What ideas do students have about tension and balancing?
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Research suggests that students have both productive ideas about and difficulties with forces. What ideas do students have about tension and balance?
July 2, 2018
Pedagogy Content- Attending to student ideas
Physics Content- Newton's laws
Instructor Interaction ✓
Transcript, discussion questions, and problem
(2 MB)Specific Lesson Guide
Facilitator's guide for this lesson
(1 MB)General Facilitator's Guide
Background and best practices
(186 MB)Video
Captioned video
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Sample Discussion Prompts
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What did you observe in this episode? Talk to your partners about what you saw.
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What is Daphne’s idea about what the masses will do?
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What is April’s idea about what the masses will do? What does April say Daphne’s idea is?
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What does Blair say is “against physics”? What do you think she means by that phrase?
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Blair asserts that “the question’s deceptive,” and Logan agrees. What do you think they mean by that?
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Blair concludes that “whatever was holding B wasn't exerting any force on it; it was just touching it.” Explain her idea.
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What evidence in the episode shows you that Logan (the LA) understands the students’ ideas (or does not understand them)?
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What student ideas about tension and balance are indicated in this episode?
