application of the Engineering Design Process to complete the challenge.
This unit relates to the societal issues of safety pertaining to various forms of ramps. From safety regulations for handicap ramps to safety regulations for traffic ramps, ramp safety affects everyone! In a single day alone, students may drive up the entrance ramp to the school, walk up the ramp to the cafeteria, and soar from ramp to ramp at the skate park after school. Students will also have the opportunity to manipulate different variables to see how each affects ramp safety.
Furthermore, public ramp design and construction is often completed by civil engineers, which is a growing field with a wide array of career opportunities. Providing students with an experience to analyze, critique, design, and redesign various ramps will serve as a great introduction to the field of civil engineering and hopefully allow students to see the possibilities presented by this career track.
Misconceptions
- Two objects side by side must have the same speed.
- Acceleration and velocity are always in the same direction.
- Velocity is a force.
- If velocity is zero, then acceleration must be zero, too.
- Acceleration is the same as velocity.
- When the velocity is constant, so is the acceleration.
- Students do not realize that the acceleration is zero. If the speed is constant, there is no acceleration.
- A positive acceleration is always associated with speeding up and a negative acceleration is always associated with slowing down.
- All the misconceptions above are from page 74 of the following resource:
http://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Ohio-s-New-Learning-Standards/Science/HSscience_Model_Curriculum_April2014-1.pdf.aspx
- All the misconceptions above are from page 74 of the following resource:
Unit Lessons and Activities
- Lesson 1: Different Function, Different Design, Different Velocity: In Lesson 1, students begin to explore the different purposes (types), locations, and factors affecting the efficiency of different ramps. They will have the opportunity to manipulate the different variables on a computer-based traffic simulation, and observe the results in regards to traffic congestion. Activity 1 will lead to the generation of the essential questions, guiding questions, and ultimately the creation of the Challenge. Students will then analyze a variety of different data forms to gather more information relating to these different factors. In Activity 2, students will explore the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration through the completion of an activity involving ticker tape. Students will use this knowledge to create their own graphs and explain their graphs to the rest of the class..
- Activity 1: Ramp Variables: Mini-Hooks and Traffic Simulation
- Activity 2: Ticking the Tape of Motion
- Lesson 2: Different Factors Affecting Ramp Safety and Efficiency: In Lesson 2, students will begin to experimentally investigate the affect that different inclines, ramp lengths, and masses have on the resultant velocity (and hence the safety), of a ramp. Students will gather their data and produce three different graphs (position vs time, velocity vs time, acceleration vs time). In Activity 4, from their understanding of acceleration, velocity, and the different factors affecting ramp safety and efficiency, students will design and create a proposal for a ramp they would like to see implemented, complete with justification for its dimensions.
- Activity 3: Foam Trials
- Activity 4: Ramp Design and Proposal
- Evidence of CBL: Lesson 1 Activity 1 and Lesson 2 Activity 4
- Evidence of EDP: Lesson 2 Activity 4
Additional Resources