Say I wanted to embed a physical model into a webpage using JavaScript to pull data from data fields, massage them, and send them on to a running sketch. This has the effect of interactively modifying the sketch's behavior at runtime.

To make this possible for CS 101 students, I need to figure out at least the following:

1. what is the minimum set of (JavaScript) language features they would need
2. what is most effective? JavaScript→Processing or Processing→JavaScript

This last seems like a bogus question; I wouldn't dream of programming a physical model in JavaScript, assuming of course that nobody develops a library for using the HTML5 canvas to display physical models.