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Inspired by the work of the Patterns Approach to Physics, I wanted to start my IB Physics classes with a short exposure to different types of mathematical models that they will see. Due to time constraints, I use nPlot to model the fit directly rather than having students linearize the data, but these same examples could be used either way.
The following sections outline the data collection process with sample data for each of the 5 mini-labs. After modeling the process using "Lab A" as a whole class. Groups of 4-5 were able to finish the remaining 4 labs in around 30 minutes.
nPlot - noragulfa.com/nPlot//For this lab, I had students use nPlot to "discover" the different types of mathematical models without any linearizing required but it would be very easy to modify the experience to fit with a linearizing workflow as well. A - CarRecord the time it takes for a toy car to travel a certain distance  B - Playdough CylinderWithout adding or removing any playdough, create 5 different playdough “snakes” and measure the length and diameter for each. (hint: you will want at least one cylinder that has a diameter longer than the length as part of your five)  C - PenniesDetermine the number of pennies that fit into different sized circles  D - ParagraphsMeasure the width and height of different paragraphs  E - PaperclipsFind the mass of the different boxes of paperclips  MaterialsA - Car
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