Physics can be difficult to grasp—even for adults. So how do you teach the subject’s abstract ideas to middle schoolers?
Show some of the concepts in action. That’s the idea behind Peer, an experimental project from New York-based design firm Moment that uses mixed reality to teach middle schoolers scientific ideas such as aerodynamics, sound waves, gravity, and acceleration. The project, though purely conceptual, is a tantalizing hint at where technology in the classroom could be headed next.
A lesson in aerodynamics, for instance, would start when students strap on a VR headset, like Google Cardboard or Daydream. Their teacher could then demonstrate how aerodynamics works in mixed reality before the kids remove their headsets and get to work designing windmill arms, working with their hands to create something they think will generate the most wind speed. Then, on goes the headset again. As students begin testing their windmills with a fan, embedded sensors in the windmill spindle record rotational speed, and the headset shows the students the speed of their mills. The students could then optimize their windmill blades to generate more electricity, and group their mills together in order to “power” a small city that they could view in mixed reality. By observing what works and what doesn’t, the students could grasp some of the more abstract concepts around fluid dynamics.
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Source: Fastcodesign