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Wii Love Physics has two main components. Part 1 has students writing original word problems
based on what they are seeing in the game. The Mario and Sonic Olympics game is great for this as you can use metric
measurements with your students. You can see a sample of this activity on the side. I have students trade problems and
attempt to solve one anothers word problems.
Part 2 of the lesson uses the Wii Sports game that comes with your Wii console. Students use the home run derby
to analyze the motion of a baseball. To get to the home run derby, go to training mode and hit baseball - you'll get
the homerun derby from there.
I have noticed that students have difficulty with reading comprehension when it comes
to solving physics problems. Students have the math skills but have great difficulty setting the problems and using
the equation to complete the operation. Using the Wii, I developed a way to make the world problems more fun and engaging.
By writing the problems on their own, students begin to see how world problems are broken down and are more successful completing
them during later units.
Get ready for some baseball!
This activity can be used as a stand alone lesson or a part of something bigger (see Project
Surf). You can also adapt it to the bowling or tennis game depending on how many students are playing and how quickly
you want to cycle students through.
When selecting students to play video games, I make sure that all students have gone once
before selecting students for a second time, I keep track so that every student gets an equal opportunity to play.
There are times when some students will pass on their turn to play and that is fine - I make sure that they get a few turns
at some point during the school year.
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