Opportunities to learn are everywhere, often in overlooked places, such as in the Universal Product Code (UPC) that is used for barcodes on nearly everything we buy. In this paper, we describe an engaging and meaningful activity in which these barcodes were used in an introductory calculus-based physics class.

1.
American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science for All Americans: A Project 2061 Report (Oxford University Press, New York, 1989), pp. 186–187.
2.
Sheila Tobias, They're Not Dumb, They're Different: Stalking the Second Tier (Research Corp., Tucson, AZ, 1990).
3.
Edward F.
Redish
,
Jeffrey M.
Saul
, and
Richard N.
Steinberg
, “
Student expectations in introductory physics
,”
Am. J. Phys.
66
(
3
),
212
224
(March
1998
).
4.
Robert J. Beichner, Jeffery M. Saul, David S. Abbott, Jeanne J. Morse, Duane L. Deardorff, Rhett J. Allain, Scott W. Bonham, Melissa H. Dancy, and John S. Risley, “The Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) project,” in Research-Based Reform of Introductory Physics, edited by Edward F. Redish (2007). Available at http://per-central.org/per_reviews.
5.
Jon D. H.
Gaffney
,
Evan
Richards
,
Mary Bridget
Kustusch
,
Lin
Ding
, and
Robert
Beichner
, “
Scaling Up Educational Reform
,”
J. Coll. Sci. Teach.
37
(
5
),
48
53
(May/June
2008
).
This content is only available via PDF.
AAPT members receive access to The Physics Teacher and the American Journal of Physics as a member benefit. To learn more about this member benefit and becoming an AAPT member, visit the Joining AAPT page.