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Explorations and apps

Simulations

Add a simulation to a lesson so students can change a condition, run the model and compare the results, such as how a pendulum's length changes how fast it swings.

When to use it

Use a simulation for an experiment that is slow, expensive or impossible in the classroom, or one you want students to repeat with different values. In the example, students compare a 1-metre pendulum with one they can lengthen, and see that a pendulum four times as long takes about twice as long to swing.

A simulation is an HTML page that runs inside the worksheet. You can prepare it yourself, use a file from a colleague, or ask an AI assistant connected to Praktikal to create one and save it into your lesson.

Adding a simulation

  1. In a worksheet, use the + between two items and choose Simulation.

  2. The editor opens. Write a title at the top, for example "Why does a long pendulum swing more slowly?"

  3. Click Upload HTML file and choose the prepared file (a single .html file, up to 2 MB). You can also paste or edit the code directly under HTML source.

  4. Check that it works in the Live preview. Changes are saved as you go, and the status shows Saved.

  5. Click Close, try the simulation once more in the worksheet, and click the tick.

To change it later, click the pencil and then Edit HTML. A simulation an AI assistant saved into your lesson opens and edits the same way.

What students do

Students use the simulation's own controls in the worksheet: in the example, a slider for the pendulum's length and a button to start and pause it. The calculated values update as they change the setting, and running the model lets them see the difference as well as read it.

Their settings are not saved. Reloading the page starts the simulation again from its initial values.

Tips

  • Check the physics before the lesson. Try a value you can work out yourself and compare it with what the simulation shows.

  • One variable at a time: a simulation that changes only the length makes the effect of the length clear.

  • Ask students to predict before they run it, for example how much longer the period will be at 4 m.

  • The file must be self-contained: scripts inside it or from jsDelivr, cdnjs or unpkg, and no data loaded from other websites.

  • If the simulation is built to record measurements or answers, the item shows Answerable while you edit it, and what students submit appears in Results.