Professors help students learn biomechanics

National Biomechanics Day is celebrated annually to help students understand what biomechanics is and how it is used in real life. To help with that in Charlotte County, enter Dr. Stephanie Playton and Dr. Tim Coffey. The two Longwood University professors reached out to the school district, offering to work with eighth grade students to help them understand how their learning in Physics connects with how the human body (anatomy) moves.

In collaboration with Mrs. Lipscomb, Central Middle School’s science teacher, Playton and Coffey led a two-day pre-activity with LEGO BricQ to study the Laws of Motion. LEGO BricQ is exactly what it sounds like, LEGO sets that help students explore physical moton in class. The students built a car to study how Laws of Motion affected the distance the vehicle moved based on different angles of release (potential and kinetic energy).

As a follow-up to celebrating National Biomechanics Day, Central Middle School eighth graders visited Longwood University on April 10. During the visit they saw biomechanics in action by exploring the lab and working hands-on with tools such as the Zero Gravity Treadmill, balance plate, 3D Motion Analysis and golf simulations.

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