Each group* needs:

• pendulum, composed of soft string, a bob (a heavy object) and a fixed support structure (tripod, table or chair) to which the string is tied (or tied to a screw attached to the support structure)
• video camera, such as the camera in a smartphone or tablet; alternatively, use a wireless camera (although more expensive)
• turntable platform to hold and rotate the video camera, assembled from LEGO components, as shown in the Experimental Setup Build Photos (and Figures 1, 6 and 7); LEGO components include a servo motor connected to an intelligent brick, plus chassis, axle, wheel and a gear where the chassis is mounted; alternatively, use some other device capable of rotating the camera
• LEGO EV3 Servo Motor, available at http://shop.lego.com/en-US/EV3-Large-Servo-Motor-45502
• LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Intelligent Brick, available at http://shop.lego.com/en-US/EV3-Intelligent-Brick-45500
• Foucault Pendulum Pre-Activity Survey, one per person
• Foucault Pendulum Worksheet, one per person
• Foucault Pendulum Post-Activity Survey, one per person

*If only one LEGO EV3 brick is available, share the brick among teams, or build only one Foucault pendulum and turntable experimental setup and conduct the activity as a class demonstration.

To share with the entire class:

• LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 robot, such as EV3 Core Set (5003400) at https://education.lego.com/en-us/products/lego-mindstorms-education-EV3-core-set-/5003400
• LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 Software 1.2.1, free online, you have to register a LEGO account first; at https://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/downloads/download-software
• computer, loaded with EV3 1.2.1 software, and three provided LEGO programs installed: servo_control_speed1.ev3, servo_control_speed2.ev3 and servo_control_speed3.ev3
• USB cable
• projector to show the class the Visual Aid and video clips recorded during the experiments
• larger pieces of paper and tape, onto which tracings can be made from the projected videos

Note: This activity can also be conducted with the older (and no longer sold) LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set instead of EV3; see below for those supplies:

• LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robot, such as the NXT Base Set
• LEGO MINDSTORMS Education NXT Software 2.1
• computer, loaded with NXT 2.1 software, and three provided LEGO programs installed: servo_control_speed1.rbt, servo_control_speed2.rbt and servo_control_speed3.rbt