Day One 

Materials: 2-3 CBL/Calculator motion systems

CBL Unit

Motion detector device

Graphing Calculator

Overhead display unit. 

Objectives:

Students will create graphs using motion so that they:

• develop a deeper understanding of graphic representation.
• become comfortable using the CBL system.
• can translate their own motion to match a predetermined graph.
• understand how speed, direction, and distance of their movement affects the graph.

Assessment:

• Student understanding will be assessed through direct observation as well as a short reflective writing assignment. 
  
   
  
  

1. Introduction: (5 min)

• Spend a little time telling students about what the CBL unit is, what it does, and how it works. If there is time, show them by using a CBL system that is connected to the overhead display. 
  
  

2. Getting a Feel: (10 min)

• Allow students some time to “play around” with the system, so that they can develop a sense for how their motion translates into a graph. Encourage them to try different directions, speeds and distances to see how this affects the graph. 
  
  

3. Gametime: (25 min)

• • Start by dividing the class evenly into 2 groups.
  • Present a graph to both teams and have each team simultaneously attempt to “walk” that graph.
  • The team that more closely matches the given graph, wins the option of whether they want to “give” or “receive” first.
  • For the duration of the game, teams will take turns, drawing a graph on the board, which the opposing team will then attempt to create with the CBL. If the team is able to match the graph “reasonably well”* they will receive the appropriate point value**. If they are unable to create the graph, the team that drew the graph on the board, must attempt to create it on the CBL. If they are successful, they receive the points, otherwise no one scores any points.

• • *”reasonably well” Students should not be expected to achieve a perfect match to the graph. Either the teacher must play judge, or appoint a panel of judges to decide whether or not an attempt is considered “correct”. Some things to consider are: How complex is the graph? Are the directional changes correct in number and order? Is the concavity of the generated graph the same as the given graph?  
    
    

• • **Point Values- 1pt.—Uni-directional Linear Graph

• • 2pts.—Uni-directional, Non-linear Graph

• • 3pts.—Multidirectional Graph 
    
    

4. Wrap-Up and Reflect (10min)

Students will provide a written response to the following: 

• “Write a paragraph describing how your motion translated into the graphs that were created. Some things to address might be; How did the direction of movement affect the graph and why? What about the speed of movement? How did the distance from the sensor show up in the graph?”