Ramp Modification

Today Evan brought his modified inclined plane/ramp to school. To modify his ramp, he divided it into 2 parts: smooth and rough. In order to make the surface the only variable to be changed, Evan used the same vehicles and ramp heights. The previous day, the class claimed that you could change the speed of the object by changing the ramp's surface. Evan's modification proved our claim correct!

Testing Our Claims

Today the scholars tested their claims they made about inclined planes/ramps. First they claimed that the heavier you are, the faster you will go down the ramp. Next they claimed that the longer the ramp the slower you will go. To test our claims, we went outside with our stopwatches to find some ramps! 

After testing our claims, we discovered that going down a longer ramp takes more time. At first, we were going faster however the farther down the ramp we got the slower we went. Our thinking is that the height of the ramp or its angle does change the speed.

Our claim that the heavier the person/object the faster you will travel was tricky to test. Each scholar put on a helmet then sat on a scooter to go down the ramp. While we thought this was a good idea, we learned it was not valid due to the scooters not going straight! We had a BLAST anyhow! 

We finished with a class debriefing. In our talks about weight and speed, we referred back to what we learned about weight and gravity from the Egg Drop. The Egg Drop taught us that objects of different weights fell to the ground at the same time. This caused the scholars to infer that this same principle would hold true for us traveling down a ramp. However, the scholars do believe that weight will impact the speed going up a ramp. We decided to test this claim later,

Using a New App

The scholars learned how to use a new app, Word Movers. The scholars used this app during word work time. They were given the letters: a, d, n, s, t they used these letters to make as many words possible. They then saved their work and will upload this to their blog.

Inclined Planes

We just started a new Science/Engineering Unit: inclined planes.  The scholars have already discovered through investigations the following concepts: forces (push or pull), motion, speed, gravity, surface, angle. Some of the scholars were so excited, that they designed and made ramps at home. Pictured below is Evan demonstrating his ramp. Each time he tested, he increased the height of the ramp. The excitement, conversations and connections that occurred were incredible! Another scholar, Carter made a video of his ramp design and testing. 

Building Words

The scholars tried something new today.....Building Words with a partner. The scholars were given the letters: a, e, i, c, h, m, n,s. Together they were given the task of building as many words as they possibly could. Doing this activity the scholars were applying their knowledge of letters, sounds and words.

Dinosaur George

Thanks to our awesome PTA, the scholars had the opportunity to learn about dinosaurs!  This traveling museum was incredible and our scholars loved seeing and learning!