Vol.1 No.1

MOTION VISUALIZER 3D HAS SHIPPED!

After more than three years of intensive effort, Motion Visualizer 3D is ready to go! Here we see the team packing up the first unit, which shipped in February 2003. Left to right is Steve Cremer, Ricardo Nemirovsky, Nathan Kimball, David Hild, and Paul Antonucci. Marvin Grossman was unable to attend on the big day.

The latest features of Motion Visualizer 3D include a full-featured indexed, searchable help-system, and sample data files. The Motion Visualizer 3D package now includes our Activities Guide, a turning wheel for circular motion experiments, a Quick Start Guide, and a 3D alignment tool with tripod mount.

We wish to thank Walter Lenk for building of prototype units; Katelynn O'Brien for creation of graphics and color schemes; Steve Santarelli for electronic circuit board layout. We thank the following teachers for field testing and valuable feedback during the pilot program: Apolinario Barros, Stephen Cremer, Sydney Foster, Amy Picard, and Jesse Solomon. Additional thanks to the following people for their many valuable suggestions and encouragement: Dr. Jean C. Bonney, Walter Brown, Dr. Marvin Grossman, and Dr. Philip Sadler.

Also in this Issue:

• Alberti's Window Attends Winter 2003 AAPT Meeting
• Launch of our New Website
• Curricular Activities
• Upcoming Presentations

Alberti's Window Attends Winter 2003 AAPT Meeting

Nathan Kimball and Steve Cremer represented Alberti's Window at this winter's meeting of the AAPT in Austin, Texas. They showed Motion Visualizer 3D to many prominent members of the physics teaching community, including Paul Doherty of the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and Paul G. Hewitt, author of the book "Conceptual Physics."

Here's a picture of Nathan and Steve in the Alberti's Window display booth.

Comments left by those requesting more information included: "This is amazing!", "Just like magic!", and "This is certain to help students who have difficulty conceptualizing in 3D."

Launch of our New Website

We recently upgraded both the look and content of our website. For more information about Motion Visualizer 3D and Alberti's Window, please visit the new site at www.albertiswindow.com.

Curricular Activities

We are currently developing new classroom activities working with Amy Picard, of Newton North High School in Newton, Massachusetts, who has incorporated Motion Visualizer 3D into her curriculum. Amy's students are working on activities such as yoyos, bowling, and gymnastics.

Here is a picture of one student twirling a yoyo, then presenting her experiment data:

Note that Amy will present a paper at the AAPT regional meeting, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on April 11th and 12th. She will discuss her curriculum and its use of technology and Motion Visualizer 3D.

Throughout the development of Motion Visualizer 3D, students enthusiastically participated in the study of pendulums, gravity, bouncing balls, circular motion, juggling, balls thrown outdoors, and even themselves outdoors in a field. Comments from field test teachers include: "The 3D capability of this technology returns students to the world they know. Learning to work in a three-dimensional space is the missing link in today's physics and mathematics education," and "I can't stop thinking of how the students took to Motion Visualizer 3D."

Presentations

We have scheduled several Motion Visualizer 3D presentations in the near future. Please feel free to call us about attending one of these events, or to arrange for us to visit your school.

2003 Presentation Schedule: