written by Wolfgang Christian, Mario Belloni, and Anne Cox
content provider: Barbara Christian and Laura Fauver

This is a simulation-based learning module for Grades 6-8, developed to help students visualize changing kinetic and potential energy in a pendulum system. It depicts a "puppet" on a swing suspended from a stationary point. Students can drag the swing to different heights, then activate the motion. As the swing moves in periodic motion, energy bar graphs are simultaneously displayed that show changing levels of kinetic and potential energy. A third  graph of TE (Total Energy) shows clearly that the TE of the system is conserved, even though the kinetic and potential energies are continuously changing.

The resource includes two complete lesson plans: 1) Conceptual lesson with only energy data to explore transfer and conservation of energy, and 2) Computational Lesson incorporating height and speed data for calculating the mass of the puppet.

This model was developed using the Easy Java Simulations (EjsS) version 5.  It is distributed as a ready-to-run html page and requires only a browser with JavaScript support.

• Download ejss_model_pendulum_energy_package.zip - 218kb Compressed File

Published March 19, 2015
Last Modified March 19, 2015

Curricular materials for physical science classrooms for use with Pendulum Energy Models.

• Download Pendulum Energy.pdf - 996kb Adobe PDF Document

Published March 19, 2015
Last Modified March 20, 2015

Source Code for the Pendulum Energy JS Model Package program.

• Download ejss_src_pendulum_energy_simulations.zip - 40kb Compressed File

Released under a This material is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0.

Published March 19, 2015
Last Modified March 19, 2015