Sidewalk Physics Art

It's that time of year again, the time when students start checking out.  This year they actually have an excuse for it as the school year doesn't end until June 26 due to 8 snow days.  At the end of the year when other teachers are handing out review packets (no offense to that YouTube teacher, well, maybe a little), I take the time to do some things differently.  One of my new favorite activities is Sidewalk Physics Art where  I challenge students to make a tile of sidewalk outside our school come alive with physics!

"Magnetism" by Danielle & Nicole

The activity begins in class where students (in groups of 2) discuss physics concepts and brainstorm ideas of how to best illustrate them.  Some students know exactly what they want to sketch and then choose the concepts that apply.  While other students choose the concepts they best know and the idea follows.  We take one day in class to define the selected concepts both conceptually and mathematically and also create a rough draft of their art.  The next sunny day we are outside with a big container of sidewalk chalk* having fun!

"The Roots of Physics" by Kristen & Robert

I really like this as a review for the final exam.  Students reviewing concepts while hardly realizing it.  In fact I had some great interactions with students during the process:

     - asking a student who applied Newton's 3rd Law to draw in the action/reaction force vectors

     - challenging a student to apply physics concepts to their art, who only sketched their art

     - student clarifying Newton's Laws (which is which; 1st, 2nd, 3rd)

     - talking with a student about labeling projectile motion equations (horizontal, vertical)

In addition to the reviewing of concepts, this activity provides some educational decor to our school's sidewalk.  This location is where the buses pick up students, so hundreds of students walk across it at the end of the day.  If even one of those students stops to admire the art, it is a win for creating a fun and positive attitude about physics.

Below is one of my favorites - not only does it show some hometown spirit, but the physics is spot on.  These students sketch the Bruins logo as the object in front of a concave mirror.  The students then constructed a ray diagram to show how a smaller, real, inverted image is formed.

"Because It's the Cup" by Katie & Nate

And here are some views down along the sidewalks at the end of the day:

What types of activities do you do for the end of the year to keep students engaged?  Please share and thank you for reading!


* I found a box of 48 assorted colors of sidewalk chalk at Target for $5, best value I have seen.