Using Video

As part of my second unit, I filmed my students throwing balls to model the path of a parabola. I then took screen shots for them to use to plot the path on a graph. Things I noticed: first, no one wanted to be on camera! Everyone wanted to throw the ball but they did not want to be seen, especially the girls. Next, it took a lot of work to get all the screen shots (I did five different throws for each class, 8 screen shots apiece). It got repetitive after awhile, and this project made me wish I had the time to teach my students a whole bunch of editing skills - from tricks in paint, attaching files, to editing sound/video. And finally, I think I finally was able to give my students enough detailed instruction to help them use a new program and submit the work electronically with success. We'll see how the write-up goes...