Day 6: Motion Maps and Graph Matching

Graph Matching at Lab Station 5

After yesterday's introduction to motion maps, three of my four classes had a brief (2 question) quiz on motion maps. Then all four classes worked on multiple representations of motion by trying to match actions to position vs. time graphs.

What worked:

• Pairs. This activity really only needs one person to walk the blue line and one person to watch the LabQuest.
• The blue line. Telling students that the motion detectors only "see" what's directly in front of them doesn't work nearly as well as giving them a visual reminder of where to stand/walk.

What could have worked better:

• The groups of four and five in my biggest class. There's not enough for that many people to do with a single set of equipment.

This weekend I'll be writing feedback on the quizzes and plotting to find another four LabQuest/motion detector sets for the more complex velocity-graph matches.