If you haven’t seen The Coding Train yet, get on board! I was actually recommended the channel by a student who is going to be much smarter than me one day. I was amazed that I hadn’t found the channel already, but either way I’m glad that I have now.
In this project, students will use the Processing language to write the code required to simulate a pendulum. This is a fantastic Maker Learner activity because it not only introduces students to a programming language that makes it incredibly simple to create simulations of the the real world, but it requires that students have a detailed understanding of the mathematics behind this real world phenomena.
Personally, I see this project taking two hours of class time. One hour to learn and practice the mathematics of the motion of a pendulum and one hour to translate that mathematics into Processing. If you wanted to really drive the concept home, you might also want to spend an hour investigating the physical pendulum, and attempt to replicate that observation on Processing.