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This Newton Car lesson plan also includes:
If a car gets heavier, it goes farther? By running an activity several times, teams experience Newton's Second Law of Motion. The teams vary the amount of weight they catapult off a wooden block car and record the distance the car travels. They also vary the number of rubber bands to catapult the weight.
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Instructional Ideas
- Have teams make scatter plots using mass vs. distance and number of rubber bands vs. distance while holding the third variable constant
- Perform multiple trials with the same force and mass
Classroom Considerations
- Newton Cars must be constructed prior to use
- The rubber bands should be positioned at the center of mass of the container
Pros
- Provides tips to help with the acquisition of materials and consistency of setups
- The data collection sheet requests an analysis of the data to explain the relationship among force, weight, and distance
Cons
- The bar graph is not necessarily the best way to display the data