Brief segment of class period (< 20 mins)
In this reading activity, students read the assigned reading on Edx and observe 6 scenarios given of rain falling on a house (the angle/number of the windows varies as does the angle of the rain). Students then give an equation out of words of how much rain would end up in the house. After the real equation is given, the concept of field vectors is introduced. Finally, in class, the instructor introduces Gausses Law which they have seen analogously in the house scenarios.
The aim of the activity is to prepare for future learning, noticing salient features and paying attention ...
Read More +In this reading activity, students read the assigned reading on Edx and observe 6 scenarios given of rain falling on a house (the angle/number of the windows varies as does the angle of the rain). Students then give an equation out of words of how much rain would end up in the house. After the real equation is given, the concept of field vectors is introduced. Finally, in class, the instructor introduces Gausses Law which they have seen analogously in the house scenarios.
The aim of the activity is to prepare for future learning, noticing salient features and paying attention for example to the relation between the field lines and the area. This activity benefits the students as it gives students analogies to instinctually come to the more abstract physics law.
Read Less -
Students are introduced to Gauss’s law and have done so in a way that they build the equation themselves.
Published: 05/07/2022
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