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Middle School

PocketLab/Ozobot LIDAR Demonstration

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Submitted by Rich on Fri, 07/06/2018 - 23:05

Introduction

LIDAR—an acronym for Light Detection and Ranging—is a method for remote sensing to measure distances.  While LIDAR commonly uses reflected laser light to accomplish this, students can investigate LIDAR principles by using Voyager’s IR rangefinder in conjunction with Ozobot Evo.  Ozobot is a tiny programmable robot that can follow lines.  In this activity, PocketLab Voyager is mounted on top of Ozobot.  While Ozobot t

Grade Level

Voyager Rides an RC Car for Summertime Fun

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Submitted by Rich on Wed, 06/20/2018 - 18:18

RC Car Fun!!!

Here is a fun summertime activity!  Race an RC car with PocketLab Voyager. Challenge your friends to see who can negotiate a series of cones in the shortest amount of time without hitting any of the cones.  Start and end times are obtained by Voyager's magnetometer as the RC car passes by magnets.  

PocketLab/Phyphox Tracer Lab

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Submitted by Rich on Thu, 06/07/2018 - 18:08

Introduction to this Lab

This is a quick and fun lab for makers!  In this lab, a pair of PocketLabs and Phyphox software are used to make a tracer.  As shown in Figure 1, the pair of PocketLab Voyagers are mounted to a small movable rectangular piece of plastic, perpendicular to one another and parallel to two edges of the plastic.  A small black circle is taped to the plastic to serve as the point for following the item to be traced.  In our example, a five-pointed star is traced.  One of the Voyagers is labeled X, and it

Subject

What causes the seasons?

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Submitted by PocketLab on Tue, 05/22/2018 - 17:41

What causes the seasons on Earth? 

Background Information

Weather is always changing. Humans have been dividing up the year based on these changes in weather for thousands of years. A division of a year based on weather is called a season. Different regions of the Earth have different names for seasons and different types of seasons. The most common seasonal names used are Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Linear Motion - Match the Graph Activity

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Submitted by PocketLab on Mon, 05/07/2018 - 21:52

Matching a Graph with Linear Motion

Background Information

In the PocketLab activity Modeling Linear Motion - Position, Velocity versus Time, we learned how graphs can be used to model an object’s motion. In that activity, a cart was pushed up a ramp and PocketLab’s rangefinder measured its change in position and velocity vs. time as it traveled up the ramp, changed direction and came down the ramp. The graphs modeled the cart’s direction of movement and speed.

Grade Level

Modeling Position, Velocity vs. Time

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Submitted by PocketLab on Tue, 05/01/2018 - 19:16

Lab Activity: Modeling Linear Motion with Position and Velocity vs. Time Graphs

Introduction:

This lab activity helps in understanding how measurements of an object's motion can be modeled in position and velocity vs. time graphs. Velocity is a vector measurement that gives an object’s speed and direction of movement. If a cart is pushed up a ramp, it will experience many changes in velocity that can be observed and measured.

Grade Level

PocketLab HotRod Ramp: A Study in Rotational and Translational Motion

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Submitted by Rich on Mon, 03/26/2018 - 01:31

This project will get your physical science/physics students involved in a number of Next Generation Science Standards, particularly in the NGSS science and engineering practices.  This investigation provides a nice opportunity for the students to (1) suggest hypotheses, (2) design an experiment to test their hypotheses, (3) analyze and interpret their data, and (4) use principles of physics to explain their observations quantitatively.

Grade Level

PocketLab Voyager/Wonder Gears: An Experiment on Gear Ratios and Angular Velocity

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Submitted by Rich on Mon, 03/12/2018 - 03:10

Gears date back many centuries and are extremely useful since they can change the direction imposed by a source of power, as well as torque and speed.  This lesson describes an experimental study of the relationship between gear ratio and angular velocity by using PocketLab Voyager and Wonder Gears.    Wonder Gears is listed for ages 3+, with this lesson heavily emphasizing the “+” part of the description—since this lesson is perfect for junior high students aged 12 through 14.  This is one of the many advantages of Po

Grade Level

Head-on Collision versus Crashing Into a Wall

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Submitted by Rich on Sat, 02/24/2018 - 03:56

 

Let’s imagine two scenarios:

1.       Two identical vehicles, each of whose speedometers reads 50 mph, travel toward each other and experience a head-on collision.

2.       Another identical vehicle, traveling at 50 mph, hits an unmovable, unbreakable and impenetrable rock wall.

Which collision is more severe from the viewpoint of one of these vehicles?

Color and temperature of objects

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Submitted by PocketLab on Fri, 02/09/2018 - 20:39

Introduction:
On a hot, sunny day, would you rather wear dark or light-colored clothes? Have you ever walked across dark pavement barefoot on a hot day? How did that feel? Would you rather walk on the dark pavement or a lighter colored sidewalk along green grass? In this experiment you will investigate how the color of objects can affect it’s temperature. 

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