Appendix 1: Teacher notes – organisation of the lesson

Teaching notes for the Spring mass system and the exemplar lesson on simple harmonic motion.

This lesson, using the spring mass system, links to the following units in the Teaching Syllabus for Physics:

• SHS 2 Section 2 Mechanics, Unit 3 Oscillatory motion
• SHS 2 Section 4 Waves, Unit 2 Wave motion

Ideas for organising this exemplar lesson link directly to activities and teaching examples in the OpenSTEM Africa CPD units on Using ICT to support learning, and Approaches to active notetaking.

A full list of the OpenSTEM Africa CPD units can be found at: https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/CPD_units

Overview

If possible, this lesson should take place in the ICT Lab in your school if this can be arranged through your Head of Science and the Head of ICT. If the lesson takes place in the ICT Lab, it may be possible for each student to work individually at a computer; otherwise divide the class so that students are in small groups at a computer.

If it is not possible to use the ICT Lab for this lesson, then try to set up this lesson in your classroom. You may be lucky enough in your school to have a set of ‘empty’ tablets or mobile phones which students can use. Or you may be able to bring into the classroom a laptop connected to the internet or to your school intranet – and perhaps connected to a projector to make it possible for the whole class to view at once. If access to ICT is a real challenge in your school but you want your students to view an experiment, you might be able demonstrate it to small groups of your students at a time, using your own mobile phone

Whatever way(s) you set up the class, it would still be helpful to the students to be able to work in pairs or small groups for at least some of the lesson. Do remember as well that students need desk space to be able to write in their notebooks and to draw tables and diagrams.

Steps in organising the lesson

Step 1: This takes place at the beginning of the lesson where you and your class access the OpenSTEM Africa Virtual Laboratory spring mass application. Have students work in pairs to pre-read the Background section of the exemplar lesson and ask each other the questions in the Background section. While they are doing so, you may want to walk round the class and check their laboratory notebooks, as accurate note-taking and filling in the tables is important for this exemplar lesson.

Step 2: Check  students’ understanding by asking them the questions in the Background section. Have each person in the pair create the tables in their own laboratory notebook in preparation for their data collection.

Step 3: Once the students have seen the video one time, and if it is helpful to do so, give the class a set time to draw spring mass system in their laboratory notebook and label it. Within each pair, have them check each other’s work.

Step 4: Make sure that each pair has access to/can see the computer screen to begin the actual experiments. Ensure that each pair knows how to carry out the experiments– or if    you are using a laptop/projector, that you draw on the expertise of the class as you go through each step of the spring mass system experiments – i.e., ask them what the next step is

Step 5: Have the class follow the instructions for each of the spring mass experiments.  Make sure, if working in a pair on a PC, that each student in the pair gets to follow all the steps; if working in a group on a PC,    have the group leader ensure that everyone in the group is involved.

Step 5: What they write in their tables will be agreed between the pair or within the group but allow enough time for everyone in the class to fill in their own set of tables. Have them check each other’s writing.

Step 6: Ten minutes before the end of the lesson, tell the students to complete the quiz.

Previous: Lesson: Simple harmonic motion    Next: Appendix 2