Final+Project+-+UPT

Beth Grimes Emily Bowers Professor Stephanie Shteriman EDU566-S70 25 April 2011

Final Project: Universal Planning Tool

** WORKING TITLE ** Saving a Life—With Physics!

** CONTENT STANDARDS ** (according to []) The curriculum area is 11th ﻿ ﻿ grade physics in the Connecticut school district. During their second unit, students will discuss: Scalars and Vectors; Kinematics (Motion); Newton’s Laws of Motion; Energy, Work and Power; Impulse and Momentum, and Universal Gravitation. This one and a half week long project aims to cover the following content standards:
 * Students will calculate the velocity and acceleration of a moving object.
 * Students will determine the velocity and displacement for objects under constant acceleration.
 * Students will learn to use and organize strategies for solving motion problems.
 * Students will use Newton's Laws of Motions in solving problems.

** INFORMATION LITERACY/ INQUIRY STANDARDS/ 21ST CENTURY SKILLS ** The following AASL 21ST Century Learner Standards being implemented in this unit project: 1.1.5 Evaluate information found in selected sources on the basis of accuracy, validity, appropriateness for needs, importance, and social and cultural context. 1.1.6 Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g. textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning. 1.4.3 Monitor gathered information, and assess for gaps or weaknesses. 2.1.1 Continue an inquiry-based research process by applying critical-thinking skills to information and knowledge in order to construct new understandings, draw conclusions, and create new knowledge. 2.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to analyze and organize information. 2.2.3 Employ a critical stance in drawing conclusions by demonstrating that the pattern of evidence leads to a decision or conclusion. 3.2.3 Demonstrate teamwork by working productively with others. 3.3.4 Create products that apply to authentic, real-world contexts. 4.1.8 Use creative and artistic formats to express personal learning. 4.3.1 Participate in the social exchange of ideas, both electronically and in person.

** ESSENTIAL QUESTION ** How can you apply the principles of Newton’s second law, force and acceleration due to gravity, collision, and resilience to save peoples’ lives?

** PURPOSE ** As we all know, Japan has just suffered a terrible earthquake and they are in desperate need for supplies. You work with a health organization as an engineer and it is your job to deliver the much-needed resources to the people of Japan who are stranded with nothing. However, because of the severe damage and potential health risks involved, we cannot safely deliver the materials to people any other way besides an airdrop. Your task is to figure out the safest way to drop medical supplies in Japan, without breaking/causing damage to them.

To simulate this task, students in teams of two will design and construct a type of container that will keep a raw egg from cracking when dropped from increasing heights, i.e. the classic “Egg-Drop” experiment, taking into account of course, the physics involved. Each team must drop their structure 3 times to ensure stability and durability. The first successful drop earns teams a score of 20/25, two successful drops earn teams a score of 23/25, and three successful drops earn teams a perfect score: 25/25. However, the egg drop is only part of the grading--the student's blog/wiki, poster, reflection paper, mathematical rationale for the design, and job responsibilites within the group are also counted.

The break-down of grades are as follows:

Egg-Drop.......................................................................25pts Blog/Wiki.......................................................................25pts. Poster & Mathmatical Rationale....................................20pts. Reflection Paper............................................................20pts. Job Responsibilites/Peer Review.................................10pts.

In pairs, students will assign themselves the following responsibilities (you **__must__** do more than one):


 * 1) Journal Writer (one person):
 * 2) Presenter (one person):
 * 3) Egg Dropper (one person):
 * 4) Landing Crew (one person NOT the egg dropper):
 * 5) Disposal/Clean up (all team members):
 * 6) Poster (all team members)

** JOB DESCRIPTIONS ** __Journal Writer__ : You must turn in a neat, well-written pre-drop analysis on egg drop day that discusses how you engineered your device and how it works in terms of **impulse, acceleration, terminal speed,** and **momentum.** You will work with your partner to generate ideas, explaining why the design will work, and detailing the physics behind the design to support your thinking. Explain the role of each part of the design and why you chose to construct the materials as you did, as well as relate concepts of **impulse** and **force** to your design structure. __ Presenter __ : The presenter, on the day of the drop, will describe their teams design and express how the materials were handled and how their unique design will be likely to protect their egg. __ The Egg Dropper __ : The teacher will be dropping all designs from the roof with the team’s egg dropper to ensure safety (and that the structure is properly “dropped”). The egg dropper is responsible for making sure their structure is dropped at the same height as their classmates (and thus not throwing off the calculations). They are also responsible for going down and retrieving their structure from their group member to do 2 more drops. __ Landing Crew __ : This person (can’t be the egg dropper) is responsible for the removal of the egg from the structure so that the teacher can check the condition of the egg after falling. __ Disposal/Clean Up __ : The teams of two are to clean any mess that might be made in the egg drop. __ Poster __ : Before egg drop, the entire team must make a poster for your egg capsule design (which the presenter will present on the day of the drop). You must label all parts of the structure/diagram. The diagram requirements: ** Note ** As engineers, anyone should be able to use your drawings as a blueprint to reconstruct your apparatus for their own use, so make sure it is clear and detailed! ** Important ** __**ALL**__ students will be gathering and calculating data (mass, time, velocity, momentum, force) on the drop day, that will be completed and turned in with the poster and reflection paper.
 * Neat (use ruler)
 * Detailed
 * Labeled parts
 * Drawn to scale
 * Indicate material
 * Multiple views if necessary (inside/outside or top and side)

**__OBJECTIVE(S)__** Students will 1. Show their understanding of the concepts: gravity, momentum, force, velocity, terminal speed. 2. Understand how air resistance, or air friction, can slow down the acceleration of a falling object. 3. Work together to implement physics strategies and concepts to ensure the safety of an egg as it falls from a predetermined height. 4. Chronicle their process through a blog or wiki, communicating effectively with their team member to come up with possible designs concepts, hypothesize about their sustainability (the design), defend their rationale with mathematical proof, and then reflect on the work and how they could have improved on their design. 5. Solve problems involving rate as a measure (e.g., velocity, acceleration).

** WORK HABITS ** Students must follow directions, manage time, organize work, work collaboratively, attend to detail, and think creatively and critically. Students must follow directions and complete work in a timely manner. They will be working in pairs on designing a structure for their egg, so they must come in every day with their materials and be ready to work. They must communicate with their teammate outside of class by either maintaining a blog or wiki—they need to discuss/brainstorm design ideas, create designs, consider the mathematical equations and implications involved in their designs, form hypothesis of the success of their designs and select one to work on in class. This is trial and experiment for the teams, so they must communicate both in school and out. They must also communicate well with each other—since they are sharing ideas and designs, they must be respectful of their partners work, and as they collaborate, they must veto designs in a fair and “nice” manner. No put downs, or insults on others differing ideas. Thinking creatively and critically is essential to success for this unit—students are being asked to design different structures to house their eggs—they must think of all possible outcomes and ensure that their reasoning and rationale is sound and backed up with scientific information and mathematical equations. Both teacher and library media specialist will be on hand for questions and advice/guidance. The teacher especially, will be available to model mathematical equations to those that are struggling.

** THINKING SKILLS ** All students are being asked to take on the role of an engineer to complete this task, but they will wear many hats in the course of this assignment. First and foremost, as engineers, students will need to //summarize// the task at hand, //calculate// what needs to be done by analyzing the challenge, //comparing// differing designs that they devise, //hypothesize// which will work best, and then //justify// their thinking to their group. Once they have decided on a design, they will //construct// the egg structure, //revising// as problems crop up, and then //evaluate// the results on the day of the egg drop: did their structure survive? Students will also make //anologies// between this experiment and other real-world situations.

As journal writers, half the students in class students will turn in a pre-drop analysis of how the device was engineered. They will //identify// the problem, //describe// their thought process behind the designs, //apply// their thinking/design to the physics involved, //justify// their rationale and //support// it with mathematical citations, and then //evaluate// their thinking and //rate// their success on the day of the egg drop.

As the presenter, the other half of students will //describe// how the materials were handled and what their expectations are of the egg drop. They will //defend// their positions, //list// the different methods of their design process, //justify// their group’s thinking, and //identify// any errors that they came upon and resolved during the process (for this, the designs must be tested prior to the drop, the data collection processed, and changes made).

All students will add to their prior knowledge of velocity, terminal speed, gravity, acceleration (as we’ve been discussing it all unit) and make connections to those concepts through this egg drop. They will have to revise their thinking (if their egg drop was unsuccessful), support their design (if successful), and evaluate their work as a group overall. All students will be required to write reflection papers and consider: Did you achieve the purpose of the lab? What happened when it was dropped? What worked and what didn’t work about design? How could you improve your design? Also, they will have to explain the process—why did your team ultimately end up with the design it did? Did you support your team(s) thinking—why or why not? What other designs did you (and your group) consider? Why weren’t they pursued? In hindsight, do you think any of your other discarded designs would have been (more) successful? Students will also be asked to "rate" their teammates performance in a separate grading rubric provided by the teacher in addition to the reflection paper. Finally, students have to identify other real-world scenarios that relate to the egg-drop experiment.

** FORMATS OF PRODUCTS AND/OR PERFORMANCES **
 * schematic with calculations
 * apparatus to protect the egg
 * rationale for your design
 * chart of drop information
 * revisions you would make to the apparatus
 * real life situations in which you could use this knowledge
 * blog/wiki chronicling the design/thought process
 * poster of the egg designs structure for class presentations
 * reflection journal

** Materials for the egg drop ** (and **__ONLY__** these materials listed): · One 8.5" x 11" sheet of copy paper   · 15 straws    · 15 Popsicle sticks    · 100 cm of string    · 100 cm of masking tape    · 5 rubber bands    · One raw egg Masking tape cannot directly cover more than 20% than the surface of the egg. (Wrapping the entire egg in tape to prevent it from breaking is not allowed).

** AUDIENCE ** The teacher, classmates (both in physics and those with free-periods), faculty, librarian, American Red Cross and/or other philanthropic organizations, and people on the web (looking at the student blogs/wikis)

** ROLE OF LEARNER ** Scientist, engineer, citizen, detective, inventor, and eye witness (they are all witnessing the egg drops and the outcome).

** INSTRUCTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS ** Teams of two are assigned to complete the egg drop assignment. They will be required to create the apparatus, schematic, rationale, and chart together, as well as keep up a blog/wiki of their progress. They will create a poster board together as well, detailing their design. Each student will be required to individually take on a role(s) for the project as outlined, participate in revisions and consider real life situations. An individual reflection paper, evaluating their group effort, how/why they were successful, what could have been done differently, etc. will also be required.

** ACCOMODATIONS ** This is an 11th grade, physics elective class. All students participating in this class are here because a) they have reached a high level of achievement and understanding of scientific and mathematical concepts, b) because they like/excel in science and want to explore more challenging material. With that consideration, most are high level learners, motivated to do well and achieve success on their own. However, to meet the needs of all students, accommodations must be considered and addressed.

In keeping with that, heterogeneous pairings will be carefully selected by the teacher so that different skill levels are met. For example, a higher level learner will be paired with a lower level learner, to ensure that each work to help each other every step of this process. For those students/pairs that would like to be challenged further (or they complete their egg-structure ahead of schedule), extra mathematical equations will also be provided upon request. For struggling students/pairs, the mathematical equations can be modified, or they can be allowed to not complete as many as required. If students are still struggling, the teacher will model some the equations for those that need it while the rest of the students work on their designs and completing the assignment in their pairs.

For students struggling with the poster and journal (either because their hand writing isn’t “neat” as set forth in the requirements, or they are an ELL student), they can use the computer for help with the diagrams and journal writing. Or, in the case of the ELL student, if he/she is assigned to give the oral presentation for their group, they can give it privately to the teacher beforehand, and/or on the day of presenting use power point slides to guide their speech, or use a pre-recorded video.

The teacher will also be available during class, before school, and after school throughout this entire process to answer any and all questions or problems that may arise. In conjunction with the librarian, the teacher will also monitor the blogs/wiki to offer suggestions and help, and monitor student progress.

** TECHNOLOGY/RESOURCES SUGGESTED **
 * Books
 * Experiments with Motion by Robert Gardner
 * Mechanics Fundamentals by Robert W. Wood
 * The Story of Scienct: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim
 * Force and Motion by Kyle Kirkland
 * Magazines
 * The Science Teacher
 * ODYSSEY Magazine
 * OPAC
 * Blog/Wiki
 * Computers
 * Internet
 * @http://tinyurl.com/3er2kb5
 * @http://tinyurl.com/BillNyeGravity
 * []
 * []
 * []
 * []
 * []
 * []
 * Britannica online
 * Volunteer helicopter pilot
 * PowerPoint
 * Pen/Markers
 * Paper
 * Labels
 * Motion video, Minds on science series

** COLLABORATIVE TEACHING ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ** LMS
 * Schedule library time with the teacher
 * Demonstrate how to use OPAC to find books, magazines, and videos relating to the project
 * Demonstrate how to properly cite sources used
 * Assist students in finding sources
 * Help with set up of blogs/wikis
 * Respond to student blogs/wikis answering questions and offering advice
 * Help teacher come up with accommodations for students
 * Place unit resources on moveable carts for classroom use
 * Contact a local helicopter pilot or cargo plane pilot to speak with the students

Teacher
 * Implement the project: identify project, goals and planned outcomes.
 * Create a multimedia product (website) that kids will link their individual blogs/wikis to for the duration of the project (the LMS will help the teacher with this).
 * Teach lessons on: gravity, terminal speed, acceleration, Newton’s second law, gravitational acceleration, collision, and resilience before the start of the project, but will offer mini lesson refreshers throughout the duration of the project should such needs arise.
 * Schedule computer lab and library time with the LMS
 * Assist students in finding sources
 * Monitor presentations
 * Grade the final project and presentation
 * Provide modeling of mathematical equations
 * Help in the “egg-drop” to ensure safety
 * Provide materials for the egg drop
 * Give homework
 * Respond to blog/wiki entries offering questions/advice
 * Give assignment due dates
 * Create assessment tools/rubrics.
 * Find an area to perform the egg-drop

** TIMELINE ** This unit will occur over the period of eight classes or one and a half weeks. The first day will be in the library, where teacher first explains the project to students and puts them in pairs. The LMS demonstrates how to use OPAC, how to start a blog/wiki, and students have time to research and/or work on the mathematical implications of the project. They assign each other roles in their groups, and get to work figuring out the design concept that they want to experiment with.

Over the course of the next week, students will work on collaborating with their partner to draw and design a structure to support their egg. They will work on it both in school and out (on their blog/wiki), keep a journal/log of their progress (what has been successful, what hasn’t), present their findings, work on the mathematical equations used to support their designs, create a poster to show an in depth look at their egg structure (labeled, with multiple viewpoints), create their schematic and make calculations based on their idea, build the actual apparatus, drop the egg and the student-made design, record their findings in a data chart, and then write a reflection. The reflections will include: why they created their structure, what worked/didn’t work, how they would do it differently; and they will apply their thinking and results to the real-world situation in Japan—would their theories work on a larger scale? Students will, on the last day of the project, discuss the overall experience of the egg drop and share their thoughts and/or share what they would do differently if given more time.


 * BREAKDOWN OF SUGGESTED TIMELINE** (Eight classes or one and a half weeks)

Day 1 – (LMC) The teacher explains the project to students and puts them in pairs. The LMS demonstrates how to use OPAC, how to start a blog/wiki, and students have time to research and/or work on the mathematical implications of the project. They assign roles to each group member and figure our the design concept they want to experiment with. Day 2 – (Classroom) Students create their schematic and make calculations based on their idea. The teacher will make available the necessary materials for beginning to build the structure, should students find that they would like to try experimenting with their design concepts. Day 3 – (Classroom) Students start building the actual apparatus and finalize calculations from the previous day. The LMS drops by to make sure that everyone understands how to use a blog/wiki, and answers any questions they may have. The LMS could also take aside those students that are the presenters in their group and offer them suggestions for how to present. The LMS could also help the students that need accomodations (either for a power point, or a pre-recorded video for their presentation) by either showing them how to work with the aforementioned programs and/or making available the technology. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Day 4- The students are given time to continue working on their egg structure and work collaboratively on their poster. They must remember to bring in their poster supplies to make good use of their time. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Day 5- Teacher gives a review of the entire unit as students continue to collaborate out of school through their blog/wiki, and keep a journal of their progress. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">WEEKEND - Students test their apparatus at home and make changes and mathematical corrections. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Day 6 - (Classroom) Final day to work on the project in class. Students finalize all materials such as apparatus, journal, and poster. Those that are presenting the next day will be given the opportunity to go down to the library to work with the LMS to finalize their presentations. If they don't need the LMS's help, they can still use the time to practice their speech. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Day 7 – (Classroom/Drop Site) All presenters will present their posters to the class before going outside. Students drop their apparatuses with the egg from increasing heights and record this data in a chart. For homework that night, students will be asked to write a reflection paper on the experience. They will post it to their blogs/wikis (so that the other students in class can read them) and hand in a hard copy the next day as well. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Day 8 – (Classroom) During the first half of class, the class discusses the overall experience of the egg-drop experiment and hand in their reflection paper. The teacher will share some real-life examples from students’ blogs. Before the unit is complete, students will also be given a rubric to score both their performance, as well as their partner's, to hand into the teacher. This culminating project will serve as their final assessment of the unit.

<span style="background: white; display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; text-align: center;">Works Cited <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">American Association of School Librarians. "Standards for the 21st Century Learner." //AASL: American// // Association of School Librarians //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. <http://tinyurl.com/blkh3k>.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">"NHPS Physics Curriculum Overview." //NHPS//. New Haven Public Schools, 2001. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><http://www.newhavenscience.org/physicscurr.htm>.