Active Learning Activities

Running on Water: Activating Prior Knowledge of Static Equilibrium

Students watch, discuss, then analyze the veracity of a video in which hydrophobic shoes allow people to run on water.

Physics Worksheet Based Activity

The aim of the activity is the application of concepts and math to solve complex problems.

Group Problem Solving with Show and Tell

Students learn to build a conceptual model describing a Mechanics-based situation and practice mathematical problem-solving.

Model Building

Students learn to build a conceptual model describing a situation involving an accelerating charged particle.

Circuits: Card Sorting With Multiple Representations (E&M)

Students develop their ability to reason about physics concepts in terms of multiple representations, beyond just equations.

Electrostatics: Card Sorting With Mutiple Representations (E&M)

Students associate configurations of charges with their characteristics from word, diagram & graph representations.

Name that Molecule! / Nommez cette Molécule!

The Right Tool for the Right Job

This activity encourages students to consider the nature of a chemistry problem and to identify the tools to solve it.

If You’re Not Part of the Solution You’re Part of the Precipitate

Managing Major Weather Hazards in Recreation

Students in this activity, create & perform a skit to demonstrate how a group should respond to various weather events.

Forget the Math! Draw Pictures to Learn the Wave Theory of Light

Race for the Hat!

Bottle Rocket Tracker

Using video and Tracker software, students learn to analyze and fit equations of motion to raw data.

Forces Scavenger Hunt

Lenz’s Law

Chemicards

Using cards in a "Chemicard' deck, students determine which ionic compounds are most likely to form.

Explosives Detective

Motion Diagrams

In this activity, students learn to create and interpret motion diagrams using a notebook file in interactive whiteboards.

Area Under the Curve

In this activity, students learn about the relationship between position and the area under a velocity-time curve.

Projectile Tracker

Students use the Tracker software to analyze projectile motion to determine which equations fit the plots produced.

Energy Tracker

Students learn to analyze data using spreadsheet programs and gain a deeper understanding of conservation of energy.

Newton’s Third Law