Today Village Adventist School is connecting to the New York Hall of Science for their Sports Challenge program. This is our first student videoconference of this school year (many meetings have happened already!)
One thing I noticed right away, is the presenter waved his hands and asked the students if the movement was fast or slow. He also had the students do the same, so he could gauge how well the videoconference was working. Great idea!
The program starts with a discussion comparing and contrasting various types of sports. Students found similarities and differences between different sports.
Next the students did a hands-on activity where they tested different surfaces for the ball to bounce on. The students first predicted which would work best, and then spread out to actually test their hypothesis. This led to a discussion and demonstration of the concepts of energy, kinetic energy, potential energy, etc.
The program includes several hands-on activities, as well as touring through a few of the exhibits in the New York Hall of Science. In one activity, students learned about reaction time for driving.
Because the session is presented from the exhibit floor, our students got to say hi to the NY students who were onsite using the exhibits.
The surfboard exhibit was used to explain the center of gravity and balance. Students discussed sports where a low center of gravity might be useful. Great session and lots of fun!