Math Club Resource Hub

This exploratory activity with Vernier Motion Detectors helps students understand graphs by using students’ informal intuitive ideas about motion to build formal mathematical ideas.

The activity focuses on developing meaning for linearity (constant rate of change), slope (rate of change), and y-intercept (initial distance from the detector). Vernier offers many different examples of activities that can be used with their motion detectors.

The motion detectors are a product of Vernier Science Education, a company that produces high-quality products and equipment to support educators in the sciences. The motion detectors are expensive, but many universities and STEM recourse centers offer equipment lending services to use them for free.