When teaching Year 1 students about movement, or kinematics, there are a few common misunderstandings that often come up. Let’s look at these misunderstandings to make things clearer.
Many students think that speed and velocity mean the same thing.
But they are not the same!
Speed shows how fast something is moving.
For example, if a car goes 60 km/h, that’s just speed.
Velocity, however, tells us the speed and the direction it’s going.
So, if that car is moving north at 60 km/h, we call that its velocity.
If the car turns but still goes 60 km/h, its speed stays the same, but its velocity changes because it changed direction.
Some students believe that acceleration always means something is speeding up.
Actually, that’s not correct.
Acceleration can also happen when something is slowing down.
For instance, if a car slows from 60 km/h to a full stop, it is experiencing negative acceleration, even though it’s going slower.
A common misunderstanding is that gravity only affects things that fall down.
That’s not true!
Gravity impacts everything that moves, not just when something goes straight down.
If a ball rolls off a table, gravity affects its fall as well as how it moves sideways while it drops.
Some students think that moving objects always go in a straight line.
That’s not always true!
Motion can happen in different ways, like in circles or curves.
For instance, when you throw a ball, it doesn’t go straight down.
Instead, it follows a curved path because of gravity pulling it down.
By clearing up these misunderstandings early, we can help students better understand motion and kinematics! This will make learning physics easier and more fun!
When teaching Year 1 students about movement, or kinematics, there are a few common misunderstandings that often come up. Let’s look at these misunderstandings to make things clearer.
Many students think that speed and velocity mean the same thing.
But they are not the same!
Speed shows how fast something is moving.
For example, if a car goes 60 km/h, that’s just speed.
Velocity, however, tells us the speed and the direction it’s going.
So, if that car is moving north at 60 km/h, we call that its velocity.
If the car turns but still goes 60 km/h, its speed stays the same, but its velocity changes because it changed direction.
Some students believe that acceleration always means something is speeding up.
Actually, that’s not correct.
Acceleration can also happen when something is slowing down.
For instance, if a car slows from 60 km/h to a full stop, it is experiencing negative acceleration, even though it’s going slower.
A common misunderstanding is that gravity only affects things that fall down.
That’s not true!
Gravity impacts everything that moves, not just when something goes straight down.
If a ball rolls off a table, gravity affects its fall as well as how it moves sideways while it drops.
Some students think that moving objects always go in a straight line.
That’s not always true!
Motion can happen in different ways, like in circles or curves.
For instance, when you throw a ball, it doesn’t go straight down.
Instead, it follows a curved path because of gravity pulling it down.
By clearing up these misunderstandings early, we can help students better understand motion and kinematics! This will make learning physics easier and more fun!