Interactivity #4

Foucault's Pendulum: Analysis

Since Foucault Pendulums are not easily replicated (it is hard to produce one with a near-frictionless pivot), the easiest way to present them to students would be via the internet. In a lesson titled “Foucault’s Pendulum”, students are given a wide array of tools and discussions to educate them on not only Foucault’s Pendulum itself, but also the properties of a pendulum, general pendulum motion, and computational skills to solve for period.

Aligning a Physics lesson with appropriate NJCCC Standards is a little tricky, especially when more advanced topics such as Thermodynamics, Optics, Electricity & Magnetism, and advanced Newtonian Mechanics are applied; there are not many standards that are directly relevant to the fields. My main focus for this lesson was synchronizing the important parts of the lesson with the higher level (12^th and two 8^th grade) standards. During the lesson, suggested Essential Questions such as “What observations can you make about the motion of the pendulum?” will lead into discussions that allow students to manipulate their explanations, data, and ideas into Scientific Hypotheses (5.1.12.B.3). 

Giving students opportunity to “flex their scientist muscles” will not only give them insight on how to incorporate what they see into hypotheses and theories, but also improve their Scientific literacy. Overall, the lesson was smoothly transitioned from task to task, and required little-to-no editing on my part; I believe it will make an entertaining, fulfilling, and exciting lesson.

Allowing the students to utilize the animations and online computer simulations plays a quintessential role in their development of theories and ideas. In Physics, it is just as (if not more) important to see/manipulate the ideas and concepts that are being learned than it is to simply hear about them and take notes and tests.