Review for:Vernier Motion Sensor

posted: on December 20, 2006 at 3:22PM

Physics

position and velocity vs. time graphs (motion)

I wanted the kids to have a kinesthetic (and hopefully better) understanding of how graphs related to motion.

(This is somewhat cross-posted to the LoggerPro software, but I am going to talk specifically about the PROBEware here.)

Intro or Regular

Students walked back and forth in front of the detector to match a page of position vs time graphs, and then match a page of velocity vs. time graphs.

Provides visualization or animation, Increases graphing skills, Increases student engagement and motivation, kinesthetic

The motion sensor starts clicking when it activates, making it easy to tell when to start moving. When it works it works FAST, allowing students to connect how they are moving to what is on the graph on the screen.

the motion sensor itself has a limited range. It is ineffective from 0 to 30 cm (it "spazzes," randomly assigning points that are not true.) It also sometimes cannot tell when something is farther than 2 meters or so. Students who are extra tall find that the MD on the table doesn't pick them up well (it's best if it is mid-torso level.) The sensor also occasionlly stops working under certain conditions. I think (though I have not done extensive testing) that the proximity and orientation to the logger pro and the computer (and possibly the power outlets) can sometimes mess up the data transfer and the MD communicates nothing to the software. That is annoying, but moving things around (farhter apart) and sometimes restarting usually clears up the problem.