Using PocketLab to Teach MS-PS2-1: Engineering Design and Newton's Third Law

NGSS Standard MS-PS2-1: What's in the standard?

Teaching NGSS Standard MS-PS2-1 can have challenges. Students need to apply principles in forces and motion to engineer a design that will solve a problem. The performance expectation for the standard states: Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.

Egg Drop Experiment with Data

We can take an egg drop further by adding sensor data collection. Normally an egg drop is a “pass or fail” activity, and collecting data is difficult. With an sensor in place of the egg for trial runs, students can refine their designs with real life data.

Rotational Motion and Moment of Inertia Lab Setup

Figure 1 shows a ramp and three distinctly different objects that you will release from rest at the top.  Each object will roll downward to the end of the ramp without slipping, resulting in rotational motion.  The roll of Gorilla tape has a shape known as an annular cylinder.  The can of jellied cranberry sauce is a solid cylinder.  The cardboard tube, in contrast to the can, is hollow.  All three of these objects will rotate about their central cylinder axis while rolling down the ramp.  Each of these three objects has a

Introduction

Various forms of the sport now known as croquet have been around for centuries.  Plastic or wooden balls are struck with a mallet through hoops, called wickets in the United States.  The components of a typical croquet set are shown in Figure 1.  Very popular in the UK, there is even a World Croquet Federation for those who take the sport seriously.  In the United States, it is common to set up croquet as a garden game at graduation and birthday parties.  But who would have thought that a croquet ball and mallet equipped with PocketLab Voyager and the PocketL

Introduction

Would you like to engage your entire science class as a group in a challenge?  If so, then the "Speed of Mini HotRod: Long Track Challenge" may serve that purpose well!

Rolling Resistance Introduction

Rolling resistance is a force that opposes the motion when an object rolls along a surface.  There are many examples of objects experiencing rolling resistance:  car or bicycle tires on pavement, skateboard wheels on a half pipe ramp, steel wheels on a railroad track, ball bearings in a pulley, bowling balls on a bowling lane, and carts rolling on a dynamics track, just to mention a few.  Many factors can affect the magnitude of the forces associated with rolling resistance.

Introduction to Crash Cushioning

In addition to automobile features that promote road safety, there has been and continues to be a great deal of work on highway features that save lives.  An earlier lab entitled Crash Cushion Investigation, submitted by PocketLab, makes use of the PocketLab HotRod to investigate crash cushioning similar to that shown in Figure 1.    

Terminal Velocity Introduction

The effect of mass on the terminal velocity of an object falling in air is commonly done using basket coffee filters.  But how could we study the effect of area on the terminal velocity of a falling object?  One way to do this is to use PocketLab Voyager and its range finder along with a single piece of cardstock as the object to be dropped.

Introduction

What can you do with a PocketLab Mini HotRod, Voyager, five pieces of HotWheels track, and a half-dozen wood blocks about the size of Jenga blocks?  How about an experiment in energy conservation!  Add CloudLab and you have an environment for your students/lab groups to perform, analyze, document and save their PocketLab lab reports.

This might be an interesting  physics PocketLab study!  Good for the human body, or not so good?