Graphing is an essential skill that forms the foundation of any physical science.1 Understanding the relationships between measurements ultimately determines which modeling equations are successful in predicting observations.2 Over the years, science and math teachers have approached teaching this skill with a variety of techniques. For secondary school instruction, the job of graphing skills falls heavily on physics teachers. By virtue of the nature of the topics we cover, it is our mission to develop this skill to the fine art that it is.
References
1.
Robert
Beichner
, “Testing student interpretation of kinematics graphs
,” Am. J. Phys.
62
, 750
–762
(Aug. 1994
). 2.
Christopher
Deacon
, “The importance of graphs in undergraduate physics
,” Phys. Teach.
37
, 270
–274
(May 1999
). 3.
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
, http://www.nextgenscience.org/, which is becoming the new foundation for many state standards. Specifically ctice 4: Analyzing and Interpreting Data. 4.
5.
Vernier Scientific
, http://www.vernier.com, 13979 SW Millikan Way, Beaverton, OR 97005. 6.
PASCO scientific
, http://www.pasco.com, 10101 Foothills Blvd., Roseville, CA 95747. 7.
Microsoft
, http://www.microsoft.com, Redmond, WA 98052. 8.
OSP Tracker
, http://www.opensourcephysics.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=7365, an NSF-sponsored project providing free software for simulation and data analysis. 9.
For more about what happens when students are asked to measure distances with non-standard units, see
M.
Kryjevskaia
, M. R.
Stetzer
, P. R.
Heron
, “Is a simple measurement task a roadblock to student understanding of wave phenomena?
” Phys. Teach.
51
, 560
–563
(Dec. 2013
). 10.
Classic photogate instantaneous speed versus distance traveled or average speed versus distance on an inclined plane.
11.
12.
P.
Withers
, “Landing spacecraft on Mars and other planets: An opportunity to apply introductory physics
,” Am. J. Phys.
81
, 565
–569
(Aug. 2013
). 13.
See Ref. 1.
14.
Edward
Tufte
, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
(Graphics Press
, Cheshire, CT
, 1982
and 2001). ISBN 0-9613921-4-2. 15.
See Ref. 7.
16.
See Ref. 6.
© 2014 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2014
American Association of Physics Teachers
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