Energy Skate Park: Basics (ESPB)

Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 4 claims (4 for) · 2 studies (1 qualitative, 1 design), q1–q2 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 4 claims rest on one study

Description

A PhET Interactive Simulations physics simulation that lets learners explore conservation of energy and energy relationships by manipulating a skater, track, mass, and friction.

Components

• Energy Skate Park: Basics simulation: Energy Skate Park: Basics (ESPB) is a PhET interactive simulation aimed at middle school student learning of energy concepts, available at the PhET website. The authors write: "The sim is sequenced through the use of three tabs, Introduction, Friction and Track Playground, shown in Figure 3." Each tab supports specific learning goals (conservation of energy, energy-speed-position relationships, mass effects, friction effects), with pedagogically appropriate simplifications such as friction fixed at zero in the Introduction tab, faded in later tabs. (Podolefsky et al. (2013))

Claims

• A student began interacting with the sim within 10 seconds and verbalized sense-making without explicit guidance [+W]
• Authors report that flexibility in sim access supports student agency while students tend to explore in a productive sequence [+W]
• A student used slider extremes to make qualitative comparisons of skater mass effects [+W]
• Students reported that the virtual-lab lesson made learning fun, helped them figure out concepts themselves, and supported thinking like real scientists [+W]

Related Products and Programmes

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Key Sources

• Podolefsky, N. S., Moore, E. B., & Perkins, K. K. (2013). Implicit scaffolding in interactive simulations: Design strategies to support multiple educational goals. http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/energy-skate-park-basics. doi:10.48550/arxiv.1306.6544

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	product
id	energy-skate-park-basics-espb
title	Energy Skate Park: Basics (ESPB)
description	A PhET Interactive Simulations physics simulation that lets learners explore conservation of energy and energy relationships by manipulating a skater, track, mass, and friction.
status	review
moved_from	element/energy-skate-park-basics-sim
product_kind	software
generated	by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	1 — podolefsky-2013

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