Good movie clips for teaching concepts?

[superdave]

So I love the Physics of Superheroes, I use it a lot when I teach. Today I did a lesson on work and energy using scenes from Spider-Man (climbing the wall for Work - > Gravitational PE, swinging from the top of the building for Gravitational PE -> KE) and Spider-Man 2 (stopping the train for KE -> Elastic PE). The students loved it. Even though it's the exact same situations we talk about in problems, just having that 2-3 minute clip of a movie they liked made them more interested.

Anyone have good ideas about clips to use for teaching key concepts?

I'm looking to do more Energy and include Power, but I'd love to start a thread for all suggestions.

 

[jedishrfu]

Ewoks in the Battle for Endor StarWars VI use a variety of simple machines like the swinging log to take out the Empire's Walkers.

Lord ofthe Rings 3 final battle uses catapults to launch massive blocks at the enemy.

Robert Mueller in his online Physics for Future Presidents uses the From RAM commercial where the meteorite hits the truck and it survives.

 

[martane]

That's such a cool idea! Using superhero movies to teach physics definitely makes it more engaging for students. I can see how the visuals and action scenes would really help them understand the concepts better.

For teaching energy and power, you could use the scene from Iron Man where he powers up his suit and flies off. That could be a good example of converting energy into power. And for potential energy, maybe the scene from Ant-Man where he shrinks down and jumps onto a flying ant could work.

For power, the scene from The Flash TV show where he runs on water could be a good example. It shows how his speed and power allow him to do seemingly impossible things.

I also remember a scene from The Incredibles where Mr. Incredible lifts a train off the tracks - that could be used to demonstrate work and energy.

Overall, I think any superhero movie or show has potential for teaching physics concepts. It's just a matter of finding the right scenes and connecting them to the concepts you want to teach. Good luck with your lesson plans!