Projectilemotion
Launch Projectilemotion directly in Tracker Online, or download the TRZ video-analysis package for mechanics.
1. Watch or Launch
Launch the Interactive
Open the simulation, adjust the controls, and compare what changes on screen before answering the concept-check questions.
2. Big Ideas
What Students Can Learn
- Calibrate distance and time before trusting the graph.
- Choose a consistent tracking point on the moving object.
- Use position-time and velocity-time graphs to describe motion.
- Treat scatter and fit quality as evidence of uncertainty.
Guiding Question
How do the tracked points and graphs support a claim about the object's motion?
3. Try the Investigation
Calibrate the Video
Set the scale and frame rate or time reference before reading graph values.
Choose the Track Point
Track the same point on the object in each frame to avoid introducing false motion.
Read the Graphs
Compare position-time and velocity-time patterns to decide whether motion is constant, accelerating, or changing direction.
Evaluate the Model
Look for scatter, missed frames, or outliers before writing the final motion description.
4. Teacher Notes
Lesson Use
Use Tracker resources as authentic data modelling tasks. Students should explain how the video became data, not only describe the motion qualitatively.
Discussion Prompts
Ask: Where is the origin? What point was tracked? Which graph gives the strongest evidence for acceleration? What uncertainty comes from the video?
Teaching Moves
Require a claim-evidence-reasoning response using a graph feature: slope, curvature, intercept, or scatter.
5. Concept Check
These questions are generated from the topic and the concept illustrated by the simulation. Use them after students have explored the model.
Concept Score
Correct first attempts build a streak and unlock higher point multipliers on this device.
1. What must be set before a Tracker video can give meaningful distances?
2. Why track the same point on the object?
3. What does the slope of a position-time graph represent?
4. What does a curved position-time graph often suggest?
5. What should students include in a Tracker conclusion?
Expert Challenge
Unlocks after 3 correct concept-check answers on this page.
1. A tracked ball has a slightly curved position-time graph, but a student concludes constant velocity from the video alone. What is the best feedback?
2. Why is choosing the same tracking point on the object important?
3. A Tracker graph has scattered points around a fitted straight line. Which conclusion is strongest?
4. What does setting the scale in a video analysis mainly affect?
5. A student gets different accelerations depending on the origin chosen. What should you check first?
7. Learning Pulse
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