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Their Goal: To produce a high quality video of physics phenomena in micro gravity that can be used as an educational tool in introductory level courses and in K-12 programs. |
Abstract:
| The use of demonstrations has long been recognized as a highly effective tool in the teaching of physics. While many in-class and video demonstrations are available, they are performed under the influence of gravity. Currently teachers do not have access to videos from which accurate quantitative measurements of physics in microgravity can be made. Our goal is to produce a high quality video of basic mechanics demonstrations that can be used as such a learning tool. The Wellesley College physics department has pioneered the use of video cameras to make quantitative measurements of physics, but these measurements have not been previously made in a zero-g environment. The results of these demonstrations can serve a dual purpose: not only can they be a resource for high school and introductory college level physics courses, but they can also be used to motivate young girls to pursue the sciences. Recent studies have indicated that young girls lose interest in math and science at approximately 9-10 years of age. As students at a womenâs college, we hope that our work on this project can stimulate their interests in these fields. Such simple examples as playing catch or bubbles floating to the surface of a liquid can illustrate how gravitational effects influence our intuition. Not only will this project increase our own understanding of mechanics, we hope it will also be widely distributed so that other students can increase their interest in physics and gain understanding of the effects of microgravity on everyday physics phenomena. |
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