Students develop an app for an Android device that utilizes its built-in …
Students develop an app for an Android device that utilizes its built-in internal sensors, specifically the accelerometer. The goal of this activity is to teach programming design and skills using MIT's App Inventor software (free to download from the Internet) as the vehicle for learning. The activity should be exciting for students who are interested in applying what they learn to writing other applications for Android devices. Students learn the steps of the engineering design process as they identify the problem, develop solutions, select and implement a possible solution, test the solution and redesign, as needed, to accomplish the design requirements.
Students investigate the motion of a simple pendulum through direct observation and …
Students investigate the motion of a simple pendulum through direct observation and data collection using Android® devices. First, student groups create pendulums that hang from the classroom ceiling, using Android smartphones or tablets as the bobs, taking advantage of their built-in accelerometers. With the Android devices loaded with the (provided) AccelDataCapture app, groups explore the periodic motion of the pendulums, changing variables (amplitude, mass, length) to see what happens, by visual observation and via the app-generated graphs. Then teams conduct formal experiments to alter one variable while keeping all other parameters constant, performing numerous trials, identifying independent/dependent variables, collecting data and using the simple pendulum equation. Through these experiments, students investigate how pendulums move and the changing forces they experience, better understanding the relationship between a pendulum's motion and its amplitude, length and mass. They analyze the data, either on paper or by importing into a spreadsheet application. As an extension, students may also develop their own algorithms in a provided App Inventor framework in order to automatically note the time of each period.
This task provides a construction of the angle bisector of an angle …
This task provides a construction of the angle bisector of an angle by reducing it to the bisection of an angle to finding the midpoint of a line segment. It is worth observing the symmetry -- for both finding midpoints and bisecting angles, the goal is to cut an object into two equal parts. The conclusion of this task is that they are, in a sense, of exactly equivalent difficulty -- bisecting a segment allows us to bisect and angle (part a) and, conversely, bisecting an angle allows us to bisect a segment (part b). In addition to seeing how these two constructions are related, the task also provides an opportunity for students to use two different triangle congruence criteria: SSS and SAS.
In this activity, learners use a hand-made protractor to measure angles they …
In this activity, learners use a hand-made protractor to measure angles they find in playground equipment. Learners will observe that angle measurements do not change with distance, because they are distance invariant, or constant. Note: The "Pocket Protractor" activity should be done ahead as a separate activity (see related resource), but a standard protractor can be used as a substitute.
After using the historical development of concepts of conserved motion to develop …
After using the historical development of concepts of conserved motion to develop introductory understanding, students are directed to a series of activities to gain a better understanding of momentum, conservation of momenta, angular momentum, and conservation of angular momenta.
Students analyze the relationship between wheel radius, linear velocity and angular velocity …
Students analyze the relationship between wheel radius, linear velocity and angular velocity by using LEGO(TM) MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT robots. Given various robots with different wheel sizes and fixed motor speeds, they predict which has the fastest linear velocity. Then student teams collect and graph data to analyze the relationships between wheel size and linear velocity and find the angular velocity of the robot given its motor speed. Students explore other ways to increase linear velocity by changing motor speeds, and discuss and evaluate the optimal wheel size and desired linear velocities on vehicles.
Wild animals require four basic habitat components: food, water, cover, and space. …
Wild animals require four basic habitat components: food, water, cover, and space. Animals can be divided into five distinct groups: mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.
In this task students have to interpret expressions involving two variables in …
In this task students have to interpret expressions involving two variables in the context of a real world situation. All given expressions can be interpreted as quantities that one might study when looking at two animal populations.
Students build a 9 M X 9 M model of an animal or plant cell with cell organelles inside it and give cell tours to Life Science students. May be done as two large groups, or a whole class project.
Students are introduced to the classification of animals and animal interactions. Students …
Students are introduced to the classification of animals and animal interactions. Students also learn why engineers need to know about animals and how they use that knowledge to design technologies that help other animals and/or humans. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.
This map shows how much electrical power is produced from wind in …
This map shows how much electrical power is produced from wind in each state from 1999 through 2010. The animation shows a general increase in the amount of wind power produced per state and the number of states producing it.
Infinity mirrors are two parallel mirrors that create smaller and smaller images …
Infinity mirrors are two parallel mirrors that create smaller and smaller images that appear to recede into infinity. The reflections appear to recede into the distance because the light travels the distance it appears to be traveling. Try placing different objects between your infinity mirrors to see the way they recede into the distance. Try objects with vastly different colors or patterns on either side
Get your kids in the competitive spirit and see who can build …
Get your kids in the competitive spirit and see who can build the best balloon vehicle. Have your students design a racer to attach to a balloon. Anything they can create is great, as funky as they want to be. We hope to see propeller planes and furry creatures.
Leonardo da Vinci is one of history’s most notable scholars. Among other …
Leonardo da Vinci is one of history’s most notable scholars. Among other interests, he studied human anatomy. Through his artwork, Leonardo detailed the human muscular and skeletal systems. His paintings have had a lasting impression on the medical community as well as the art world. The anatomy of our cardboard hand will help us learn about the anatomy of the human body.
This series of visualizations show the annual Arctic sea ice minimum from …
This series of visualizations show the annual Arctic sea ice minimum from 1979 to 2015. The decrease in Arctic sea ice over time is shown in an animation and a graph plotted simultaneously, but can be parsed so that the change in sea ice area can be shown without the graph.
Farming ants might sound like a crazy thing to do unless you …
Farming ants might sound like a crazy thing to do unless you might like to eat chocolate covered ants. It turns out we can learn a lot from ants and the best way is to build your own ant farm.
In this problem students are comparing a very small quantity with a …
In this problem students are comparing a very small quantity with a very large quantity using the metric system. The metric system is especially convenient when comparing measurements using scientific notations since different units within the system are related by powers of ten.
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