Activity Overview
In this activity, students' will use a Motion detector to measure how far a vehicle rolling down a ramp travels in a given time. They will use mathematical formulas to calculate the vehicle's speed, velocity, and acceleration.
Before the Activity
Connect the motion detector into the DIG/SONIC channel of the CBL 2
Download DataMate™ program
See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
Print pages 57 - 62 from the attached PDF file for your class
During the Activity
Distribute the pages to your class.
Follow the Activity procedure:
Assemble a ramp and position the motion detector
Roll the vehicle in a straight line down the ramp and measure the distance covered in 5 seconds
Conduct three trials in the same manner
Graph the data and record the distance for each one-second interval
Graph average speed versus time
Calculate the vehicle's velocity and acceleration
After the Activity
Students' will complete Student Data Collection and Analysis Sheet.
Review student results
As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
Re-teach concepts as necessary