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PocketLab Bungee Jumper

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Submitted by PocketLab on Fri, 06/02/2017 - 16:38

Exploration

A bungee jumper leaps from a tall structure and falls toward the ground. The bungee cord begins to stretch and transfers the kinetic energy of the fall into elastic potential energy, slowing the jumper to a stop.The cord then pulls him/her back up as the elastic potential energy turns back into kinetic energy. The jumper then oscillates up and down until their energy is completely dissipated.

Objective

Grade Level

Simple Pendulum Motion

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Submitted by PocketLab on Fri, 06/02/2017 - 16:34

Exploration

A simple pendulum consists of a mass, m, hanging from a string of length, L, and fixed at a pivot point, P. When displaced from equilibrium and to an initial angle (amplitude, θ) and released, the motion will be regular and repeat. This is an example of periodic motion.

Objective

Grade Level

Properties of a Wave with Simple Harmonic Motion

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Submitted by PocketLab on Thu, 06/01/2017 - 19:41

NGSS Alignment: MS-PS4-1

The disciplinary core idea behind this standard is PS4.A: Wave Properties. It specifically looks at how a simple wave has a repeating pattern with a specific wavelength, frequency, and amplitude. The Crosscutting Concept, Patterns, looks at how graphs and charts can be used to identify patterns in data. By creating graphs of mechanical waves, using a PocketLab Voyager or PocketLab One with a simple pendulum or a mass on a spring, students can examine how the graphs created are modeling by the movement and energy of the pendulum or mass-spring system.

Subject
Grade Level

Magnetic Minesweeper

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Submitted by PocketLab on Thu, 06/01/2017 - 19:37

Exploration

In the Magnetic Minesweeper Lab, you will recreate the classic computer game Minesweeper in real life! Using PocketLab’s magnetometer, you will try to discover hidden mines and mark their locations on a grid. You can do this lab with two people to create a Minesweeper competition. One partner hides mines in different grid locations while the other partner tries to locate the mines to not get blown up!

Objective

Grade Level

How does distance affect the strength of a magnetic field?

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Submitted by PocketLab on Thu, 06/01/2017 - 19:31

NGSS Alignment: MS-PS2-3

The disciplinary core idea behind this standard is PS2.B: Types of Interactions. It specifically looks at electric and magnetic forces and how they can be attractive or repulsive, and how the size of the force can depend on the magnitudes of the charges, currents, or magnetic strengths involved. The strength can also depend on the distances between the interacting forces. 

Grade Level

Magnetic Field in a Slinky

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Submitted by PocketLab on Thu, 06/01/2017 - 19:27

Exploration

Until the late 1800’s, electricity and magnetism were regarded as separate forces. A number of scientists, including Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell, made important discoveries which led to our current understanding of electricity and magnetism. The interaction between positive and negative charges is, in fact, one force, the electromagnetic force, which results in both electrical currents and magnetic fields.

Grade Level

Projectile Motion of an Object

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Submitted by PocketLab on Thu, 06/01/2017 - 19:22

Exploration

When an object is in free fall, the only force acting on the object is gravity. In general terms, an object moving upward is not considered “falling,” however, if gravity is the only force acting on the object (air resistance being negligible) then the object is in fact in a state of free fall. The projectile motion of an object is the trajectory of an object in free fall near Earth’s surface after being thrown or launched in the air. The curved path of the projectile is under the effect of gravity only after being launched.

Grade Level

Introduction to Free Falling Objects

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Submitted by PocketLab on Thu, 06/01/2017 - 19:15

Exploration

Galileo Galilei is often considered one of the founders of modern science. This is because he investigated questions through experimentation and observations. One of his most famous experiments involved dropping cannonballs of different mass to determine whether they would accelerate to the ground at different rates.

Grade Level

Energy Transfer: Kinetic Energy to Thermal Energy

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Submitted by PocketLab on Thu, 06/01/2017 - 19:09

Exploration

The law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant. Over time, all energy is conserved. It is neither created nor destroyed-instead it transfers from one form to another. When shaking a jar of sand, what happens to the temperature of the sand? Explore how this relates to the law of conservation of energy.

Objective

Grade Level

Potential Energy to Kinetic Energy Experiment: Gravity

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Submitted by PocketLab on Thu, 06/01/2017 - 19:05

Energy Transfer Experiment: Gravitational Potential Energy to Kinetic Energy

Does a falling object have potential energy or kinetic energy or both? In other potential energy experiments, we demonstrated the Law of Conservation of Energy: energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but instead, energy transfers from one form to another. In this investigation, we will take a look at the role of gravity in energy transfer.

Subject
Grade Level

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