SCEN 102 Seasons and Lunar phases group activities

As a group, think back to the various occasions on which the phases of the moon have been discussed. Which of the following activities was HELPFUL to your learning? Please check all that apply, and circle the one which was the MOST helpful:

____ Keeping the lunar log

____ Discussing the lunar log in discussion section

____ Reading about the lunar phases in a book

____ Actually doing the demonstration with a light source and a tennis ball

____ Watching Harry do the demonstration with a light source, tennis ball, and video camera

Describe why the activity which you circled was helpful to students in your group.

For the review session (May 20 at 4 P.M. in room 131 Sharp Lab): List one or two questions which you would like to see me address during the review session.

Group number ____

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points. Place a check mark in the box if this particular group member brought a round ball so you could see the lunar phases demonstration - this earns you two additional participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

SCEN 102 Where is the Earth in Space? NAME: ________________

For our last class, my plan was to wrap up the various things that have been done in discussion section or lab on the phases of the moon and on the seasons. For me to plan this class most intelligently, I need to know what the class understanding of these issues is. You will be given five participation points for filling out this questionnaire as an individual, whether or not your answers to the questions are correct. You will have an opportunity to earn five MORE participation points by discussing these questions as a group and filling out answers to similar questions. Use the back if you need to, but I'm not looking for a lengthy explanation.

Why is it warmer in the summer and colder in the winter?

Did you participate in the discussion section where you analyzed different models for lunar phases? Yes No

If you did participate, did you personally hold a tennis ball up to the light and see the way in which the tennis ball was illuminated? Yes No I don't understand this question

Who was your discussion TA? Shipman Zhe Ma

Did you participate in the laboratory where you explored different reasons for the seasons?

Yes No My lab is Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, and I haven't had it yet

Who is your lab TA? Jit "J" Datta Jingbo Cai Sue Gleason Harry Shipman

SCEN 102 Group Work May 10, 2001

Discuss as a group your answers to the following two questions, and write down the group consensus (if there is one). If your group cannot come to consensus, record the individual answers - and you do not need to identify which group member agrees with which individual answer.

Why does the moon show phases?

Why is it warmer in the summer and colder in the winter?

When is your lab time? ________

Group number ____

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

SCEN 102 5/2/01

Group worksheet

1. Talk about the limitations of the overhead star method of finding your way around the earth. If you know of a way to overcome these limitations, write it down here. If you don't know of a way to overcome these limitations, write it down here. If you haven't a clue, say so.

2. Suppose that your group is helping the Delaware Natural History Museum put up an exhibit on Polynesian wayfinding. A panel at the end of the exhibit will summarize its meaning. The following two suggestions have been submitted:

"The Polynesians did not know science, but their wayfinding schemes did permit them to sail long distances across the Pacific Ocean."

"The Polynesians viewed the earth as the center of the Universe. Because their wayfinding was so successful, we must regard their view of the Universe as being as correct as the Western view in which the sun, the center of the solar system, is on the outskirts of a rather ordinary galaxy."

Does your group feel that either of these sentences describes Polynesian wayfinding in a reasonable and fair way? If not, construct your own sentence that describes it. Use the back if you need to.

PLEASE TURN OVER TO WRITE YOUR ANSWER>>>>>>>

Answer to #2: What words should be in a summary of Polynesian wayfinding?

Evaluation of this activity (PLEASE DO NOT FILL IN UNTIL THE END OF CLASS)

Should this activity be included in the class in future years? (Circle one)

Yes, definitely Yes, with changes Maybe Probably not Definitely not

What were the most interesting features of this activity?

How could this activity be most improved?

Group number ____

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

SCEN 102 4/26/01

Rachel's Cube (numbers only)

1. What did you observe about the cube?

2. What patterns did you notice, when you observed the cube?

3. Based on #2, predict what is on the bottom.

Rodger's Cube (numbers and names)

1. What did you observe about the cube?

2. What patterns did you notice, when you observed the cube?

3. Based on #2, predict what is on the bottom.

Group number ____

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

SCEN 102 4/10/01

Harry will be going a demonstration at the front of the classroom. When you get this sheet, it will have been done once. This demo can be done many times. Just ask Harry.

1. What happened?

2. Can your group come up with a possible explanation of why the flame go out?

3. Is there anything you need to know about combustion - a learning issue - that will help you come up with an explanation of why the flame went out?

4. Can you suggest an experiment which Harry can do which will determine whether your answer to #2 is correct? (Harry will do some of these experiments).

Please turn over... there are more questions ------->>>>>>>>>

5. Can your group come up with a tentative explanation of why there was an explosive ignition afterwards? (This IS a challenging one.) You may want to look at question 6 first.

6 Natural gas, methane, floats on air. If methane floats on air, what does that do to the mixture of gases inside the Pringles can?

7. Can you think of an experiment which Harry can do safely which can test your explanation given in question 5?

8. What did you learn from this sequence of activities?

Group number ____

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

SCEN 102 - Group Report for 4/3/01

Discuss as a group the activities which we did for the electricity section of the course.

Think of the activity which the group members collectively learned the MOST from. What was this activity and what did you learn?

Are there any big electricity questions in your mind? ]

Group number ____

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

SCEN 102 - Group Report for 4/3/01

Discuss as a group the activities which we did for the electricity section of the course.

Think of the activity which the group members collectively learned the MOST from. What was this activity and what did you learn?

Are there any big electricity questions in your mind? ]

Group number ____

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

Group Worksheet for 3/20/01 SCEN 102

At the end of the previous class, students were asked to choose which one of four models for electricity best represented their conception of how "electricity" flowed through a circuit. The four models are illustrated in a picture on the reverse side of this sheet.

When your group starts work on this problem, I will have demonstrated how we can use measurements of the current in this electrical circuit in order to show that model A does not agree with observations. Your group has been assigned to come up with a way of testing the other three conceptions of electricity (see list below). For the conception which has been assigned to your group, come up with a way of testing whether this model is correct.

Group Assignments for Circuit work

1D, 2C, 3B, 4D, 5B, 6D, 7B, 8C, 9D, 10D, 11B, 12D, 13B, 14B, 15C, 16B, 17D, 18C, 19B, 20D, 21B, 22D, 23C, 24D, 25D, 26D, 27C, 28D, 29D, 30B, 31D, 32B, 33D, 34D, 35B, 36B, 37D, 38B, 39D, 40D, 41B, 42D, 43B

1. Devise an experiment which can determine whether or not the conception that has been assigned to your group is the correct conception for the flow of electricity in a circuit.

2. I will then perform several of the experimental tests which have been suggested. What do these experimental tests say about your conception of the way "electricity" flows in a circuit?

Is your assigned conception correct? If not, which conception is correct?

Group Number ______

Names of the Individual Group Members:

______________ _______________ ______________ _____________

______________ _______________

Signatures of group members, acknowledging that each was actually present and contributed to the work of the group.

______________ _______________ ______________ _____________

______________ _______________

SCEN 102 - Group Report for March 15 2001

What did you observe in the electricity demonstration in class today?

What is the explanation of what you observed? Why did you see what you saw?

Do you know of, or can you guess, a general principle or law of electromagnetism which is suggested by the observation that you made? Check the box according to whether your group knows that this principle is true more generally, or is being guessed at:

Know that this principle holds more generally.

We are guessing that this principle is true more generally.

Group number ____

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

SCEN 102 - Group Report for March 13 2001

Why did the fuse blow when it was directly connected to the battery, and why did it not blow when it was connected to the battery and the light bulbs? Try, if you can, to come up with more than a generalized explanation - see if you can work the concepts of current, voltage, and resistance into your explanation.

Group number ____

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

SCEN 102 - Group Report for March 8 2001

Why did the fuse blow when it was directly connected to the battery, and why did it not blow when it was connected to the battery and the light bulbs? Try, if you can, to come up with more than a generalized explanation - see if you can work the concepts of current, voltage, and resistance into your explanation.

Group number ____

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

SCEN 102 - Group Report for Feb 27 01

1. Draw an energy chain which describes what happens to the kinetic energy of the dump truck in the rear after it hits Wendy Layton's Saturn car.

3. The Saturn ad clearly implies that Saturn automobiles are exceptionally safe cars. Does the story in the advertisement justify this claim? If so, describe how. If not, describe what else you would ask for in order to believe the claim that the Saturn is an exceptionally safe car.

SCEN 102 - Group Report for Feb 22 2001

Barrier Crash Problem:

1. Many groups reported earlier that there was a force on YouDee at the moment that the cart hit the barrier. Looking at your speed-time graph, does your group believe that there is a force on YouDee? Why or why not?

2. Answer the question you are given on the Barrier Crash problem.

Bouncing Balls mini-problem:

3. Follow the instructions you are given - if we have time to do group work on this mini-problem.

Group number ____

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

SCEN 102 - Group Report for Feb 20 2001

1. Please check here to verify that your group has exchanged email addresses: ______

2. In the view of your group, how important is it that we have mapped the Human Genome? I realize you may only be guessing but, when it comes to seeing into the future, even the experts are guessing to some extent.

Barrier Crash Problem

3. Sketch distance-time and speed-time graphs for the cart (assume it is frictionless) and YouDee.

4. Identify on your speed-time graphs when there are forces acting on the cart and on YouDee.

Only worry about forces acting in the horizontal direction... don't worry about gravity.

Group number ____

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

SCEN 102 - Group Report for Feb 15, 2001

Fossil Footprints, page 3: The rest of the footprints will now be revealed.

1. Finish the distance-time and speed-time graphs for both creatures. Sketch them below. (These do not have to be exact, quantitative measurements).

2. In the view of your group, what do you think happened?

The Barrier Crash Problem.

all we got to was asking for a description of what happened.

3. Sketch distance-time and speed-time graphs for the cart (assume it is frictionless) and YouDee.

4. Identify on your speed-time graphs when there are forces acting on the cart and on YouDee. (We may not have time to get to this.)

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

SCEN 102 - Group Report for Feb 13 2001

Fossil Tracks Problem, page 2:

I have just consulted with Dr. Richard Donham, a dinosaur expert of the Math-Science Education Resource Center at the University of Delaware (this is a real person). He tells me that palentologists have understood the motion of the creatures who made these footprints well enough so that we know that each of them makes one pace every 0.2 seconds. There is a ruler available which is scaled to the actual set of fossil footprints.

1. What measurements should be made so that we can produce accurate, quantitative distance-time and speed-time graphs?

2. The instructor, with some help, will make those measurements. Now construct an accurate speed-time and distance-time graph. Do this on the back of this sheet, where there is some graph paper to help you.

Fossil Footprints, page 3: The rest of the footprints will now be revealed.

3. Finish the distance-time and speed-time graphs for both creatures. Sketch them below. (These do not have to be exact, quantitative measurements).

4. In the view of your group, what do you think happened?

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

SCEN 102 Minute Paper 2/12/01 NAME (print):________________

You earn two participation points by filling out this paper and writing your name in the space above, sufficiently clearly that I can READ IT.

Reflect on the first three large classes of this course, and any discussion sections and laboratories which you have participated in. Answer the two questions below. If you have limited time, the second question is the one which I am most interested in.

In your view, what has been the MOST INTERESTING learning experience that has occurred in those classes?

What is the BIGGEST QUESTION in your mind about the course so far? Or, put differently, how could these classes have been MOST IMPROVED?

SCEN 102 Minute Paper 2/12/01 NAME (print):________________

You earn two participation points by filling out this paper and writing your name in the space above, sufficiently clearly that I can READ IT.

Reflect on the first three large classes of this course, and any discussion sections and laboratories which you have participated in. Answer the two questions below. If you have limited time, the second question is the one which I am most interested in.

In your view, what has been the MOST INTERESTING learning experience that has occurred in those classes?

What is the BIGGEST QUESTION in your mind about the course so far? Or, put differently, how could these classes have been MOST IMPROVED?

SCEN 102 -- Group Report for February 8^th 2001

The Fossil Tracks Problem

1. Looking at just the left hand part of the graph, describe in words the motion of the two creatures.

2. Draw distance-time and speed-time graphs which describe the motion of the two creatures.

3. (We will only do this if we have time.) Look at the whole picture. Draw a distance-time and speed-time diagram for the creature which left the larger footprints. What do you think happened in this situation?

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

SCEN 102 Beginning Energy Activity - the Bowling Ball (2001)

Form groups with the people you are sitting with.

1. Observation: Describe what happened at the front of the room. Do not worry about whether these observations are relevant to the topic of physics. If you would like me to repeat the demonstration, please ask.

2. Analysis. Why did the bowling ball do what it did? You will be given credit for a serious attempt to answer this question, whether or not your attempt is correct.

3. In the space below, follow the instructions given you for step 3. Use the back if necessary.

4, Evaluation. This is a somewhat unusual way to start a course. Should I start the course this way in future years? (Circle one)

Yes, definitely Yes, with changes Maybe Probably not Definitely not

What were the most interesting features of this way to start a class?

How could this activity be most improved?

NAMES OF THE GROUP MEMBERS. If your name is readable you earn 5 participation points.

______________ _______________ ______________ ________________________

Each group member should sign the lines below, certifying that that person was present and participated in the group discussion.

SIGNATURES OF GROUP MEMBERS

_____________ _______________ ______________ ______________

_______________ ______________ ______________