What learners see and do
New to Unity? The basic terms (Scene, Hierarchy, Project window, Play mode) are explained in Before you start.
What you need
A lesson scene with a room and a player setup, made with Scene Generation. The Planetary Lab doesn't set those up itself.
What learners see
Two objects stand side by side on a platform. When learners release them, both fall at the same moment. They can:
- release the objects and watch them fall,
- reset them to their starting position,
- explore: pick the objects up and throw them,
- change the gravity, the air density and the mass of one object, or choose a ready-made environment such as Earth, the Moon or Mars,
- read the height and speed graphs of each fall, and see the force arrows.
Environments and objects
The lab uses ready-made profiles:
- Environments such as Earth, the Moon and Mars, each with its gravity and air density.
- Objects such as a light and a heavy sphere, a feather and a metal block, each with its mass, size and air resistance.
The values are illustrative
The air resistance values are reasonable estimates for teaching, not measured from real objects. A feather is shown as a simple shape, so its fluttering isn't simulated.
The window
| Step | What you do there |
|---|---|
| 1 System | Create the lab, and choose the starting environment and the environments learners can pick. |
| 2 Bodies | Choose the two objects, their shape and size. |
| 3 Placement | Where the lab stands, and how high the objects start. |
| 4 Controls | The ranges learners can set. |
| 5 Measurements | Run time and what counts as a finished drop. |
| 6 Lesson | Optional guided lesson in English and German. |
| 7 Save | Apply the settings, or remove the lab. |
Each scene can have one lab.