I have used a few problems similar to problems suggested by Dr. Barbara Dutch of University of Delaware in my physics classes. Unlike the standard Ranking Task Exercises, which involve static paper drawings, our new RTEs involve Physlet animations, which students can access over the web. Examples of such Physlet-based Ranking Task Exercises will be presented. In drivers' education courses and motorcycle riding training classes, instructors often warn students that a vehicle's braking distance increases with the square of the vehicle's velocity. For example, an automobile traveling 50 mph takes four times as far to stop as one traveling 25 mph.
Students then perform a hands-on, braking distance activity to substantiate their analysis.
This presentation will describe the braking distance model and present student results obtained with an automobile, bicycle, and motorcycle. Using some of the methods discussed at our Summer AAPT Meeting, I hope to help every area in our region start a plan to contact and dialog with every teacher who teaches physics. The first two involve preparation for known questions and the last is a quiz bowl contest. Students who take the time to prepare for these events learn team skills, and get a chance to represent their school at various levels of competition. There is no direct answer to this rhetorical question.