Science Reasoning Center - Circular Motion
You have reached the Construction Zone. As of April 1, 2023 the redo of our Science Reasoning Center was elevated to our top priority. We should have a large amount of content ready by August 1, 2023. We release content once it is ready, allowing teachers to preview and to test our latest creations for potential adoption into their curriculum and unit planning. You can stop by periodically to view our progress. It will be like watching a skyscraper being built ... only more exciting. You can also keep abreast of our developments by a periodic visit to the
What's New at TPC? page.
The
Legacy version of the Science Reasoning Center can be found
here.
Learn more:
About the Science Reasoning Center.
The following activities are planned for our Grand Opening. Once construction is completed, we will include a link to the activity:
Weightlessness Training
This activity presents information regarding NASA's effort to train astronauts to become accustomed to weightless sensations. Information is presented in the form of a graph, a photo and a diagram. Questions target a student's ability to interpret a graph and a diagram in light of a body of text, to select data values from a graph, to identify conclusions that are consistent with a model, and to translate information from one graph to another graph.
Roller Coaster Loops
This activity presents data that compares a circular loop and a clothoid loop on a roller coaster, thus comparing the effect of loop shape, loop radius and initial drop height upon the speed and the G forces experienced by riders at the top and the bottom of the loops. Data is presented in the form of two figures and two data tables. Questions target a student's ability to identify the effect of one variable upon another variable, to compare data points from different tables, to interpolate and to extrapolate from data in a table, to draw conclusions that are consistent with the provided data, and to use provided data to evaluate the safety issues surrounding projected loop designs.
Kepler's Law of Harmonies
This activity describes an exercis in which students analyze period-radius data for the orbit of the (traditional) nine planets. The information is presented in the form of a data table and six different graphs of period and radius raised to various powers. Questions target a student's ability to understand the linear regression process, to recognize patterns in the data and graphs, to identify the relationship between the two variables, and to use the relationship to make predictions about the radius ratio or period ratio for planets in a fictional solar system.