Energy 8. Analyzing the Data

Today we graphed the data from both investigations. We noticed how similar the line graphs were!

We talked about what we could learn by looking at our graphs.  We filled in the Summary Table.

The students wrote a claim answering the driving question: "How does changing the speed of a Hot Wheels car change its energy?" They supported their claim with evidence and reasoning.

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They learned about the Montparnasse Derailment and a Lego Buffer Stop Experiment (from "Wonder of Science") https://thewonderofscience.com/4ps31

They analyzed the data collected in that investigation and compared it to our investigations. In the Lego Buffer Stop experiment, they noticed that the faster the train went, the louder the sound when it hit! Sound is energy, too! Very interesting...

Energy 7. Two-Investigation Day!

 Today we did two investigations.  

1. How far will the meter stick move when hit by a Hot Wheels car released from different heights? 

This was basically a repeat of the experiment we did last week. This time, we changed the object that the car hit to a meter stick on top of another meter sticks. We did four trials per ramp height.

Here are our results:

2. How does the height of the ramp affect the speed of the Hot Wheels car? 

This investigation happened because the boys agreed that cars going down higher ramps had more energy (they saw how far they moved the objects they hit), but they wanted to actually measure the speed somehow.

I told them that without a radar gun, we would have to use the formula for speed:

Speed = Distance/Time

We decided to mark a line on the track, and start a timer at the release of the car and stop it as it passed the line.

This one took a lot of tries, because it was hard to coordinate the timer and the car release each time!  

Here are our results:

Tomorrow we will graph and analyze our results!

Energy 6. We Need More Investigations!

 We looked at our results from yesterday's investigation.  

Even though there seemed to be a correlation between the height of the ramp and the distance the box travelled, we decided to collect more data. One student had an idea about putting one meter stick on top of another meter stick. He showed us how the car bumps the top one and it is easy to measure, because it is already on the meter stick!  We might try that next week. We will also do more trials next time.

I asked if our experiment was answering the question, "How does changing the speed of a Hot Wheels car change its energy?"   The boys agreed that the car had more energy if it could move the box further. They wanted to actually measure the speed of each car somehow. They said that they could not tell by looking if one car was going faster than another, and even though they THOUGHT it was, they wanted to get actual speed measurements We have a lot to figure out!

Energy 5. Planning and Carrying out an Investigation

 How does changing the speed of an object affect its energy? 

We had a question to answer. We reviewed what we learned by reading the chart we created yesterday: (These were all student statements about what they learned.)

"The rubber band transfers energy to the marble. There is energy when there is a moving object all the time. How fast the marble is - is how much energy it has. How much energy the marble has is how much the cup moves. The more energy the rubber band transfers to the marble, the more energy transfers to the cup and the more it will go. The speed of the object changes when the energy transfers."

Then the boys decided how they would test to see how changing the speed of something affects its energy. They discussed various possibilities and decided to use a hot wheels car and measure how far the car goes when started at slopes of different heights.

First, they set up the track in the classroom.

The problem was the car went too far and ran into the wall on the far side of the room.  We would need more space for the track.  So we went into the main building and set up there. Our next problem was that there was not enough track for the car, so it was hard to measure how far it went. 

The boys decided to set up something for the car to hit and measure how far the object moved.

They tried several objects before settling on a small box.  The box seemed to be a good choice and they were ready to collect data!

One student recorded the data.

We ran out of time, so we were only able to collect one trial for each height. Tomorrow we will graph our data and analyze our results! We will also discuss how having more trials would help to ensure our results are valid.

Energy 4. Energy of Motion

 The boys spent some time experimenting with a rubber band, a marble, and cup. They shot the marble at the cup with the rubber band, and watched to see what the cup did. They tried pulling the rubber band back by different amounts to see how much the cup moved each time.  (It was hard to get the aim right, and I think I would like to look for a similar investigation that controls for aim.)

Then, we read and took notes on a handout about energy transfer.

Tomorrow, we will investigate how changing the speed of a marble effects the energy of that marble.

Energy 3. What is a force?

 One question that kept coming up on models and on the DQB was whether gravity was a force or was energy.  So, we read about forces and took notes. We learned that gravity is not energy, it is a force.  We also learned that forces and energy have a lot to do with each other, and that forces will definitely be a part of figuring out our phenomenon.

Energy 2: The Driving Question Board

 Students began writing "how" and "why" questions for our Driving Question Board.

They then sorted their questions into categories, adding extra categories as needed.  We added a "parking lot" for questions that didn't seem to fit into a category. We noticed that many questions could go into more than one category. 

 

Energy 1: Energy Storyline Day 1 - The Phenomenon

 Driving Questions: Tell the "energy story."  Where is the energy coming from? Where is the energy going? What does the energy do? Where are energy transfers happening?

I showed the students the mini, extra-short Rube Goldberg machine that I had set up in the classroom. First, they watched me demonstrate it live, then they watched the slow-motion video several times.

After that, they worked with partner to create initial models. We agreed that arrows would show the flow of energy, and that they would write explanations and draw on the model to show the direction the energy was moving. They would try to "tell the energy story" on their models.