Week 3: Slide Times

Big Q of the Week:

The big question that we are still investigating is how can we support play that is exciting but not dangerous. To explore this question, we looked at different variables that affect a riders speed while going down a slide. As a class, we came up with a different variable to test, my group decided to test if the wetness of the slide affects the riders speed. The big question we investigated was, if the slide is wet, how does that affect the speed of a rider going down the slide? We started by setting up our slide on the window sill to create a ramp and used a toy car as our rider. We did four trials of "dry" slides and then four trials of "wet" slides. To create the wet slide, we poured 50 mL of water down the ramp and then let the car go down the slide. At the end, we averaged out the times of the two different conditions and found that the dry slide time was 2.47 sec. and the wet slide time was 2.06 sec. In conclusion, we determined that the speed of the rider increased when the slide was wet. 

Investigation Data Table

Learning in Lecture: 

This week in lecture we learned more about forces and friction that was mentioned in the Pressbook. We first looked at two different slides, a tall steep one and a shorter longer one. The objective was to figure out which slide you could go down faster, and why. Then, we learned about the factors that affect force such as if an object have more or less force than another, what happens? If the forces are equal, the object is at rest. The soccer ball on the table is an example of balanced forces. We also discussed friction and how it can affect the motion of an object. The erasers on the white board shows the difference in friction. The eraser with a magnet stays on the whiteboard because it is sticking to the surface, whereas the eraser without the magnet was able to easily slide down the whiteboard with little to no friction. 

Our Slide Model

Textbook Connections 

1. This weeks Pressbook chapter covered Newtons 3 Laws and the meaning behind force, friction, and inertia. Force is the push or pull on two objects that are interacting with each other. The example they used is that when a book rests on a table, the book is pushing down on the table and in return the table is pushing up on the book to keep both objects stable. If there are equal forces, then an object is not moving and the forces are balanced. However if one object has more force than another, it is in motion. Friction holds back something from being in motion. An object will remain in motion until something stops it such as friction. However, an object does not always need to be in motion to experience friction, there is static friction that occurs when an object is still. Finally, inertia effects how an object moves. AN object that has a greater inertia will take longer to move compared to an object with less inertia. The example the Pressbook uses is the Titanic trying to avoid the iceberg. Due to the size of the Titanic, it was hard for it to make a sudden change in direction. Whereas a smaller boat with less inertia has the ability to change directions easier. 

2. I think the most helpful part of this chapter was the interactive modules that allowed us to manipulate the forces of objects along with friction. This was helpful for me to visualize what forces and friction look like in the real world. It is a great technological tool to incorporate in my future classroom as well. 

3.  An area that I would like more information on is how speed and direction have an impact on forces and motion. The Pressbook mentioned briefly that mass, speed, and direction all have an impact on forces like the tablecloth and dish trick. 

4. A question that I have is, are we going to explicitly teach Newton's Laws to elementary students, or will we just teach the ideas of force, friction, and inertia. 

Results from our Investigation