Pendulum Lesson Grade Level: Any with modifications Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to understand that math

ath can be used to find patterns. Students will be able to determine if patterns are linear or not Students will be able to use those patterns to accurately predict outcomes o A sub outcome here is that students will learn to recognize the shapes of graphs/patterns to help them determine which graphing technique holds the most promise for finding a straight line. o And determine what those patterns are algebraically

Materials: 5 to 10 washers Rulers Protractors String Stopwatches

Key Question: What pattern can we find between the pendulums period and other variables. Below is the traditional format for an inquiry-based lesson based on The Learning Cycle. Engagement: Hold up the pendulum for everyone to see. Put the pendulum in motion and ask students 1) What do they notice about the pendulums motion (lead them to the idea that the motion repeats)? and 2) What can they measure? What are the variables? Explore: Give no instructions to the students, but set a time limit and let them go at it. Monitor the students as they design their experiments. Are they only changing one variable at a time? How are they measuring the period (it is easiest to let the pendulum repeat the motion several times and divide it by the number of motions). Also encourage the students to not just take data but do it purposefully. So, if you want to see if the mass matters then do a big mass and a small mass. If the period doesnt change, it is probably safe to say that mass doesnt matter. This saves time and then they can move on to a different variable. If the period does change, then they can go back and measure the period for the masses that they skipped.

Explain and Elaborate: 1. These two are sort of combined in one because students will need some guidance to get to the idea that this is not a straight line fit or pattern. Come back after the time limit and discuss the following: 2. What are the variables that affect the pendulums period? How do they know? 3. After students have experimented and found the variable that effects the period of a pendulum, have them go online to the PhET Colorado site and play around with the pendulum and change the variables to see what happens to the period of the pendulum. http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/pendulum-lab Give them the challenge problem: What is the period of pendulum that is 2 m long? Have them describe their reasoning that they use to get their prediction. Two important notes: 4. First: make sure that the strings they have are a length that is at least two times smaller than what the Challenge question is asking for. This way, they cant test the answer before making a prediction. 5. Second: Many of them may think that this curve is really a straight line. It does look straight if they havent taken too many data points yet. The upshot of this is that they will make predictions that are way too big for the period of a pendulum of two meters. That is good. 6. Have students report their predictions with their reasons. 7. Set up a pendulum that is two meters in length and measure its period; compare to student predictions 8. Now students should feel a sense of disequilibrium since they cannot accurately period the period. Give them some guidance here: o Use a previous example for data that they collected and the pattern was a straight line. Suppose that is a volume displacement verses number of marbles added graph. Say to the students, remember back to the prediction that you made for the number of marbles needed to cause water to spill out of the graduated cylinder. Why were you able to make that prediction? Hopefully students will say that because the pattern was linear or something similar to that. o The upshot here is that we want to find a linear pattern from a curved one (which is what the pendulum is). But how? You will need to give them guidance. Try plotting or making a table of T verses L, or T verses L, or 1/T versus L, etc. This should be done using Microsoft Excel so that students can not only generate charts, but also create accurate. Have students continue this until they find a linear pattern. This will show students an accurate prediction and allow them to find the model. o Once they find the pattern that is linear, have them use it to predict the 2 meter pendulums period. This should be fairly accurate. The period should be around 2.8 seconds.

Evaluate: Give students another data set. Have them create charts and graphs with Excel and decide if they are linear or not. Ask students reflect on why they did this experiment and exercise (lead them to the idea that not all patterns are linear to begin with and one can tell by looking at how the data increases, they also have a new way to find patters by finding different formulas).