Ok, maybe a reboot instead of a sequel. It’s time for another round of Barbie Bungee Jumping, and this semester we are in a new location. We did our test jumps in our snazzy new room, and the grand finale off the Library stairs right in the College Center.
For those of you just joining us, this is an activity in which students build a mathematical model relating the number of rubber bands attached to Barbie’s feet to how far she drops. Students do some test jumps at smaller heights, then build a model to predict how many rubber bands it will take to get Barbie as close to the ground as possible without hitting her head when she jumps from the second floor landing.
Some of our test drops:
And the winning drop from the Library stairs:
And along the way, my students learned a lot about data collection, linear regression, and experimental error. Oh, and about technical difficulties:
The biggest thing I’ve learned from this: don’t be afraid to try something crazy in class! It just might work.
So, Barbie bungee jumping. I got the idea from an NCTM post. Tie linked rubber bands to Barbie’s feet. Do a few test runs with smaller amounts of rubber bands, create a line of best fit to model the drop distance, then use it to predict the number of rubber bands needed to drop Barbie from a second-story stair landing. The group that gets her closest to the floor without hitting her head wins. (Do post someone to warn passersby!)