Exploring Kepler’s laws using an interactive whiteboard and Algodoo

Combining an interactive whiteboard with the right software, and with an appropriate instructional approach, is crucial for its productive use in physics classrooms. We describe how the interactive whiteboard can be used in combination with a physics-based sandbox software program (Algodoo) to address the topic of Kepler’s laws. The proposed activity engages students in collaborative inquiry and draws on students’ experience in using touch-screen technology. Students engage in the manipulation of virtual objects on the interactive whiteboard and investigate Kepler’s laws by actively participating in the creation of planets, sending them into orbit, and representing their motion using a wide variety of virtual tools.