Slow Coaster Project: The Snail Blazer
The Slow Coaster allows students to investigate science concepts, such as inertia and gravity, in an interactive and exploratory way. Students will problem solve to make a ping pong ball move as slowly and as long as possible across rubber band tracks. This page includes information about the creation of the slow coaster, which concepts it explores, and how this can be used in the classroom.
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This project also allows for student to learn through...
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Trial and error
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Experiencing the right amount of frustration to problem solve
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Apply the numbers to real life situations
Materials:
What's Happening?
This project is accessible with just a few materials...
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Rubber Bands
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Ping Pong Balls
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Peg Board
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61.5 cm high​
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60 cm wide
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Carriage Bolt
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Wing-nuts to attach to screws
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There are a few different science concepts this project could allow students to explore and that will lead to further discussion of real life application.
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Inertia- This is the idea that things in motion tend to stay in motion. With the slow coaster, students utilize inertia to describe the fact that the ball should keep moving down the ramp that is created.
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Change in Movement- Through trial and error, students will find out the ball may not always move at the rate and direction they would like it too. They will explore what forces are speeding up and slowing the ball down.They also have to make the ball move in different directions if they want it to move down the peg board for a substancial amount of time. They can also explore that when the ball is not moving it has balanced forces. There has to be an unbalanced force, such as gravity, to make something move. In order for things to change direction, there has to be an unbalanced force. This is what happens when one rubber band creates a ramp in one direction down, while the one below goes in a different direction down.
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Friction- This concept comes into play in slowing down the ball. The goal is to make the ball move slowly down the path. Students may find the distance to the board or the knots on the rubber bands slow the ball down. These are a result of friction. Even though inertia wants the ball to keep moving down at a constant rate, friction is a force that prevents the ball from doing so.
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Gravity- Gravity explains why the ball is moving down at any given point in time. The natural intention of the ball will be to move down.
The patterns that students are experiencing in this project can all be explained and named afterwards. This will give the project meaning to them and help them conceptualize the science. Through this, students can discover they are using science even when they do not realize it.
Not ONLY Science...
Students will also utilize math in this project. They will look at long division and different methods of measurement. This includes using a ruler to read the centimeters. The long division is used for measuring the speed of the ball.
This is done by dividing the length of the track (in centimeters) by the amount of time it takes to travel (in seconds).
Standards Met:
K.P.1.2 Give examples of different ways objects and organisms move (to include falling to the ground when dropped )
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1.P.1 Understand how forces (pushes or pulls) affect the motion of an object.
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3.P.1 Understand motion and factors that affect motion.
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5.P.1 Understand force, motion and the relationship between them. 5.P.1.1 Explain how factors such as gravity, friction, and change in mass affect the motion of objects. 5.P.1.2 Infer the motion of objects in terms of how far they travel in a certain amount of time and the direction in which they travel. 5.P.1.3 Illustrate the motion of an object using a graph to show a change in position over a period of time. 5.P.1.4 Predict the effect of a given force or a change in mass on the motion of an object
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Watch Science in Action
OUR RESULTS:
13.28 cm/sec