{"id":3370,"date":"2017-08-08T15:12:55","date_gmt":"2017-08-08T22:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/?p=3370"},"modified":"2017-08-08T15:18:12","modified_gmt":"2017-08-08T22:18:12","slug":"t-gem-and-buoyancy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/2017\/08\/08\/t-gem-and-buoyancy\/","title":{"rendered":"T-GEM and Buoyancy"},"content":{"rendered":"

TLDR; \u00a0We designed and flew a helium balloon probe and studied the complex system of forces through PHeT simulations. \u00a0I’d conclude that age and stage of the students matters a lot, making the teaching of “real world” science to K-10 a unique challenge requiring more than good simulations.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

This summer I ran a STEM program with a colleague.\u00a0 One of our projects was to make a cheap, simple aerial probe using Helium balloons.\u00a0 The ultimate goal was to send various probes to collect data at inaccessible heights in the area around the school.\u00a0 Jacobsen and Wilensky (2009) describe a complex system as having many interacting parts that are interdependent.\u00a0 With no fewer than five independent parameters, this certainly qualified!\u00a0 Our first probe (by student preference) was a camera.\u00a0 We ran the lesson in five parts, loosely following a T-GEM model of exploring and modifying a model.<\/p>\n

Lesson 1:\u00a0 What is buoyancy?<\/p>\n

In groups, students defined buoyancy, and tried to describe the model by which it worked, using words and pictures.\u00a0 Everyone agreed that buoyancy acts upward, but there was a split as to what causes the upward motion.\u00a0 Competing theories included reduced gravity, air pushing up, and helium pushing up.\u00a0 Given ten balloons each, groups had to measure and report how much buoyancy each balloon offered, in units of their own choosing.\u00a0 Most went with things like \u201cpaperclips\/balloon\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lesson 2:\u00a0 Balloons and Buoyancy<\/p>\n

We discussed standardized units and the SI system from the previous class.\u00a0 Students were given access to the PHeT module \u201cBalloons and Buoyancy\u201d<\/a> and asked to answer the question:\u00a0 What parameters can you control to make the balloon have the most buoyancy? \u00a0This activity was difficult to use\u2014the display had too many options for them, but they did eventually agree that a cold, external heavy species gas, and hot, light species balloon gas was the best combo.\u00a0 As Stephens and Clement (2015) note, hands on the keyboard sometimes means mind elsewhere, and students often need heavy scaffolding to use these simulations effectively.\u00a0 We tried \u201cpairs programming\u201d in which students work in pairs, which seemed to help. \u00a0Stephens and Clement (2015) also suggest that student generated questions can be very effective.<\/p>\n

Lesson 3:\u00a0 Actually Flying the Balloons<\/p>\n

We determined how many balloons were required for our load, and flew a balloon camera.\u00a0 It was awesome.\u00a0 Students agreed that our model of how much lift we should get was less than expected.\u00a0 Also, wind complicated our model.\u00a0 We collected observational and height data.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lesson 4:\u00a0 Buoyancy as a Force<\/p>\n

We agreed that based on observation, many things were pushing on the balloon at the same time.\u00a0 We used PHeT a second time, with another buoyancy simulation<\/a>. \u00a0This time, students were asked to name and describe the forces pushing on the blocks, and how to maximize the buoyancy.\u00a0 They seemed unbothered by the fact that it was blocks in water, not balloons in air.\u00a0 Everyone figured out to minimize the mass, and maximize the volume.\u00a0 Nobody referred to this in terms of density.<\/p>\n

Lesson 5:\u00a0 Putting It All Together<\/p>\n

In designing our second probe, students were asked to list all the parameters that the system depended upon, and how to optimize them.\u00a0 This was compared to their Lesson 1 drawings and definitions, and they had a discussion about the difference.\u00a0 Ultimately, they did embody that buoyancy is actually the combination of many forces. \u00a0They could show physically how to control buoyancy. \u00a0They could not, however, make the words come out. \u00a0It is hard to say if this is problematic. \u00a0Most of them identified buoyancy as the central controlling force that acted upward. \u00a0While true from an outside perspective, it lacks granularity or a casual link between buoyancy and forces with other origins.\u00a0 On the positive side, most of them agreed that they had not considered that more than one force could be acting at the same time, which is perhaps the beginning of a \u201cstrong\u201d or \u201cradical\u201d conceptual change (Jacobsen and Wilensky, 2009).\u00a0 The second probe flew better, but had very wobbly footage because of the winds.<\/p>\n

Q: \u00a0When is the best age\/stage to engage in more complex systems?
\nQ: \u00a0If students are motivated by real phenomena, but studying that phenomena is complex, is there a high quality middle ground?<\/p>\n

Friedrichsen, P. M., & Pallant, A. (2007). French fries, dialysis tubing & computer models: Teaching diffusion & osmosis through inquiry & modeling. The American Biology Teacher, 69(2), 22-27.<\/h5>\n
Jacobsen, M. & Wilinsky, U. (2006). Complex systems in education. Scientific and educational importance and implications for the learning sciences. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 15(1), 11-34.<\/h5>\n
Stephens, A. & Clement, J. (2015). Use of physics simulations in whole class and small group settings: Comparative case studies. Computers & Education, 86, 137-156.<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TLDR; \u00a0We designed and flew a helium balloon probe and studied the complex system of forces through PHeT simulations. \u00a0I’d conclude that age and stage of the students matters a lot, making the teaching of “real world” science to K-10 a unique challenge requiring more than good simulations. *** This summer I ran a STEM […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49895,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1669400],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c-information-visualization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49895"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3370"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3374,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3370\/revisions\/3374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}