Studying fluid mechanics the fun way through challenging tasks/games
Abstract
Through the experiences of the proponents in the teaching of fluid mechanics to science and non-science students in the tertiary level, simple classroom demonstrations and seemingly magical tricks have never failed to arouse the interest and curiosity of these students.
These classroom demonstrations which are often used for P.O.E. (Predict-observe-explain) sessions may, in another way, be converted to fun and challenging tasks or games. The teacher-participants will undergo these tasks and will need to discover for themselves the underlying concepts, laws or principles in fluid mechanics which form the basis for each particular task. Moreover, they will be required to explain, using these physics concepts and laws, the behavior of objects involved in accomplishing their tasks. These challenging tasks become a game when several groups of teacher-participants compete against each other in earning the most number of points.