Box+Activities

Sheep in a Jeep-Picture Perfect Science Lessons, expanded 2nd Edition
 * Sheep in a Jeep
 * In this activity, learnersinvestigate forces and motion using ramps, toy cars, and small plastic farm animals and share their findings in a poster session. In following with the 5E model, students will Engage by listening to the story //Sheep in a Jeep,// the Explore their findings in Checkpoint Labs A-D. Once completed, students will Explain their findings through a poster session in Checkpoint Lab E. In this lesson, students experiment with a toy car with a plastic farm animal attached to it. They change its motion by adjusting the height of a ramp and covering the floor with sandpaper.
 * Sheep Leap
 * In this activity, students investigate air resistance by designing and testing a device to slow the fall of a plastic farm animal. Through this activity, students experiment with forces, motion, friction and resistance, as well as begin to understand the effects that gravity has on all objects.

AIMS
 * Coaster Construction
 * This activity focuses on two common types of mechanical energy - potential and kinetic energy. The students will experiment with the tubing types and locations of hills in designing their roller coasters. They should be free to explore loops as well as hills as they plan and put to the test what they feel will create the best roller coaster system that meets the minimum criteria. The minimum criteria is that the car (the BB), must start from the top of the initial drop, roll up and down the hills, and exit the end of the track.
 * Ball on a Roll
 * For this activity, the students are trying to answer the questions, How does the ball's height on the ramp affect the distance it rolls? Students will explore how a ball's starting height on the ramp is related to the distance it rolls, and relate the downward movement of the ball to the force of gravity.
 * Rally Round the Room - Toni
 * The key question of this inquiry activity is, "What is the relationship between the point on the inclined plane the car is released and the distance the car travels?" The students will build their own inclined plane to investigate the motion of the toy car. They will adjust their design according to any problems they are presented with (car not moving smoothly on plane or on surface). The students will also explore the relationship between the cars released position on the plane and the distance it travels.
 * After designing and building their inclined plane, they will first run trials to see if any problems occur. After design flaws have been solved, students will record data from three separate trials and graph this collected data on a performance graph. Other team activities are available to elaborate the idea which include higher level problem solving.
 * Bounce Back - Toni
 * The key question for this activity is, "How can the language of algebra be used to described how the bounce of a ball is related to the height from which the ball is dropped?" The students will collect and graph data for three separate trial bounces. They will also see the relationships of linear functions and the real-world. Students will write a linear funtion rule for the data collected.
 * Using several different drop distances, students will repeat a ball drop and record the data collected. They will then transfer the data to a graph and answer questions pertaining to the activity.
 * Wind Rollers- Ashley W.
 * This is an activity to explore wind energy and wind patterns. Students will make observations and explore kinetic energy of the wind by making wind rollers, estimating how far they will travel, testing the actual distance in pairs, and discussing results. The students will record their data from the experiment on a worksheet provided. A template for the wind roller is also provided.
 * Slip Sliding Away- Ashley W.
 * This activity is on friction and seeing how to reduce friction. Students will use different lubricants to see which one is more effective in reducing the friction of a film canister filled with sand down a cardboard slide. The lubricants used will be soap, wax, and oil. There will also be one with nothing. Students will rotate from table to table to test each to see how long it takes the canister to slide down the slide. The students will test each 3 times in their groups and find an average. They will then compare results with other groups.