Thornton has also agreed to act as a consultant on this, and his experience and expertise should be invaluable to us. Students record their predictions of the outcome on a Prediction Sheet. Peer discussion follows, with the students discussing their predictions in small groups.
Professor engages class, soliciting predictions and highlighting common predictions.
The experiment is run. Real data is recorded and plotted by the computer, with the results displayed graphically for all to see. Professor engages class, discussing what students say about their predictions and focusing in particular on any common misconceptions. Students record the results on a Results Sheet, which they keep. Professor discusses variations of the experiment and similar physical situations based on the same underlying concepts.