Vector Simulation
By Roberto, Dhruv, and Jeremy
Project Description
Learning and fully understanding vectors is a foundational part of many areas of Engineering where students learn about them as early as middle school. To support these students in their academic careers, we have created a Vector Simulator on Python to teach the fundamentals of Vectors demonstrating how boats navigate across rivers.
The program is aimed towards middle school students who have learned about cartesian coordinates where they will learn about vectors using a virtual-navigation problem where a boat will cross a river given that the river has a current which affects the direction and magnitude of the boat. This is an interactive program where the students are able to vary the direction of the boat to see how it is affected as it crosses the river. The only required materials are a computer installed with any version of Python and access to the internet. The expected duration of this activity is completely up to the educator.
Learning Goals
The children will interactively place a boat on one side of the river at the correct position in order to sail across the river and land at the desired destination. Children will understand how vectors work and in the process learn about how vectors sum up to a resultant vector that has a certain direction and magnitude. The children will also increase their skills in predictive analysis by “guessing” where to place the boat.
Materials Required
Since we plan to implement an online program, nothing would need to be manufactured, and no supplies are needed. Only a computer installed with Python will be necessary.
Description of the activity for the adult
While the activity was designed for a single student to use at a time, the adult is more than welcome to teach multiple children at a time but should not exceed five children to maximize learning opportunities on the interactive program. For the student or students to effectively learn from the interactive program, the supervising adult should be actively engaged with them asking questions as they progress. For example, some questions that can be asked include:
- Why isn’t the boat navigating straight?
- Is there any way we can make it go straight?
- What happens if we double the speed of the river?
- What if we half it?
- Where else do vectors apply to the real world?
- Hint: Thousands of them fly over us every day
Should the adult need a quick review of vectors, the following link is a YouTube video explaining the basics of vectors.
Description of the activity for the child
Have you ever tried swimming across a river with a current? Were you able to cross with ease or did you struggle? You may have learned about vectors in class but did you know we can use vectors to calculate how a river will affect your speed and direction as you move through it? By using vectors, we can learn how a human or boat will be affected by the body of water they are crossing. In this interactive program, you will learn more about vectors by manipulating the direction of the boat to help it cross the river.
How to open the program
To play the game: