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Earth’s Forces

Performance Assessment – Lab

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BE PREPARED

Materials

Group materials

1 5 N spring scale
1 woodblock
1 white bucket with handle
1 200 g mass weight or 2 100 g mass weights
1 roll of masking tape
1 calculator
1 sheet of wax paper, 30 cm in length
Paper towels, 30 cm in length

Individual materials

Student Data Record

TEACHER PREPARATION

1. Cut each of five (5) sheets of wax paper to 30 cm in length.

2. Cut each of five (5) pieces of paper towel to 30 cm in length

3. Place all group and student materials at the distribution center.

4. Form the class into 5 independent workgroups.

INSTRUCTION

1. Instruct each student group to obtain the following necessary materials from the distribution center: one (1) 5 N spring scale, one (1) woodblock, one (1) white bucket with handle, one (1) 200 g mass weight or two (2) 100 g mass weights, one (1) roll of masking tape, one (1) calculator, one (1) sheet of wax paper, one (1) piece of paper towel.

PROCEDURE

1. Briefly outline the goals of this project to the class. Read aloud the Data Record.

You work for a toy factory. Toy packages need to be moved across the warehouse and into trucks for delivery to toy stores. You have two jobs to do. First, you need to find the best way to move the toy packages across the warehouse. There are two machines that can do this. One machine lifts the packages into the air and the other drags the packages at a constant speed across the floor. The greater the force needed to move the packages, the more money it will cost the company. You need to find the less expensive method that requires the least force. The second step for the toy packages is to go down a chute where they can then be loaded onto trucks. Your boss wants to know which surface you would use to put at the end of the chute to slow the packages down. Your task is to test the surfaces and show your boss why you recommend the surface that you choose.

Goals:

a. Design an experiment to test each method of moving the toys across the warehouse.

b. Test each method of moving the toy packages and present your data.

c. Design an experiment to select the surface that will most quickly stop the toy packages as they come out of the chute.

d. Test the surfaces and present data to support your selection.

2. With the students, walk through the steps in the project. Encourage students to be creative and draw on their understanding of forces, including gravity and friction, from the first five investigations.

3. Allow students to complete their Performance Assessments. You may wish to informally or formally evaluate students as they work on their performance assessments. An evaluation rubric for the performance assessment has been provided to aid in the evaluation process.

4. Upon completion of the project, permit enough time to clean up the lab and return the materials and equipment to their assigned location.