Labs for 1D Kinematics

Lesson Plans || Learning Outcomes and Activities || Teacher Notes || Labs

 

We have a collection of ~150 labs in the Laboratory section of the website. Each lab was intended to be used with a lab notebook where students report their data and findings and state their conclusion with supporting evidence and reasoning. The intent was to provide a relatively clear purpose (or question) to students that they would need to address AND to limit the amount of directions. The hope is that the purposes and students' ability to design a procedure would drive the lab activity (in contrast to a detailed set of step-by-step procedures being the driving force of students' activity). As such, each of our labs comes with a Question and Purpose and a short paragraph describing what should be included in students' lab report. On occassion, students are also provided a graphic organizer, data table, or other item to be taped into their notebook. The following pages may be useful for those teachers who wish to adopt or simply trial our Labs with a Purpose approach:

Our Thoughts on the Approach || About Lab Notebooks || Teacher Guides for All Labs

 

Lab 1:  Speedometer Lab

Question:
What is the speed of my battery-powered car?

Purpose:
To determine the speed of my battery-powered car.

A complete lab write-up includes a Title, a Purpose, a Data section, and a Conclusion. The Data section should include collected data for several trials; column headings should be labeled and units shown. One sample calculation should be shown. Speed values for all the trials (except those which are obvious ) should be averaged; should be indicated as such in the Data section (a is a wholly scientific means of doing so). The Conclusion should respond to the question raised in the Purpose of the lab.

 

Lab 2: Position-Time Graphs

Question:
How can the following types of motion be described with a position‐time graph? (moving in the  positive direction versus moving in the negative direction; moving fast versus moving slow; moving  with a constant speed versus moving with a gradually changing speed; speeding up versus slowing  down; etc.)

Purpose:
To contrast the shape and slope of the position‐time graphs for the following types of motion:  

• moving in the + direction versus moving in the ‐ direction
• moving fast versus moving slow
• a constant speed motion versus a gradually changing speed
• a speeding up motion versus a slowing down motion
• combinations of the above

A complete lab write‐up includes a Title, a Purpose, a Data section, and a Conclusion/Discussion. The  Data section should include one graph for each contrasting set of two motions; axes should be labeled;  labels or color coding or some other method should be used to distinguish between the two motions.  The Conclusion/Discussion section should provide a thorough discussion of the differences in the  position‐time graphs for the variety of motions under study.

 

Lab 3: Interpreting the Slope

Question:

How does the slope of the line on a position-time graph compare to the speed of an object?

Purpose:
To compare the speed of an object to the slope of the line on a position-time graph.

A complete lab write-up includes a Title, a Purpose, a Data section, a Conclusion and a Discussion of Results. The Data Section should include the appropriate measurements, graphical display and calculations which are required to accomplish the purpose of the lab; all data should be properly labeled and organized. Work for calculations should be shown. The Conclusion should respond to the purpose of the lab. The Discussion of Results section should describe the evidence which leads to the conclusion statement; specific information which serves as evidence should be identified and elaborated upon. A percent difference calculation is shown.

 

Lab 4: Velocity-Time Graphs

Question:
How can the following types of motion be described with a velocity-time graph? (moving in the positive direction versus moving in the negative direction; moving fast versus moving slow; moving with a constant speed versus moving with a gradually changing speed; speeding up versus slowing down; etc.)

Purpose:
To contrast the shape and slope of the velocity-time graphs for the following types of motion:

• moving in the + direction versus moving in the - direction
• moving fast versus moving slow
• a constant speed motion versus a gradually changing speed
• a speeding up motion versus a slowing down motion
• moving in the same direction versus changing directions
• combinations of the above

A complete lab write-up includes a Title, a Purpose, a Data section, a Conclusion and a Discussion of Results. The Data section should include one graph for each contrasting set of two motions; axes should be labeled; labels or color coding or some other method should be used to distinguish between the two motions. The Conclusion/Discussion section should provide a thorough discussion of the differences in the velocity-time graphs for the variety of motions under study.

 

Lab 5: Free Fall Acceleration

Question:
How can the acceleration of a free-falling object be described? Is it constant or changing? Is it directed upward or downward? Is there a magnitude that is commonly associated with it?

Purpose:
To describe the acceleration of a free-falling object as being either constant or changing; as being directed upward, downward or both (depending on some other variable); and as having a particular numerical value.

A complete lab write-up includes a Title, a Purpose, a Data section, a Conclusion and a Discussion of Results. The Data section should include a sketch of the velocity-time graph representing the object's motion. Results of the slope analyses should be organized in a table; an average of all trials (except those which are obvious outliers) should be recorded. Class data should be recorded and labeled as such. The Conclusion should respond to the questions raised in the Purpose of the lab. The Discussion section should include an error analysis.

In addition to the above labs, we have also suggested Pace Tracer 1 and Pace Tracer 2 activities. Each is essentially a hands-on motion lab that utilizes the camera on a phone, tablet, computer, etc. as a motion-sensing tool. More directions on how to set up the lab with ArUco markers can be found on the Pace Tracer pages.





 

Also Available ...

Physics teachers may find the following for-sale tools to be useful supplements to our Lesson Plan and Pacing Guide section:

 

1. Task Tracker Subscription (annual purchase)
   A subscription allows teachers to set up classes, add students, customize online assignments, view student progress/scores, and export student scores. Task Tracker accounts allow your students to begin assignments in class or at school and to finish them at home. View our Seat and Cost Calculator for pricing details.
    
2. The Solutions Guide
   We publish a free curriculum with >200 ready-to-use Think Sheets for developing physics concepts. The Solutions Guide is a download containing the source documents, PDFs of source documents, and answers/solutions in MS Word and PDF format. An expanded license agreement is included with the purchase. (Cost: $25 download)
    
3. Teacher Presentation Pack
   This is a large collection of downloadable content packed with nearly 190 Microsoft PowerPoint slide decks, the corresponding Lesson Notes (as PDF and fully-modifiable MS Word format), about 170 animations (in .gif, .png, and .mp4 file formats), a countless number of ready-to-use images (including the original source documents that would allow for easy modification of those images), and a license that allows teachers to modify and use all the content with their classes on password-protected sites (such as course management systems).  (Cost: $40 download)
    
4. Question Bank
   We distribute a Question Bank that includes more than 9300 questions neatly organized according to topic. The Question Bank is the perfect tool for busy teachers or new teachers. Even if you don't use the website with your classes, the Question Bank will assist you in quickly putting together quizzes, tests and other documents with high-quality questions that target student's conceptions of physics principles. And if you do use The Physics Classroom website, the Question Bank is the perfect complement to the materials found at the website. (Cost: $25 download)