In this activity, students investigate the acceleration of falling objects by observing objects of different masses and surface areas as they fall. They build a computer model to represent the relationships they observe, and they use the model to test various hypotheses.

TEACHER RESOURCES Teacher Materials Student Activity Student Assessment Learning Goals/Standards COMPUTER MODEL PC Format Mac Format STELLATM software AUTHORS Charlotte Trout   Williamsport HS   Williamsport, MD Michael Knoll   Havre de Grace HS   Havre de Grace, MD

THE MODEL DIAGRAM THE EQUATIONS height(t) = height(t - dt) + (rate_of_change_of_height) * dt INIT height = 100 rate_of_change_of_height = velocity velocity(t) = velocity(t - dt) + (rate_of_change_of_velocity) * dt INIT velocity = 0 rate_of_change_of_velocity = acceleration_due_to_gravity acceleration_due_to_gravity = -9.8

THE OUTPUT

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