Linking Physical and Computational Models of Waves in the Elementary Setting

• In Event: Thinking Across Representations: Designing to Support Investigations That Leverage Physical and Computational Modes of Inquiry

Abstract

Objectives. This paper investigates how elementary teachers and students use computational media to collect and model data from physical phenomena and simulate it using computing. Specifically, the focus is teachers’ and students’ sensemaking about physical and simulated wave representations, as well as the design of programmable mechanisms to generate and control inputs to the wave model. This project originates from a district-level curriculum revision in which stakeholders seek alignment between NGSS and the local standards, with specific interests in modeling and computational thinking. In this pilot, teachers and students will engineer mechanisms to generate and control disturbances in the physical wave model (Figure 1) built from tape, skewers, and gummy candy. Students will investigate behaviors of the physical model alongside a wave simulation environment in the PhET simulations library (PhET, 2019, Figure 2), and test comparisons among physical and simulated representations.

Theoretical framework. The Bifocal Modeling Framework (Author, 2014) describes the complementarity of computer simulations and physical investigation, in ways that support learners to consider the epistemic relationships of experimental and theoretical knowledge in the sciences. However, little is known about how teachers plan and implement these forms of hybrid modeling, or how students might engage in engineering and computing work in order to automate aspects of their material investigations. The goals in this project extend the Bifocal Modeling Framework by supporting students in trying to automate a machine (the physical input to the wave) so that it can be repeated, shared, and interrogated in classroom scientific practice.

Methods and data. The author is involved in a teacher-led curriculum revision for a school district in the Northeastern U.S. The district is working to integrate NGSS with the local standards. This project originates with the curricular committee’s plans for a 4th grade unit called “Energy on the Move,” which focuses on the movement and transformation of energy. The teachers (along with the author) will pilot a hybrid modeling activity in which learners will develop a physical model of sinusoidal waves (Figure 1), design mechanisms for controlling the behavior of the wave (e.g., programming actuators using Lego Mindstorms or LittleBits Arduino fabrication tools), describe patterns in terms of properties and effects of those waves, and simulate those behaviors in a complementary, computer-based representation already existing in the PhET simulations library. The existing PhET simulation environment––Wave on a String (2019) is widely accessible and is complementary to the physical simulation. Forms of data will include classroom artifacts, including video and student-generated work and planning documents and discussions from the teachers.

Results and Significance. This work represents one district’s efforts in curriculum revision to include modeling and computing within the elementary science curriculum. The district stakeholders desired help in envisioning what modeling could look like using materials that could scale across the eight elementary schools in the district. This paper will report how teachers adapted a common physical modeling activity and closely linked it with goals in engineering, computing, and simulation, and students’ sensemaking across the multiple model forms.

Author

• Amy Voss Farris, The Pennsylvania State University