Activity Overview
In this activity, students examine how moving a weight up along a board affects the downward force on the board. They explore how children with different weights can be balanced on a seesaw.
Before the Activity
Position the scale and the block far enough apart so that the wooden plank is supported on one end by the scale and the other end by the block
Starting at the edge of the scale, place marks at 10-cm increments on the wooden plank
Set up the calculator for data collection using the procedure described in the attached Appendix PDF file
See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
Print pages 23 - 34 from the attached PDF file for your class
During the Activity
Distribute the pages to your class.
Follow the Activity procedures:
Place books at the 0 cm mark on the plank and record the weight
Move the books to the 10 cm mark and record the weight
Continue to move the books away from the scale in 10-cm increments and record weights
Enter the data of distance and weight as a list
Use this data to graph a scatter plot
Visually estimate the trend line and find the line that contains as many points as possible
Determine an equation for a trend line for the data, calculate the slope, and graph the trend line
Alternatively, find a linear regression equation for the data and graph the best fit line
Find the weight of objects placed at different distances from the scale
Find the distance from the scale given the object's weight shown on the scale
After the Activity
Students will complete the Data Collection and Analysis page and answer questions listed on it.
Review student results:
As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
Re-teach concepts as necessary