What happens when large objects collide with smaller objects?
Purpose: Students will understand Newton's second and third laws of motion in a real world context.
To answer this question I conducted an investigation using marbles and washers. I conducted three trials for each type of object, observed, and recorded my results. the objects were placed 8 cm apart and pushed so that they collided with each other. The results were what I expected considering Newton's Laws of Motion. The only exception was the large marble. Instead of stopping, the large marble rolled to the right. I attribute this anomaly to the smoothness of the surface it was on and the marble's spherical shape.
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| When the marbles collided, the small one went in the opposite direction it was coming from and the large marble rolled to the right. |
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| When the washers collided, the small washer went int he opposite direction it was coming from and the large washer stopped moving. |
Everything in the experiment went well once I found a nice smooth surface to conduct the investigation. I had tried previously on the carpet to very different results. Once I conducted my investigation on the counter, I got the results I expected.
For the students in my classroom, I would allow them to conduct a guided inquiry investigation, providing the materials and the question. The purpose is simple enough for young elementary school children to come up with their own ideas on how to go about it. I also believe that instead of marble toy cars and trucks would be more fun. It would also be fun to do with large balls outside on the playground. The students would have an opportunity to see the investigation in a real world context.
Hello Ana,
ReplyDeleteI think that this would be a wonderful experiment for a guided inquiry lesson. You may want to provide a data collection form depending on your student's age. In upper elementary they may be able to produce a collection form and graph it, but the lower elementary students may not have a clear idea of how to record their results. Just a thought.
(I like the photos btw, they made it easy to see what you were talking about. Great idea and I wish I had done that!)
- Kathleen
Ana,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kathie about having the students collect the data. Even if it is something little like having them measure the distace the items moved from each other.
Also, a suggestion I have to make it more real world would be to play shuffle board. If you don't know how let me know and I can explain. I have only ever played the board version of it. Obviously you couldn't get a whole shuffle board table in your room, so you could make a few smaller versions. We usually implore our high school to help us with projects. You could ask your industrial tech teacher (if you have one) to make you some smaller versions. They are usually willing to have that be a project for one of their classes, or for their club. Then you could get washers of various masses that would work with the size table you have and they could play that way. It would be great to use with so many areas like force, momentum, speed, friction, etc. Just a suggestion.