PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Culture is who we are and what makes our community GREAT. Multiculturalism or
cultural diversity, is based on the idea that cultural identities should not be discarded or
ignored, but rather maintained and valued. Multiculturalism describes the existence,
acceptance, or promotion of multiple cultural identifiers including: sexual orientation,
race/ethnicity, religion, age, ability, gender, nationality, and socio-economic status.
In celebration of your contribution to the cultural diversity of the Pine Crest community,
you will work in groups of 2-3 to design and construct an art mobile around the theme of
multiculturalism, using physics to calculate the mobile's translational and rotational
equilibrium.
OBJECTIVE
***Adopted from Dolores Gende’s Physics and Art Mobile
To construct a hanging mobile having a minimum of three freely swinging horizontal
arms using artistic elements that are representative of your cultural identifiers (i.e food,
art, games, traditions, music, fashion, celebrations, icons, quilts, flags,etc.).
DIRECTIONS Students must document/log a minimum of 4 ILAB periods
1.
2.
3.
4.
Decide which elements each team member will contribute to the mobile.
Sketch the general plan of your mobile.
Find the mass of each element in the mobile including the rods.
Determine the position of each support string. Strings may not be attached at the
center of mass of a support.
5. Construct your actual mobile.
6. Complete the mobile “blueprint” indicating the actual length/positions of all
strings, pivots and elements with the forces clearly labeled. (Draw your blueprint
on a page in your lab notebook using the landscape orientation for a wider
drawing space. Then scan or take a picture and upload your blueprint to the
Mobile Doctopus)
7. Demonstrate by neat calculations that translational and rotational equilibrium
exists. Then take a picture and upload your calculations to the Mobile Doctopus.
HINTS
1. You are likely to achieve the best results by starting with the lowest level and
working upward.
2. Use objects of moderate mass. Do not use fragile or expensive objects.
Handmade objects are acceptable.
3. Make the mobile simple, but visually strong. Your mobile must be no larger than
50 cm wide, 50 cm deep and 100 cm tall
4. Be creative!
5. Plan ahead! Calculate carefully and accurately.
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STUDENT MOBILE SAMPLES
3
STUDENT MOBILE SAMPLES
4
STUDENT BLUEPRINT SAMPLES
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TEMPLATE
I. DAILY LOG: Document a minimum of 4 ILAB periods. Document how you
spent your time in the lab as well as successes and failures along the way.
II. DATA TABLE (GROUP - for each tier include the weight of each mass, the
length of the corresponding moment arm, and tension in the support string)
III. CALCULATIONS (INDIVIDUAL- for each tier, include calculations for both
conditions of equilibrium, show naked equations and all substitutions
consistent with your data. Torque calculations must clearly indicate the pivot
point/rotation axis)
IV. INSERT YOUR FINAL BLUEPRINT (INDIVIDUAL - label pivots, moment
arm lengths, force vectors and magnitude)
V. INSERT A PICTURE OF YOUR GROUP MOBILE
VI. REFLECTION (INDIVIDUAL)
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REFLECTION
1) What proved to be the most difficult part(s) of the building/design process for you? (Which
difficulties did you experience during designing and building? How did you solve these
problems?)
2) What part(s) of the building/design process was/were the most enjoyable and why?
3) If tomorrow you were handed another set of wooden dowels, how would you approach the
design/building process differently?
4) Reflect on the shared discussions of your mobile. What did you learn about your peers that
you didn’t know before? Which details did you share about yourself that you were most proud
of?
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RUBRIC #1
·
Daily Log Entries (5 points)
_______
Mobile Construction (45 points)
Effort/ evidence of individual contribution
Dimensions 50 x 50 x 100
Three or more tiers
No supports at COM of rod
Each tier is level/ balanced
Used representative cultural elements
Unique, interesting,creative
Sturdy and able to be hung in room
Appearance/Neatness
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
Data & Calculations (25 points)
Data Table (all relevant data is reported)
Comprehensive calculations (for each tier)
Calculations Translational (includes all relevant forces)
Calculations Rotational (pivot /rotation axis clearly identified)
Organized Problem solving
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
Blueprint (15 points)
Labeled forces vectors (for support strings & masses)
Labeled Pivot points/Moment arm lengths
Appearance/Neatness
_______
_______
_______
Reflection (10 points)
Picture of Constructed Mobile
Thoughtful/Thorough responses
Total
_______
_______
_______
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RUBRIC #2 (Modified for Middle School)
________ Neat construction and assembly (10)
________Well balanced (10)
________Three or more levels or extra tiers (10)
________ Meets size requirements. No larger than 50 cm x 50 cm x 100 cm (10)
________ Items on mobile connected to Multiculturalism (10)
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Resources and Contact Information
Naeemah Owens, High School Science Teacher
[email protected]
Victoria Eng, Middle School Science Teacher
[email protected]
Resources Folder in Google Drive
https://goo.gl/EV7DRF
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