Chapter 10 – Patterns and Predictions |
| Activity Summaries |
Physics Principles |
Activity 1: Force Fields
Observing, then measuring the properties of magnets introduces the study of force fields and helps students appreciate the dilemmas that can occur when describing something that is invisible.
| - E Fields — Point Charge, Line of Charge,
Plane of Charge
- Magnetic Fields
- Coulomb’s Law
|
Activity 2: Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation
In an activity in which they place a photocell on the light generated by
a slide projector, students measure light intensity at various distances to uncover the inverse square law. They then apply this to Newton’s Law
of Universal Gravitation.
| - Light Intensity
- Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation
- Inverse Square Relationship
|
Activity 3: Slinkies® and Waves
In this activity, students explore wave motion with “people waves” then with Slinkies. Students then read to learn more about wavelength, frequency, amplitude, crests, and troughs. This experience is used as a model to explain the flow of energy.
| - Nature of Science
- Energy Transfer
- Wave Motion and Periods
- Wavelengths and Amplitude
- Light as a Wave
|
Activity 4: Interference of Waves
Using Slinkies to model wave motion, students explore and observe the phenomena of wave interference. They expand their understanding of waves by comparing this experiment to sine waves generated on graphing calculators, circular waves in a ripple tank, laser light beams, and sound waves from identical speakers.
| - Energy Transfer
- Sound
- Light
- Wave Motion
- Wave Interference
|
Activity 5: A Moving Frame of Reference
This activity introduces the concept of frames of reference by having students describe and compare observations of the same event made while standing still and while moving. They then read to learn more about how the laws of physics relate to these different descriptions of the same event.
| - Frames of Reference
- Speed
- Relativity
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Activity 6: Speedy Light
In this activity, students explore the speed of light as related to the concept of relativity by considering how to know for certain whether two clocks, large distances apart, display exactly the same time. Reading more about Einstein’s theories enables them to apply these concepts to the chapter challenge.
| - Simultaneous Events
- Speed of Light
- Relativity
- Frames of Reference
|
Activity 7: Special Relativity
Simultaneous events and relativity set the stage for this final chapter activity in which students learn about muons. Muons, and Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity focus students on the need to consider the need for evidence from experiments to support the development of
scientific theories.
| - Special Relativity
- Muons
- Half-life
|
Activity 8: The Doppler Effect
In this activity, students are introduced to the Doppler Effect in an experiment in which they toss an oscillator embedded in a Nerf ball. The change in pitch as the Nerf ball moves is related to how the Doppler Effect is used to measure distance to distant stars. This is then related to the development of the Big Bang Theory.
| - Doppler Effect
- Big Bang Theory
- Measuring Distances in Space
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Activity 9: Communication Through Space
In this final activity, students are confronted with the extreme amount of time required for light waves to reach stars. After considering the impact of this time delay on communication with life on stars, students return to the chapter challenge and discuss what type of information is most important to send and receive.
| - Speed of Sound
- Speed of Electromagnetic Waves
- Measuring Distances in Space
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