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  • What Will Happen to the Weight?

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about weight. The probe is designed to determine whether students recognize that the gravitational force on an object, and thus its weight, is the same…

  • Experiencing Gravity

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about gravity. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that gravitational force is universal and that it works on every object in the…

  • Free-Falling Objects

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about how objects with different masses (or weights) behave in free fall where air resistance is negligible. The probe shows whether students can relate…

  • Gravity Rocks!

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about gravity. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that objects closer to the center of Earth's mass experience the greatest…

  • The Tower Drop

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about Earth's gravity. The probe is designed as a thought experiment to determine whether students recognize that Earth's gravity pulls falling objects…

  • Pulley Size

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about pulleys. The probe is specifically designed to find out whether students think the size of a pulley has an effect on how much easier it is to lift…

  • Following Jack: Part 2

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of the assessment probe is to determine whether students can translate a motion diagram into a graph—a position versus time graph—to represent the motion of a moving object.

  • Rescuing Isabelle

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas related to pulleys and mechanical advantage. The probe is specifically designed to investigate student intuition about tension, which is another name for…

  • Cutting a Log

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about center of mass. The probe is specifically designed to see if students recognize that when an object is balanced on a fulcrum, it does not mean that…

  • Balance Beam

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about balancing. The probe is specifically designed to see if students recognize that objects with different weights (or masses) can be balanced using a…

  • Lifting a Rock

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about levers and fulcrums. The probe is specifically designed to determine whether students can differentiate between the concept of force and the…

  • Bicycle Gears

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about gears. The probe is specifically designed to determine whether students use the concept of gear ratios.

  • Checking the Speedometer

    Book Chapter |

    One of the primary difficulties that students experience in determining the speed of a moving object is differentiating between quantities and changes in quantities. The purpose of this probe is to examine students' use…

  • Speed Units

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to determine whether students recognize that there is a variety of measurement units, described as ratios, that can be used to express average speed, even though some units may…

  • A Crisis of Crabs

    Book Chapter |

    It is easy for ecology to degenerate into lists of vocabulary words and isolated concepts, leaving students without an appreciation for the complexity of ecological systems. This chapter is designed to help students…

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