Notes:
The Monkey and the Zookeeper Interactive is an adjustable-size file that displays nicely on smart phones, on tablets such as the iPad, on Chromebooks, and on laptops and desktops. The size of the Interactive can be scaled to fit the device that it is displayed on. The compatibility with smart phones, iPads, other tablets, and Chromebooks make it a perfect tool for use in a 1:1 classroom.
Teaching Ideas and Suggestions:
This Interactive is intended for use near the beginning to middle stages of a learning cycle on projectile motion. When used with the provided activity page, the Monkey and Zookeeper Interactive provides an engaging experience with an intriguing question. The question (Where should a zookeeper aim his banana cannon if s/he wishes to launch a banana to a monkey that drops from a tree-limb the moment the banana is launched?) The concept that emerges from the experience is that the monkey falls from the tree branch at the same rate that the banana falls below the straight-line, gravity-free trajectory.
Related Resources
There are numerous resources at The Physics Classroom website that serve as very complementary supports for the Monkey and Zookeeper Interactive. These include:
- Minds On Physics Internet Modules:
The Minds On Physics Internet Modules include a collection of interactive questioning modules that help learners assess their understanding of physics concepts and solidify those understandings by answering questions that require higher-order thinking. Assignments VP7, VP8, VP9, and VP10 of the Vectors and Projectiles module provide great complements to this Interactive. They are best used in the middle to later stages of the learning cycle. Visit the Minds On Physics Internet Modules.
- Curriculum/Practice: There is a single Concept Development think-sheet at the Curriculum Corner that would be very useful in assisting students in cultivating their understanding. It is named
Projectile Motion
Visit the Curriculum Corner.
- Labwork:
Simulations should always support (never supplant) hands-on learning. The Laboratory section of The Physics Classroom website includes several hands-on ideas that complement this Interactive. Six notable lab ideas include ...
Basketball Analysis
Launcher Speed
Projectile Problem-Solving I
Projectile Problem-Solving II
Maximum Range
Hit the Target
Visit The Laboratory.
- Science Reasoning Activities:
Science classrooms should be filled with reasoning activities. There are three related activities in the Projectiles section of the Science Reasoning Center that will challenge students to employ close reading, data analysis, and logical reasoning. The activities are named ...
Up and Down
Maximum Range of a Projectile
Juggling
Visit the Science Reasoning Center.
Additional resources and ideas for incorporating the Monkey and the Zookeeper Interactive into an instructional unit on projectile motion can be found at the
Teacher Toolkits section of The Physics Classroom website. Visit
Teacher Toolkits.
Credits
The Physics Classroom would like to extend a special thanks to Nerd Island Studios for the creation of this HTML5 Interactive. Visit
http://www.nerdislandstudios.com to see more great stuff by Nerd Island Studios.