How to Add Vector Games for a Science Project
A science project can sometimes seem like an overwhelming assignment, especially if you don't like science or haven't had many science classes. But there's no reason why science projects can't be fun as well as educational. Perhaps the best way to make a project fun is by making a game for a project. You can enjoy learning about the highly useful subject of vectors and enable other students to enjoy it as well by creating a vector addition game.
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Instructions
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Understanding Vectors
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Find an introductory physics textbook like the one listed in the resources section of this article. Read the textbook section about vectors, quantities with both magnitude (a number) and direction. For example, if you travel 30 miles, that is not a vector because it only has magnitude; if you travel 30 miles east, that is a vector because it has both magnitude and direction.
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Find and complete problems at the end of the chapter that involve the addition (and subtraction) of vectors. Add vectors in the same direction by adding their magnitudes; add vectors in opposite directions by subtracting their magnitudes. Add vectors at other angles to each other by using trigonometry. You may want to complete example problems in the chapter before tackling the ones at the end of the chapter.
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Search the Internet for practical, real-life applications of vectors. Be sure to check out animation and graphic design, meteorology, navigation, aerodynamics and forensic ballistics analysis.
Creating the Project
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Choose an application of vectors that you find particularly interesting. Perform more research on this topic, both on the Internet and in your local library. If you know someone in the field you have chosen, interview him. Include with your project a brief report of your research.
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Create a game board with paths that game pieces can travel one square at a time, like Life or Monopoly. Be creative and make your board or paths in a shape that has something to do with your chosen real-life application.
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Make a list with three columns: "usual results of the use of vectors in my application," "unexpectedly good results of the use of vectors in my application," and "unexpectedly bad results of the use of vectors in my application." For example, if you decided to apply vectors to a road trip, your list might include the estimating trip time by adding vectors, laying vectors along the road (instead of as the crow flies) on a map and confusing the vectors on a map's compass rose on a map with an actual compass. If you can't think of anything for one column, that's OK, but be as creative as you can to try to fill the list.
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Write one item from your list on certain squares, and tell the player to move forwards or backwards based on whether the result is good or bad. In our example, one square might read, "You confused the vectors on your map's compass rose with an actual compass. Lose a turn."
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Create vector addition word problems for the players to solve on other squares. Include answers either on cards or in the rules pamphlet.
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Present your report and your game to the class, and let everyone join in the fun.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Old School image by Serge Freeman from Fotolia.com
