Tag Archives: BFPM

N3L Activity Stations

While the [Newton’s 1st Law activities](https://pedagoguepadawan.net/147/n1lactivitystations/) serve as a fun and short introduction, the Newton’s 3rd Law activities provide a shared experience that spans several classes. The activities that the students explore are selected to highlight the most common preconceptions that students have about Newton’s 3rd Law. I stress how important free-body diagrams are as a tool in their physics toolbox and that, once they are adept at drawing free-body diagrams and once they actually trust their free-body diagrams, they will be able to explain a number of counter-intuitive situations. I introduce these activities by stating that Newton’s 3rd Law is one of the most easily recited laws of physics and yet is least understood. Here are the activities:

Download (PDF, 35KB)

**Sequential Spring Scales**

Sequential Spring Scales

The spring scales are initially hidden under the coffee filters. Only after students make their prediction are the coffee filters removed. Most students do not predict that the spring scales will read 10 N. Some predict 5 N (the spring scales split the weight). Some predict 20 N (10 N each way adds up to 20 N). In addition to drawing the free-body diagrams, this scenario can be explored further by asking students to predict the reading on the scales if one of the weights is removed and the string is tied to a clamp instead.

**Bathroom Scale**

This station provides an important shared experience that we will refer back to when discussing the elevator problems later in the unit. This station also generates a number of excellent questions such as “would the scale work on the moon?” and “how could you measure mass on unknown planet?”

**Twist on Tug-of-War**

tug-of-war

Students were very interested in this station this year since they were in the midst of Homecoming Week and inter-class tug-of-war competitions were being held. It may have been the first time free-body diagrams were used in the planning of the tug-of-war team’s strategy. The dynamics platform in the photo is a cart build from plywood and 2x4s with rollerblade wheels and has little friction. Most students claim that whoever wins the tug-of-war pulls harder on the rope than the person who loses. Only after drawing the free-body-digram and trusting it, do they realize this is not the case.

**Medicine Ball Propulsion**

Medicine Ball Propulsion

This is a fairly straight-forward station. I often wander by and ask the students exploring it why they don’t move backwards when playing catch under normal situations. I also check at this point and see if they are convinced that the force on the ball by them is equal to the force on them by the ball.

**Computerized Force Comparison**

*This is the most important station in that it helps students truly appreciate Newton’s Third Law.* I setup several of these stations to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to watch the graph in real-time as they pull on the force sensors. This is the standard Modeling activity for Newton’s 3rd Law. For students still struggling to accept Newton’s 3rd Law while working through this activity, I challenge them to find a way to pull on the two sensors such that the forces are not equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. This activity also counters the misconception promoted by some textbooks (perhaps unintentionally) that the “reaction” force follows the “action” force. Students can clearly see that both forces occur at the same time. (We refer to paired forces according to Newton’s 3rd Law, not action-reaction forces.)

**WALL-E and the Fire Extinguisher**

Who doesn’t love WALL-E? I repeatedly loop through a clip from the [WALL-E trailer](http://youtu.be/ZisWjdjs-gM?t=2m26s). In addition to the questions on the handout, I ask students what is incorrect about the physics in the scene. This year, I also showed students this clip that [Physics Club](http://physicsclub.nnscience.net/) filmed several weeks ago:

N1L Activity Stations

I like to introduce Newton’s First Law with a series of activity stations for students to explore followed by a couple of demos. They have fun and it provides shared experiences which we can refer back to later. Here is the activity sheet that guides them:

Download (PDF, 32KB)

Many of these stations and demos have as much to do with impulse as they do with Newton’s First Law. I mention this and we revisit these stations and demos later when studying impulse.

Most of these stations and demos are fairly self explanatory. However, a few can benefit from a photo. Here is the “Nuts about Hoops & Bottles” station:

nuts, hoop, bottle

You quickly grab the hoop with a fast, horizontal motion. This station can become overcrowded because some students obsess over trying to capture the most nuts in the bottle. (I’ve seen students catch over twenty.)

The “Hitting the Stake” station is perhaps the most surprising to students. It is easy to build and looks like this:

hitting the stake

The “Spin the Human” station works best on teachers with little hair. We have one constructed from pool balls. This one is built with golf balls and a coat hanger:

spin the human

It is best to put the “Chopping Blocks” station in the corner. Some students have an incredible amount of aggression to release.

I’m sure everyone has seen the “Clearing the Table” demo. If not, MythBusters has an [extreme version](http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-tablecloth-pull-high-speed-2.html).

A couple of years ago, I captured the “Egg Drop Soup” demo with the high-speed camera. I usually have all four eggs make it.

What is interesting about these activities is the evolution of this lesson. When I started teaching, these were all demos. I put on the show and the students’ engagement was that they laughed. A few years ago, my team transitioned these from demos to activities. More fun, more engaging. Based on a suggestion from my instructional coordinator, I now introduce each station and have the students record their predictions before get up and start visiting stations. This ensures they actually make predictions since many of these stations are too enticing for them to make predictions before playing with them.

Maybe I’ll let students “Clear the Table” next year.