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Ramp of Zoom - 3D Printing and Ramps

8/13/2014

 
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This is a question from Chegg and I'm thinking that it's a pretty standard Physics problem; something that I remember doing when I was in high school.  There are a lot of good conversations that could come from this, but the question only begs for one precise response/outcome.  If "find the distance from the ramp" is the only question we're asking, we need to restructure, or bulldoze, the problem altogether.

Using Google Sketchup, I create a ramp.  It's ugly, and it is certainly not going to be the best design, but it allows me to demonstrate something that this problem couldn't.  It reminds me, in a way, of Dan's Makeover Monday.
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My wife says it looks more like a shoe than a ramp, and I agree.  Looking at this, though, I can do a lot more with it than that problem pulled from Chegg (and used throughout math/physics classrooms around the world).  Some examples:

  • Have students run trials of how far a ball travels
  • Have students run trials of the average velocity while on the ramp, overall, or once it leaves the ramp
  • Have students compete to see who can design a ramp to travel a specific distance
  • Have students compete to see who can design a ramp with a precise average velocity
  • ..... And soooooo much more

The main points to make in this are that the students are doing the majority of the investigation and learning and they are given a number of routes to take in order to meet their objective.  If you want the full lesson plan that goes with this, Airwolf3D should have it on their site relatively soon.  More importantly, I'm looking to make this a better lesson.  

What would you ask students to do?  

As of right now, the ramp is printing.  I've intentionally created it to be large so that I can test out the durability of the printer (it's supposed to take 11 hours to print) and I want a giant ramp so that I can revert back to my 6 year-old self and launch cars, balls, rocks, and other fun stuff with my two sons.  I'll add more pictures when it finishes up tomorrow.
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Until then, Happy Fishing.
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OK so it took a long time to print, and I made it wayyyyyy too big, but this was FUN!  Next up, I'll be spending about 8 years of my life (or until it breaks.  With my boys, and my desire to break stuff, it'll probably be a week) acting like a kid with my boys as we send all sorts of objects through the ramp of zoom :)
Dan Meyer link
8/24/2014 10:54:10 am

This is interesting. There are mathematical calculations. There are dynamical geometrical figures. Then there is 3D printed material.

All different media. All with different effects on how students can tinker and what they can learn.

I mean, once it's printed it's <em>printed</em>. It seems tough to go back on that one. I wonder what it would look like to use mathematical calculations to create a dynamic geometry model which students could test over and over again, generating a hypothesis, at which point they could print it out. Like the optimal angle for launching a skier.

I just don't think we want to rush straight to the printer, though I'm less certain what happens beforehand.

john stevens link
8/25/2014 04:18:02 am

Dan,

First, thanks for stopping by. The way that I'm thinking of this now is that kids would mess around with a bunch of angles, launching plenty of trial runs, before coming to what they believe is their optimal angle for the given distance. I'm hoping that it would be a fun way to hide a ton of math into a fun /trial & error/ experiment.

When would you see the printer being used? I would want variations in that angle to get plenty of data and have students compare and discuss, but I'm open to any further thoughts.

Dan Meyer link
8/25/2014 01:21:31 pm

The printed material seems like the most expensive part of the lesson, expensive meant in lots of ways, not the least of which is time. I guess I'd hope students would be sure they'd found the best answer to ... some question ... before they pressed print. I'm just not sure what that question is yet.

john stevens link
8/27/2014 12:59:13 pm

It will take anywhere from 4-7 hours to print, depending on how big the products are, but you can put 2 ramps into 1 print overnight, giving you 3 per day. To bring down print (and time) costs, maybe have a class vs class challenge with the top 2 designs once they've determined their optimal angle.

The bigger issue that you've pointed out is the question. What question can we ask, that can't be answered with a scripted response, that would make this whole project meaningful? This is something I'm still trying to wrap my head around. Any help on it would be greatly appreciated.


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