ABSTRACT VIEW
SIX PHYSICS EXERCISES ON THE ENGLISH WAY OF ST. JAMES OF COMPOSTELLA
B. Montero, C. Ramírez, J. Martín, M. Rico, R. Bouza
Universidade da Coruña (SPAIN)
Often the science and technology students see the Classic Physics as something far from daily life, and to bring them closer, there is nothing better than approaching the Physics to something that everyone knows: the Way of St James.

The Way of St James has crossed all frontiers, and pilgrims from all over the world, can be found on different routes that exist nowadays. The first and oldest path is the one known as the Primitive Way, from Oviedo, and the best known and longest is the so-called French Way. Nevertheless, and for this work, we will focus on the English Way, which although obviously originates in England, its first stop in Spain is in Ferrol, the city where one of the Campus of the University of A Coruña is located, the Industrial Campus.

On this Campus, the students can enrol in various engineering degrees, with Physics as a subject, and where this work can be applied. The exercises suggested correspond to different parts of Physics, which are taught in the first course of any engineering.

The English Way begins in Ferrol, in the Port of Curuxeiras, where it´s proposed the first exercise of our particular Way. This is an exercise based on Archimedes' principle, which reviews the concepts of density and pressure, their units and the buoyancy of a boat anchored to the dock. It is, therefore, a fluid exercise (Hydrostatics).

We continue on our Way and when we reach Cabañas, we see the railway bridge, over the mouth of the Eume river, built in 1910. In its central span, 70 metres long, it will be developed the second exercise (Statics). On the other side of the Eume river, we find Pontedeume and there begins the hard climb to Campolongo, a perfect inclined plane to develop Newton's laws, and the different types of energies and the vector decomposition (third exercise).

We are at the top of the route, and we find with the unique windmill on the English Way, the windmill of Bemantes or Boucelo, to analyse the movement of the blades. We discuss the dynamics of rotation, with a comprehensive review of circular motion and its associated parameters (fourth exercise).

Arriving at our destination, we discover the wonderful Cathedral of Santiago, where we are going to carry out two activities. For the first, we will go up to the roofs of the cathedral, with a guided tour, which is something unique and unrepeatable. There, it´s proposed exercises about kinematics, rectilinear and parabolic movements (fifth exercise). To finish our Way, it´s proposed the second activity, inside the Cathedral, with a wave movement exercise, to analyse the behaviour of the very famous Botafumeiro (sixth exercise).

In summary, the main objective of this work is to establish the connectivity between Classical Physics and the English Way of St James, dealing with its characteristics, route and some history and curiosities.

Keywords: Motivation, Physics, Gaming.

Event: EDULEARN25
Track: Active & Student-Centered Learning
Session: Gamification & Game-based Learning
Session type: VIRTUAL