[IAEP] Physics

[Caryl Bigenho]

Hi Gary,

Yes, for younger students giving them the options to choose materials they know would be better than giving them numbers they wouldn't understand (they would be nice in a more advanced level).  I know kids find the Activity fascinating just as it is, but I am looking forward to seeing what else you will do with it.

Caryl

> CC: iaep at lists.sugarlabs.org; asafpm at gmail.com; bcjordan at gmail.com
> From: gary at garycmartin.com
> To: cbigenho at hotmail.com
> Subject: Re: [IAEP] Physics
> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:00:42 +0100
> 
> On 30 Jun 2009, at 17:21, Caryl Bigenho wrote:
> 
> > Hi All,
> >
> > I sent this yesterday, but it got filtered out by some machine since  
> > I didn't send it as a "reply".  So I am sending it again today.
> >
> > This is the "old science teacher" in me talking...I think the  
> > Physics Activity has great potential for getting students interested  
> > in Physics and in thinking like scientists.  I watched a 13-year-old  
> > girl play with it at the Bozeman LUG meeting last week.  She loved  
> > experimenting with the shapes to see what they would do.
> >
> > How do scientists think and work?  They observe, take notes, make  
> > predictions (hypotheses) test them, and repeat.  This program is  
> > perfect for that!  We need someone to design some simple experiments  
> > tied to curriculum goals that will help students of various levels  
> > enjoy "playing scientist" with the Physics Activity as they learn a  
> > tiny bit about physics and a lot about thinking like a scientist.
> 
> Many thanks for the feedback! :-)
> 
> > I haven't played enough to know what all is included in the  
> > Activity.  Does it have, for example, the option of changing the  
> > "material" an object is "made of"?
> 
> In the latest release (Physics-2), no, there is no user-interface for  
> trying different materials, though this is on my list of things to  
> explore. Keep in mind that (I think) Physics should have as simple a  
> user interface as possible, so young kids just play. But, I'll likely  
> try a few mock-ups where the current set of buttons have hover  
> palettes for additional (advanced) options – like Paint does (just  
> click a brush and start painting, hover over the brush button and you  
> get some more settings for size and shape).
> 
> Currently all objects have the same material settings:
> 
> 	density=1.0
> 	restitution=0.16
> 	friction=0.5
> 
> So we have these variables to potentially expose in the UI, or perhaps  
> wrap them up into some pre-set materials (rock, rubber, wood, iron,  
> type thing)?
> 
> Regards,
> --Gary
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