Students investigate the relationship between steepness and speed of randomly moving particles, modeled by small vibrating toys called HexBots.
This lab is a part of a larger sequence of labs designed to for an introductory physics course for life science students. In this activity, students film HexBots (small vibrating toys that move with random motion) moving around an arena, and then tilt the table and investigate the relationship between average HexBot speed and table tilt. Key ideas include students making decisions about how to responsibly trim video data, making decisions about data analysis, and deciding about a relationship between two quantities using a graph.
Students will learn to ...
Describe what evidence indicates that a model sufficiently describes experimental data in this experiment.
Develop a plan to collect and analyze data that would help you decide if the model is sufficient.
Justify experimental design decisions with evidence and revisit decisions as new evidence is generated, while maintaining transparency and scientific integrity.
Generate and explain the meaning of a data plot fitted with a simple physics model.
Compare two datasets and draw a conclusion about which (if either) is aligned with a simple physics model.
Experimentation Goals
These experimentation goals are most strongly represented in the explicit learning goals described above:
Student Decision Making
In this lab, students have the opportunity to:
Discovery
Determine results previously known to:
Duration
3 hours (1 lab)
Equipment Required
Implementation Tips
Any video camera works; we used retired document cameras. HexBots can be hard to find, but Walmart often stocks them. The tracking software can be made available; contact us if you want a copy. A version written in R is under development, if desired.
How This Fits in Your Course
This activity is the first lab in a semester-long HexBot investigation where students try to determine the "best" models for HexBot motion. It is based on work developed at Pomona and some physics research into how HexBots mirror active brownian motion particles.
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Charlotte Zimmerman
Natasha Holmes
Adrian Madsen
Lauren Bauman
CC BY-NC-SA
Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike. Others can share and adapt for non-commercial purposes, must attribute and share with the same license.
