As a
Physics teacher, it can become quite difficult to find entertaining videos for
students that also contain a large amount of scientific information that can be
discussed, analyzed, and replicated in my own classroom.
Sure, I
can show a sexy video of Felix Baumgartner jumping out of a hot air balloon
that is fixated at the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere in order to break the
world record for the longest free fall flight in the history of man-kind, but
the achievement is not replicable with my own students. I could show students
an episode of Mythbusters that proves that a bullet fired horizontally from a
gun will hit the ground at the exact moment that a second bullet is simultaneously
vertically dropped from the same height of the gun that fired the first bullet,
but, again, the experiment is not replicable in a classroom setting. Even with
permission from an administrator to try such an absurd experiment with
students, the technology needed for the “proof” is beyond the resources
allocated to a typical Physics classroom. And also, while amazing, the two
examples listed are still far removed from what a student will ever be able to
do at her/his youthful age.
So, what
can I show my students that can elicit rich discussion while providing students
with ideas that can be replicated at home?
Enter: OK
GO
Here is
their first musical video that skyrocketed them to instant viral recognition.
With
several treadmills, the band members were able to create a massively impressive
music video in which the music, lyrics, and motions of the band members were
timed with the speeds of the treadmills. Imagine all of the discussions that
students could have with position, distance traveled, speed, velocity,
acceleration, and the kinematics of multiple particles in different frames of
reference. Imagine using this video to inspire students to make their own
replications of the video using mathematical formulas and equations to justify
actions in the video.
Consider
their next popular video
A
perfectly timed, one-take shot of an entire Rube Goldberg machine that is more
complicated than anything most students have ever seen before. Think of the
preciseness needed for everything to work without a single issue in the taping
of the footage. Think of all of the machines necessary to display the awesome
visuals that accompany the song. Think of the trajectory of the projectiles
needed for one element of the machine to finish so that the next element could
begin. Consider the trial and error associated with creating the perfect take.
Now…consider the ideas that students develop whenever they are asked to create
their own version of the video shown above. Wow.
Less
replicable, but still providing a good discussion of Physics, take a look at
this video in which a car creates music as a result of traveling around a
pre-arranged track.
The
sophistication continues with OK GO with their latest, culminating video in
which they show the motion of objects in the absence of friction.
Last, but
not least, my students were always MESMERIZED whenever I used these videos in
class. We sometimes had to watch the videos twice so that the first view was to
allow the students to be amazed while the second viewing was actually used
begin thinking about the Physics involved.
This is
definitely a series of videos of a band that can definitely be used in your own
science classroom; you can even use these videos if you still have several
minutes of class time that you need to kill before the end of the bell.
I swear
that these will be the most impressive videos that your students will have ever
seen.
So, make
sure to cache these links and cache this band. You may need use these videos
whenever you least expect it.
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