The Friday before Thanksgiving break, Ms. Leslie Drake’s AP Physics C classes conducted an interactive lab. Students tested how different sizes and weights of cans can affect the speed and distance in which they go.
“We are learning about slipping and the motion of circular objects, we are basically trying to see which can is the fastest one, and it kind of incorporates all of the notes that we have covered for the part unit,” Archit Kumar ‘15 said.
Through the lab, students were able to see how different aspects of an object affect the distance and speed of the object. Labs such as these help students learn about the unit in a different way.
“It’s a real world experience, and a real world application so [the students] get to take things like mass, the size of the can and things we’ve been talking about on paper, and then expand it to a real situation,” Ms. Drake said.
Students also feel that interactive labs like these are beneficial and a great different way of learning.
“This lab definitely shows us that it really matters in real life situations also,” Kumar said. “We always like doing stuff like this instead of just sitting and taking notes, because everyone finds that really boring at the end of the day.”
Usually labs have more calculation involved where students are sitting down and analyzing data, but this lab was more interactive.
“I think this is a more fun lab because it’s hands on and we get to see what happens, because some labs are more theoretical, or you imagine more,” Dana Hseih ’15 said.
Ms. Drake has been doing this lab with her class every year, because it helps students put what they are learning in class into an actual situation.
“When you can practically put something in somebody’s hand, and you’re not just seeing it on paper, but you’re seeing it come to life, you’re seeing that ‘Hey, yeah mass really does affect how fast you can get going,” Ms. Drake said.
Along with fun and learning, conducting this lab before Thanksgiving holiday allowed many of the students to donate their cans to the local food pantry.
“We end up with about a hundred canned foods that we donate to the food pantry over break,” Ms. Drake said.
