Investigations into Motion & Energy

We are going to begin our experiments as scientists do: by asking questions! Let's watch this video, and record as a class: What do you notice? What do you wonder?




Our questions:
What are they?
Are they magnets? 
Is some one controlling them? Did they add anything? Did some one push them?
What makes them let go from the wood? Why is there a piece of wood?
Is the string bouncey/strong or weak?
Why did they change directions when they started? How do they change directions?
Why did they change patterns?
Why did the gaps get bigger?
Does it have to do with friction?
What kind of force does it have?
Do they weigh the same? Is the balls heavy or light or the same?

We then identified three variables to test: mass of object (example, a bowling ball vs a tennis ball), the release position (90 degree vs 45 degree) and the length of the string. We made predictions as to what impacted the movement of the pendulum (or the number of swings). Ask 4HR to find out what our results were!

Claim - Evidence - Reason

The release position affected the motion of the pendulum (number of swings) - no data supports this claim.

The mass of the fob affected the motion of the pendulum (number of swings) - no data supports this claim.

The length of the string affected the motion of the pendulum (number of swings)
-If the string is longer,
-The shorter the string, the more swings the pendulum completes. For example, when the string is 20 cm long, it completes about 18 swings. When the string is 38 cm long, it completes about 12 swings. But when the string is 15 cm long, it completes 17 swings. This information doesn't support our claim. We need to complete more testing to be more sure.