Active Learning Activities

Running on Water: Activating Prior Knowledge of Static Equilibrium

Students watch, discuss, then analyze the veracity of a video in which hydrophobic shoes allow people to run on water.

Group Problem Solving with Show and Tell

Students learn to build a conceptual model describing a Mechanics-based situation and practice mathematical problem-solving.

Circuits: Card Sorting With Multiple Representations (E&M)

Students develop their ability to reason about physics concepts in terms of multiple representations, beyond just equations.

Electrostatics: Card Sorting With Mutiple Representations (E&M)

Students associate configurations of charges with their characteristics from word, diagram & graph representations.

Forget the Math! Draw Pictures to Learn the Wave Theory of Light

Systems Ball Toss

Bottle Rocket Tracker

In this activity, students learn to analyze and fit equations of motion to raw data using video and Tracker software.

Dart Gun Velocity

In this activity, students will find the muzzle velocity of a foam dart gun and predict its maximum range.

Forces Scavenger Hunt

Area Under the Curve

Projectile Tracker

Students use the Tracker software to analyze projectile motion to determine which equations fit the plots produced.