Impact Study: Playground Physics App

NYSCI is looking for 60 middle school teachers to join an impact study on using the new Playground Physics app in their classrooms during the 2015 – 2016 school year. Playground Physics is a video-based iPad app that uses playground experiences to help teach about force, energy and motion. It allows students to take and view recordings through three lenses: motion, force and energy. Each lens offers data or annotations that can help students see the physics of the world we live in. Students can use the app to record video of seemingly ordinary activities and begin to see the physics in their everyday physical play experiences.

Participants will receive: • Two free iPads and grip cases. • VGA-iPad adapter. • Free professional development. • Standards-aligned curriculum. • License to Playground Physics. • One-year educator membership to NYSCI.

Teachers must meet the following project requirements: • Be a City public or charter school teacher. • Teach grade 6, 7 or 8. • Agree to teach force (Newton’s third law), motion and energy during the 2015 – 16 school year. • Complete Playground Physics professional development. (Teachers will be randomly assigned to either Fall 2015 or Summer 2016 professional development groups.) • Administer a short, 20-question assessment and survey to students at the beginning and end of the school year. • Complete a survey regarding your experience teaching force, motion and energy during the 2015 – 16 school year.

To apply, complete the online application on the NYSCI website at nysci.org/impact-study-playground-physics.

If you have questions about the study or the application, contact Amanda Jaksha at [email protected]. New York Hall of More information about the Playground Physics app and NYSCI’s other educational apps can be found 47-01 111th Street at noticing.nysci.org. , NY 11368-2950 718 699 0005 Playground Physics was created by the New York Hall of Science in collaboration with Local Projects, Fax: 718 699 1341 a for-profit technology design firm, with funding from the National Science Foundation and the www.nysci.org U.S. Department of Education.