Put A Spin On It
The second N in the I.N.S.T.A.N.T acronym for increasing relevance in your lessons stands for National Events and Crazes. First, there was the Rainbow Loom, then there was Bottle Flipping, and today, the craze taking over the nation (and many nations from what I read), is…The Fidget Spinner!
Observe…but don’t observe for too long, there’s more words below the video.
I’m not one to put aside a national (or international) craze, so I put the idea out to some teachers who’d been struggling with getting their students to stop playing with the spinners in class.
My Question: How can you take the fact that students love these things and use it to your advantage? In other words…how can you #MakeItReal?
Here are some of their ideas:
- Time different types and see which kind are the best spinners
- Compare different types for costs and seller ratings on Amazon
- Experiment with how long it takes students to learn cool spinner tricks
- Write a science fiction story about how Fidget Spinners are really UFOs and our use of them as toys starts an intergalactic war.
I really like that last one. So now it’s your turn.
Thank you! I’ve been trying to think I’ve ideas for just this☺️☺️
Glad you found me! Let me know what you do in your class and share it with me on twitter too @MathDenisNJ
Look at different crazes in recent history and compare and contrast them to the spinner.
Good idea! It doesn’t always have to be a math lesson (despite my leaning that way!) Love the idea of timelining historical crazes.
I’ve been trying to find a way to count revolutions per minute. Ideas?
Thanks for asking. I was considering this too. There’s high speed camera, of course. Also you could easily attach a small pencil tip to one side time it as it spins then count the lines made from it. I also considered putting a super light but longribbon on the top and spinning it, then letting the ribbon hit something farther away. Then we count hits or sounds from video. Great Question! Let me know what you do.
Investigate which angle you hold the spinner allows it to spin the longest (eg horizontal/vertical/diagonal). Would need to design a device that lets you spin them in a controlled way to allow for a fair comparison.
Cool idea. You’ll need some kind of mythbusters apparatus for this, but give it a shot!
How do ball bearings work? Science terms (friction, stress, energy transfer, rotation).
What everyday objects use ball bearings?
Research the invention/innovation of ball bearings
What happens when ball bearings fail?
Great lesson to associate with spinners!
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