Living Physics Portal: Telling the story - Modeling forces problems

Abstract: To develop complex problem solving skills, students need to learn to develop a coherent story about what the situation in the problem is, what the mechanism is, and what physics principles are appropriate to apply. This can be challenging for students who have been successful in science through memorizing answers and simply plugging numbers into equations. This part of the module contains 11 problems that require "telling the story" of what's happening, matching the physics to the math, and developing a solution path in the context of particular forces (gravity, viscous, electric), many with a biological context.

Resource Types: Homework, Instructor supplement, Restricted access

Commercially available in:

ExpertTA

Authors:

Edward Redish (he/him)

University of Maryland, College Park

NEXUS Physics

Living Physics Portal Team

TOPICS

Physics Topics:

Classical Mechanics > Applications of Newton's Laws, Gravity, Motion in One Dimension, Motion in Two Dimensions, Newton's First Law, Newton's Second Law, Newton's Third Law

Life Sciences Topics:

Biomechanics > Locomotion and Gait

Human and Animal Physiology

Molecular and Cellular Biology

Chemistry Topics:

Intermolecular Forces

Math Topics:

Algebra; Geometry; Graphical Analysis; Trigonometry

FILES Download0

Telling the story - Modeling forces problems

Ball falling in oil.pdf

Balls up.pdf

Counting charges.pdf

Effect of molecular shape on molecular forces.pdf

Electric field hockey.pdf

Free-fall acceleration.pdf

Propelling a paramecium_ 1 -- Equations and graphs.pdf

Realistic spring graphs.pdf

The faster fall.pdf

The spring of DNA -- FBD.pdf

With a grain of salt.pdf

Ball falling in oil.url

Balls up.url

Counting charges.url

Effect of molecular shape on molecular forces.url

Electric field hockey.url

Free-fall acceleration.url

Propelling a paramecium - 1 - Equations and graphs.url

Realistic spring graphs.url

The faster fall.url

The spring of DNA -- FBD.url

With a grain of salt.url

Ball falling in oil.pdf

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INSTRUCTOR GUIDE

IMPLEMENTATION

Equipment required: Computers / software

Specific equipment needed: A computer and web access is required to access the problems on line, but they can be printed and distributed on paper.

Basic implementation tips & tricks: We frequently ask students to explain what's happening, both in in-class discussions and when providing help. Many have learned to hate "word problems" and fight hard to get you to "just give them the answers". Going meta can help — discussing that real life expertise may look automated, but it's built over years of experience and having good stories. This is especially true of medical diagnosis.

How does this resource fit into the flow of your course? After introducing students to stories in the context of Newton's laws with toy model conditions and general forces, we give some of these problems — ones that depend of the functional dependence on particular forces and are in biologically relevant contexts.

PEDAGOGY

Pedagogical approach: Collaborative problem-solving; Conceptually-oriented activities; Context-rich problems; Mathematically-focused activities

Skills / Competencies: Multiple representations; Estimation; Intuition building; Building models; Evaluating models

What insights or realizations do you hope students gain from this resource? that solving mathematical problems in science, especially complex ones, is greatly facilitated by first thinking about what's happening — telling the story: understanding the physics principles that are relevant, and considering the mechanism of what's going on.

Why is this resource useful to life sciences students? Life science students often have developed the sense that much of science is about memorizing facts and procedures. This limits severely what they take from their later science courses and produces barriers to their developing strong scientific reasoning skills. This is particularly important for pre-health care students who may diagnose patients without considering context or mechanism. Such superficial diagnoses contribute significantly to medical error and unnecessary deaths.

DISCUSSION

SUBMISSION DETAILS

License: CC BY-NC-SA - Attribution, No Commercial uses and Share Alike. Derivative works must have the same license.

Last Edit Date: January 21, 2025