Energy Skate Park
Screen shot from the PHET Energy Skate Park simulation.
Students experiment with an online virtual laboratory set at a skate park. They make predictions of graphs before they use the simulation to create graphs of energy vs. time under different conditions. This simulation experimentation strengths their comprehension of conservation of energy solely between gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy
During this activity, student predict behavior before they discover the real behavior of the man in a virtual skate park. This application gives them context for learning about potential and kinetic energy. Predicting the behavior of something based on prior knowledge is an important skill for engineers. When engineers are designing, they make predictions about how structures, devices and processes will function before they build them. This activity helps students develop this very important skill.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Apply their background knowledge to begin solving the challenge.
- Relate kinetic energy with gravitational potential energy and heat energy.