Lesson 9: Collaboration Session #2

Introduction

Student teams share their updated roller coaster designs with engineering teams via the web. Time is given for Q and A between the two groups, and for the physics students to communicate relevant physics concepts to the engineering students.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will effectively communicate their ideas to other students using the web.
• Students will use relevant physics concepts to justify the height of coaster’s hills and radii of its loops

Classroom Time Required

• 50 minutes is likely sufficient

Materials Needed

• Computers with internet access
• Web-conferencing or Video-conferencing software (Eluminate, Skype)
• “Work and Energy Problems” handout

Pre-activities

• Students should spend time prior to lesson 9 discussing how to best communicate their design to the engineering teams. While the engineering teams should have access to the designs (via the blog), student teams need to think about how to communicate relevant physics concepts to the engineering teams.
• Students should give you an updated design with hill heights at the beginning of the lesson. Try and get the teams feedback by lesson 10 or 11, so they can improve their designs before the final presentation (lesson 12).

Activities

• Each student team should access some type of web/video-conferencing software and use it to communicate with their corresponding engineering team
• Each team should explain the dimensions of their roller coaster.
• During the collaboration, all team members should participate in the conversation and subsequent Q and A.
• Students need to complete self/peer assessment forms (available in the assessment section of the website) by the beginning of lesson 10
• Students also need to complete the “Work and Energy Problems” handout by lesson 10. This handout gives students a chance to practice the energy problem solving procedure outside of class, allowing you to assess their understanding.

Modifications/Author Comments

• Skype is a free program, available online, that students can use to communicate. You will need microphones and webcams to take full advantage of Skype’s video-conferencing features.
• If you choose to exclude the collaboration portion of the project, student teams can present their designs to the entire class instead of the engineering teams