An'alternate realities' microworld for horizontal motion

This paper describes the development and evaluation of a computer-based microworld for teaching about the physics of horizontal motion. The simulation allows students to investigate the effects of sliding friction on the horizontal motion of blocks of various masses and surface areas. The microworld presents students with seven "alternate realities", characterised as different planets, on which the behaviour of the blocks is determined by varying the effects of surface area and mass on the horizontal distance travelled. The students' task is to identify on which of the planets the blocks behaviour corresponds to that in the real world. The program was written in HyperCard 2.0 on a Macintosh IIx. The simulation environment was tested on Open University students attending a summer school for foundation level mathematics. Our conference presentation will include a demonstration of the software.