Mint candies are good for more than just one's breath. Using basic materials such as mint candies, straws, index cards, and Popsicle sticks, scholars create race cars that meet a given budget as well as design constraints. They perform an experiment to measure the distance the car travels down a ramp based on its mass, graph the data as a scatter plot, and analyze a line of best fit.

Concepts

variables, engineering design, constraints, dependent variables, independent variables, controlled variable, technology resources

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Instructional Ideas

• Use the activity extensions as extra credit assignments
  

Classroom Considerations

• Pupils should be familiar with how to create a scatter plot and line of best fit
  
• A middle school version of the activity is available as a separate resource
• Requires a variety of materials; see the resource for a complete list
  

Pros

• Lists some questions to use as part of a discussion session
  
• Provides definitions for relevant vocabulary terms
  

Cons

• None

Common Core

MP4 HSN-Q.A.1 HSS-ID.B.6.c