Teacher Demonstration
Use the live model as a shared screen demonstration before students try their own predictions and observations.
Physics / Newtonian Mechanics
Vertical Spring Simulator
Explore Vertical Spring Simulator as an interactive EJS simulation for mechanics.
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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.
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2. Big Ideas
Key idea Tracker model building is a cycle of proposing a motion or force model, setting parameters and initial values, and checking the model track against measured video data. The model is useful only when its assumptions are made visible and compared with evidence.
What Students Can Learn
- Identify the measured track and the model track before comparing them.
- Read parameters, initial values, and force functions as assumptions in the model.
- Adjust one model parameter at a time and observe whether the fit improves.
- Use overlays, graphs, and residual mismatch to justify whether the model is plausible.
Guiding Question
Which model assumptions explain the measured motion, and what evidence shows that the model is a good or poor fit?
3. Try the Investigation
Inspect the Model
Open the Model Builder and read the model name, parameters, initial values, and force functions.
Predict the Track
Before changing values, predict how the model should move if its assumptions are correct.
Compare Fit
Run or overlay the model against the tracked data and compare path, velocity graph, or mismatch.
Revise Carefully
Change one parameter or force function at a time, then explain whether the evidence improved the model fit.
4. Teacher Notes
Lesson Use
Use this as a scientific modelling activity rather than only a video-analysis task. Students should state the model assumption, test it against data, and revise it if necessary.
Discussion Prompts
Ask: What is measured and what is modelled? Which parameter has physical meaning? Which force function or initial value controls the model behaviour? Where does the model fail?
Teaching Moves
Require a claim-evidence-reasoning response: the claim names the model, the evidence cites the overlay or graph, and the reasoning links the parameter or force function to the physics.
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.
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Answer each question once to build your streak.
1. What is the purpose of a Tracker model-builder track?
2. What do parameters and initial values represent?
3. Why change one model parameter at a time?
4. What evidence should be used to judge the model?
5. What makes a strong model-building conclusion?
Expert Challenge
Unlocks after 3 correct concept-check answers on this page.
1. A model matches early frames but drifts away later. What is the best next step?
2. Why is a model with a named force function more than a curve fit?
3. What should students report when two models both look reasonable?
7. Learning Pulse
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