For this week's application, I chose to investigate how the steepness of a slope and mass affect a collision outcome. I took 3 steel balls of different masses and rolled them down a ramp, colliding with dry erase board erasers on the floor. Based on what I know about the properties of momentum (mass times velocity), my hypothesis was that the ball with the largest mass would push the eraser the farthest. My hypothesis was correct, but I wanted to explore the lesson further so decided to change a few more variables. I chose to perform the same experiment, but changed the height of my ramp several times. I then conducted the experiment again, but this time instead of the collisions occurring on hardwood floors, I moved to carpet to observe the role friction might have. On the carpet, the collisions sent the balls flying off in every direction and not really moving the eraser at all.
I feel like by testing so many variables, I could anticipate what variables my students would want to look at.
This lesson could be modified to be any one of the four levels of inquiry depending on the age or skill level of students. To engage students further, we could change the type of objects that are colliding to make it more relevant to their lives and discuss how collisions in sports result in injuries.
