4th Graders went to the SteamWorks lab 11/28-30 to experience force and motion using Hot wheels. They had to take a car and then design a track that once the car left the track would travel the furthest. Some tried loops to get more momentum, some height, some jumps. They had to design, test, and redesign. Next they go to the computer lab to put the data into a spreadsheet, learn about averages, and create bar charts.
Another group of 4th graders had to come up with their own question to explore: Does the weight of the car have something to do with how far it will travel? Does the height at which the car starts change the distance? Do loops affect the results? They were only allowed to have 1 variable. They then changed their design to see what kinda of different results they got.