I have come to the conclusion that for high school physics classroom and laboratory experiences, simpler is better! In this paper I describe a very simple and effective lab experience that my AP students have thoroughly enjoyed year after year. I call this lab exercise “Time Trials.” The experiment is simple in design and it is a lot of fun for students. Time Trials is the type of lab experience that I call a “design challenge lab” or just “challenge lab.” A “challenge lab” is basically an experiment where physics students attempt to obtain a specific outcome under some sort of constraint conditions set by the instructor. The students must work within the constraints set by the instructor and they must work only with the equipment given by the instructor.

Topics
Education
1.
A. J.
Greer
 and
J. D.
Bierman
, “
Challenge laboratories
,”
Phys. Teach.
43
,
527
–
529
(Nov.
2005
).
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2.
PASCO Dynamics System, http://www.pasco.com. This system contains all the necessary components of the challenge except for masses.
3.
Two sources for photogates—either Vernier at http://www.vernier.com or PASCO.
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© 2009 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2009
American Association of Physics Teachers
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