From Algodoo

[edit] MODEL THE PLAYGROUND

Target	Teacher: Key Stage 1 (5-7) This lesson plan is not intended to be handed out to students but to be used as a teacher preparation and tutorial.
Time frame	30-60 min

[edit] Description

The students are well familiar to the playground and there are many phenomena in that environment that can be examined making use of basic concepts in science. This lesson allows the students to explore the concepts of motion, push and pull, shapes and mechanisms, and relate these to well-known everyday phenomena. Furthermore, this lesson serves as an introduction to Algodoo and the scientific idea of modelling, i.e. the idea of representing the real world with a simplified model that can be examined to gain understanding and to make testable predictions.

[edit] Learning objectives

• Knowing about the concepts of motion, push and pull, weight and balance.
• The ideas of modeling, predicting and testing.
• Create computer models representing real or imaginary objects.

[edit] In class

Let the students make scenes in Algodoo of a playground, a favourite part of it or an outdoor toy. Let the students become familiar with the basic drawing tools to create different shapes. Guide the students also to make use of hinge, fixate, spring, chain, gears in their creations. Examine the scenes together with the students. Ask the students to describe what motions can be observed and their relation to push and pull. Ask the students to describe their mechanisms or toy and lead them to use the concepts of weight and balance. Try to use the models to make a clear prediction that can be tested in the playground. Will it work out? Ask the student to describe what differences there are between their model and the real world. The lesson can be followed up with a visit to the playground for testing the predictions. Another follow-up or extra exercise can be to invent a new playground using Algodoo. Let the students present their models for the class.

Create a scene

Create a plane. Draw the playground by creating objects of different shapes. Connect the objects using the tools for hinge, fixate, chain etc. to make them into mechanisms or toy that can be found in the playground.

Make a prediction

What makes the playground mechanisms work? Does the objects have to be pushed or pulled? What is the influence of weight?

Run/Interact

Run the simulation and interact with it.

Evaluate

Did the playground mechanism work as in the real world? Try to improve the model!