Like so many good things that I have created in life, this post comes entirely from someone else's idea. Dan Meyer had the first speed of light task, which I am linking for my sequel ideas, because, well, his just rock. I wanted to include this post, because I feel like I will be able to use this version a lot easier in my grade eight class, it allows talking about cool conspiracy, moon landing stuff, Mythbusters, and is practice for me taking something that I see and turning it into something I can use in class.
Act 1 - The "Laser"
I love this set up because it is what scientists actually did! They have reflectors on the moon at which you can shoot your lasers and receive signals back to prove that people were on the rock that is orbiting our Earth! Well, now all we need to know is how long did it take for the laser to to hit the moon and come back?
Act 2 - The Measurements
This act two is simple, I would probably use this for a started (shouldn't take too long at all), but here they are...
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Act 3 - Fire the "Laser!"
Well there it is; a simple fun intro to the speed of light.
Sequels
As promised, Dan has some awesome work with the same problem, which can be found here. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.
