Measuring Distance, Velocity, Acceleration, and Forces of a jumping Arboreal Lizard.

Measuring Distance, Velocity, Acceleration, and Forces of a jumping Arboreal Lizard.

A high speed video, along with some of the data generated by the research conducted by Gary B. Gillis, Lauren A. Bonvini, and Duncan J. Irschick on the jumping dynamics of an Arboreal Lizard was used to study the measurement of distance, velocity, acceleration, and force.

The motion of animals is difficult to measure, their movements can be fast and, unlike parts in machines, the motion of limbs tend to be non-uniform and complex.  In order to measure the motion of a jumping arboreal lizard, high speed video was used to divide the complex motion of the lizard into small simple steps. The goal breaking a complex problem such as the motion of the lizard into many smaller and simpler chunks is to trade a single complex problem for many simple problems which can be solved by harnessing the power of modern computer systems.

The information published by Gary B. Gillis, Lauren A. Bonvini, and Duncan J. Irschick along with a high speed video were to the explore the following subjects:

• Measuring distance and velocity
• Measuring acceleration
• Estimating forces

The following are sample lesson plans based on the Jumping Arboreal Lizard:

• Measuring distance and velocity
• Measuring acceleration
• Estimating forces