SmartGraphs: How Fast Am I Moving?

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published by the Concord Consortium
supported by the National Science Foundation

This activity for middle school blends a motion sensor lab with a digital "SmartGraph" tool to illustrate how a Position vs. Time graph can be used to find velocity. First, students use a digital graph sketcher to predict what a motion graph looks like at different speeds. Next, learners use a Vernier Go! motion device to record their own walking motion. The data from the motion sensing is automatically transmitted to the SmartGraph interface via a USB connection. Scaffolds are provided at intervals to help students calculate rise over run and understand how slope of a P/T graph is related to speed.

This item is part of the Concord Consortium, a nonprofit research and development organization dedicated to transforming education through technology. The Concord Consortium develops deeply digital learning innovations for science, mathematics, and engineering.

Please note that this resource requires Java.

Editor's Note: This resource is a package that includes lesson plan and assessment with answer key. The Vernier Go! motion sensing device is available in many venues at a cost of ~$100. Users must register to access full functionality of all the tools available with SmartGraphs, which include graph sketching, acquiring/sharing real-time data, creating databases for classroom record-keeping and assessment, and access to authoring tools for teachers wishing to customize SmartGraph content.

http://concord.org/stem-resources/how-fast-am-i-moving

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Classical Mechanics - Motion in One Dimension = Position & Displacement = Velocity Education Practices - Technology = Multimedia Other Sciences - Mathematics	- Middle School - High School - Informal Education	- Instructional Material = Activity = Lesson/Lesson Plan = Problem/Problem Set - Dataset - Audio/Visual = Graph

Appropriate Courses	Categories	Ratings
- Physical Science - Physics First - Conceptual Physics	- Lesson Plan - Activity - Assessment - New teachers	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

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Intended Users:: Learner
Parent/Guardian
Educator
General Public
Formats:: application/java
text/html
Access Rights:: Free access and
Limited free access; Access to web site is free. Users may register for additional free access to data capture, install probeware drivers, and store student work products.
Restriction:: © 2010 The Concord Consortium
Keywords:: 1D motion, P/T graph, Position vs. Time, Position/Time graph, digital grapher, displacement, distance graphs, graph sketcher, graph tool, motion, motion graph, motion graphing, motion models, one-dimensional motion, velocity graphs
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created April 27, 2012 by Caroline Hall
Record Updated:: June 14, 2013 by Lyle Barbato

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AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

4. The Physical Setting

4F. Motion

3-5: 4F/E1a. Changes in speed or direction of motion are caused by forces.
6-8: 4F/M3a. An unbalanced force acting on an object changes its speed or direction of motion, or both.

9. The Mathematical World

9B. Symbolic Relationships

6-8: 9B/M3. Graphs can show a variety of possible relationships between two variables. As one variable increases uniformly, the other may do one of the following: increase or decrease steadily, increase or decrease faster and faster, get closer and closer to some limiting value, reach some intermediate maximum or minimum, alternately increase and decrease, increase or decrease in steps, or do something different from any of these.

11. Common Themes

11B. Models

6-8: 11B/M2. Mathematical models can be displayed on a computer and then modified to see what happens.
6-8: 11B/M5. The usefulness of a model depends on how closely its behavior matches key aspects of what is being modeled. The only way to determine the usefulness of a model is to compare its behavior to the behavior of the real-world object, event, or process being modeled.

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics Alignments

Standards for Mathematical Practice (K-12)

MP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

MP.4 Model with mathematics.

Geometry (K-8)

Graph points on the coordinate plane to solve real-world and mathematical problems. (5)

5.G.2 Represent real world and mathematical problems by graphing points in the first quadrant of the coordinate plane, and interpret coordinate values of points in the context of the situation.

Expressions and Equations (6-8)

Understand the connections between proportional relationships, lines, and linear equations. (8)

8.EE.5 Graph proportional relationships, interpreting the unit rate as the slope of the graph. Compare two different proportional relationships represented in different ways.

Functions (8)

Use functions to model relationships between quantities. (8)

8.F.4 Construct a function to model a linear relationship between two quantities. Determine the rate of change and initial value of the function from a description of a relationship or from two (x, y) values, including reading these from a table or from a graph. Interpret the rate of change and initial value of a linear function in terms of the situation it models, and in terms of its graph or a table of values.

This resource is part of a Physics Front Topical Unit.

Topic: Kinematics: The Physics of Motion
Unit Title: Velocity and Acceleration

This activity blends a motion sensor lab with digital SmartGraph software to help learners see how the slope of a P/T graph can be used to find velocity. Scaffolding is provided at intervals to help with calculations. Requires a Vernier Go! motion sensing device.

Link to Unit:

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Record Link

<a href="http://www.thephysicsfront.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=11895">National Science Foundation. SmartGraphs: How Fast Am I Moving?. Concord: The Concord Consortium, 2010.</a>

AIP Format

SmartGraphs: How Fast Am I Moving? (The Concord Consortium, Concord, 2010), WWW Document, (http://concord.org/stem-resources/how-fast-am-i-moving).

AJP/PRST-PER

SmartGraphs: How Fast Am I Moving? (The Concord Consortium, Concord, 2010), <http://concord.org/stem-resources/how-fast-am-i-moving>.

APA Format

SmartGraphs: How Fast Am I Moving?. (2010). Retrieved June 19, 2013, from The Concord Consortium: http://concord.org/stem-resources/how-fast-am-i-moving

Chicago Format

National Science Foundation. SmartGraphs: How Fast Am I Moving?. Concord: The Concord Consortium, 2010. http://concord.org/stem-resources/how-fast-am-i-moving (accessed 19 June 2013).

MLA Format

SmartGraphs: How Fast Am I Moving?. Concord: The Concord Consortium, 2010. National Science Foundation. 19 June 2013 <http://concord.org/stem-resources/how-fast-am-i-moving>.

BibTeX Export Format

@misc{ Title = {SmartGraphs: How Fast Am I Moving?}, Publisher = {The Concord Consortium}, Volume = {2013}, Number = {19 June 2013}, Year = {2010} }

Refer Export Format

%T SmartGraphs: How Fast Am I Moving?
%D 2010
%I The Concord Consortium
%C Concord
%U http://concord.org/stem-resources/how-fast-am-i-moving
%O application/java

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source
%D 2010
%T SmartGraphs: How Fast Am I Moving?
%I The Concord Consortium
%V 2013
%N 19 June 2013
%9 application/java
%U http://concord.org/stem-resources/how-fast-am-i-moving

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Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

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SmartGraphs: How Fast Am I Moving?:

Is Supplemented By The Physics Classroom: Describing Motion with Position vs. Time Graphs

An interactive tutorial that provides content support for K-8 teachers on the meaning of shape for a Position vs. Time graph.

relation by Caroline Hall

Supplements Conceptual Development About Motion and Force in Elementary and Middle School Students

This cost-free article describes results of research in Grades 4, 6, and 8 on student understanding of motion. Findings suggest that students as young as Grade 6 can, with instruction, change entrenched incorrect concepts to construct accurate ideas about force and motion.

relation by Caroline Hall

Is Part Of Concord Consortium: SmartGraphs

A link to the full collection of interactive activities developed by Concord Consortium's SmartGraphs project.

relation by Caroline Hall

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