MegaWoosh
• Watch this video which shows Bruno Kammerl
and his amazing ‘softslide’:
• What questions spring to mind?
MegaWoosh
• One of the most likely ones is: ‘Is it real?’
• What information might you need to have to be
able to decide if it is real or not?
• One way is to estimate his speed at the end of
the ‘flight’ to see if it seems reasonable that he
would have no injuries.
• The snapshots on the next slides may help.
MegaWoosh
MegaWoosh
Time: 43:00 sec
Time: 43:13 sec
MegaWoosh
“All doubts were unfounded. The 35.2 meter
distance jump was the first practical Softslide test
with real humans (me) under real conditions.”
Will it, or won’t it?
• Watch the video* which shows Dan Meyer
attempting a basketball shot
• Will it go through the hoop or not?
• Try different functions using the Geogebra file to
help you decide.
*see teachers’ notes for link
Will it, or won’t it?
• Watch the video which shows Dan Meyer
attempting a basketball shot
• Will it go through the hoop or not?
• How could you use the print out to help you
decide?
Teacher notes: Projectiles
In this activity students will look at projectiles.
There are several different videos to use to stimulate discussion and problem
solving.
The amount of structure and guidance students will need will depend on how
familiar they are with problem solving activities.
Activities can be tackled in different ways by both KS4 students and by those
with further knowledge of mechanics.
Symbols and resources
•
Write down your ideas
•
Discuss
Teacher notes: Megawoosh
Typical questions that might be posed:
Is it real?
How far did he go?
What speed did he travel?
Why would anyone want to do this?
How high did he go?
How big was the pool?
What would the impact on his body have been?
Is it real?
Depending on the students’ familiarity with equations of motion, they may or
may not be in a position to explore their own approaches.
Teacher notes: Megawoosh
At KS4: (using PPT slides 4&5)
Use the man to estimate the diameter of the pool and use the pool in
subsequent pictures to estimate the distance travelled.
Then use the time difference between the pictures to estimate his speed.
With more knowledge: (Using PPT slide 6)
A possible route is to estimate the speed of projection by using the claimed
range of 35.2m and estimating the angle of projection.
Use this to calculate the initial speed.
Ignoring all resistance to motion, and assuming that initial height is the same as
final height, and thus the landing speed is the same as the initial speed.
Teacher notes: Megawoosh
KS4:
Assume the man is approximately 1.8m tall; the pool is then approximately 3m
across.
In the last two snapshots of the sequence, the man travels at least 1 pool’s
width, so using 3m to calculate the minimum speed he could be travelling:
Speed = Distance ÷ Time
Speed = 3 ÷ 0.13 = 23m/s
Convert 23m/s to km/h:
23x3600÷1000= 83km/h (approximately 51mph)
It’s highly unlikely that a man landing in 30-50cm of water (on a wooden
platform) at this speed would escape with no injuries.
Teacher notes: Megawoosh
With more knowledge:
It is claimed that the distance travelled was 35.2m.
Time of flight is 3.13s (can obtain an estimate of 3s from video)
Estimated angle of projection is between 30° and 40°
s = ut+1/2 at2
(s=35.2
u=Ucosθ
a=0
t=3)
U = 13.5m/s (48kph or 30mph) to 15.3m/s (55kph or 35mph)
This is quite a high speed to be travelling at and to sustain no injuries.
However, it also doesn’t tie in with the estimates from the previous method,
which shows that the man is moving at almost twice this speed.
Teacher notes: Megawoosh
KS4:
Assume the man is approximately 1.8m tall; the pool is then approximately 3m
across.
In the last two snapshots of the sequence, the man travels at least 1 pool’s
width, so using 3m to calculate the minimum speed he could be travelling:
Speed = Distance ÷ Time
Speed = 3 ÷ 0.13 = 23m/s
Convert 23m/s to km/h:
23x3600÷1000= 83km/h (approximately 51mph)
It’s highly unlikely that a man landing in 30-50cm of water (on a wooden
platform) at this speed would escape with no injuries.
Teacher notes: Will it or won’t it?
This content is courtesy of Dan Meyer’s 3 act Math.
From the Googledoc in the link below go to line 51 and download the
videos.
Will it hit the hoop?
Downloading this resource gives 3 folders: Act 1, Act 2 and Act 3. (setting the
scene, working on the problem, resolution/the answer)
Act 1: a short video which stops about half way through the motion
Act 2: a Geogebra file with the image imported. Quadratic functions can be
superimposed on this image in order to identify the function which best fits the
ball’s positions and to then determine whether it will pass through the hoop or
not. This can be used by students working in pairs on individual computers or
could be used by a student or the teacher interacting with the class. If only a
single computer is available, an alternative approach to Act 2 is given on the
next page to help involve all students more fully.
Act 3: the full video which shows the rest of the shot.
Teacher notes: Will it or won’t it?
Alternative Act 2:
Resources:
• a Geogebra file with the image imported
• single sheets of the image with a grid – one or two per pair (PPT slide 19)
• Graphical calculators (optional)
Quadratic functions can be superimposed on the image in order to identify the
function which best fits the ball’s position.
The teacher asks the class for a couple of guesses for the function and
demonstrates these using the Geogebra file. Ideally these will at least
determine that the quadratic has to be negative, but not be too close to the
correct function.
Students then work in pairs to find a function which fits better. Graphical
calculators could be used to help students understand what happens when
What function best fits the path of the ball?
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Simon Clay, whose ideas from his recent MEI conference session on
Mechanics have formed the basis for much of this content.
Additional resources are available to Integral online resources subscribers.
MegaWoosh video, stills and quotes taken from:
http://www.microsoft.com/germany/aktionen/mach-es-machbar/en-us/projektmegawoosh.aspx accessed 24/10/13
Dan Meyer 3 act Math:
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/ accessed 24/10/13 Copyright allows for educational
use.