Re: [Phys-L] proportional reasoning, scaling laws, et cetera

[Bill Nettles <bnettles@uu.edu>]

I agree that slopes and areas are visually more appealing and quite often easier to use, but how do you get students to REMEMBER or BELIEVE that the distance covered IS the area under the curve?  How do you get them to REMEMBER that it is the velocity vs time graph, not the position vs time graph or acceleration vs time graph.

Some students respond to graphics and geometry, some students respond to symbols and algebra. It is NOT and either/or world, and I believe that if we bring them in together (much like a treble hook on a fishing lure) at least one of them will catch.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: phys-l-bounces@mail.phys-l.org [mailto:phys-l-bounces@mail.phys-
> l.org] On Behalf Of Chuck Britton
> Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2012 7:36 PM
> To: Phys-L@Phys-L.org
> Subject: Re: [Phys-L] proportional reasoning, scaling laws, et cetera
>
> And students who are way away from Calculus can get the same results by
> finding the areas under the velocity vs time graphs.
>
> Slopes and areas are WAY easier for some to grasp than strict algebra based
> derivations.
>
> .