Enlarge

Day Two begins with the first of nine activities.

Each successive day begins with another activity. Active Physics is an activity-based curriculum. Let's look at Activity Seven: Friction on the Moon.
The activity begins by mentioning, "The Lunar Rover proved that there is enough frictional force on the moon to operate a passenger-carrying wheeled vehicle. " The students are then asked, "How do frictional forces on Earth and the moon compare?"
This What Do You Think? question is intended to find out what students know about friction-to get into the 'friction part' of their brains. Formally, we say that this question is to elicit the student's prior understanding and is part of the constructivist approach. Students write a response for one minute and discuss for another two minutes. But we don't reach closure. The question opens the conversation.