Student Exploration: Force and Fan Carts
Vocabulary: force, friction, position, speed
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. If you are pushing a shopping cart and you start pushing harder, wh
...
Student Exploration: Force and Fan Carts
Vocabulary: force, friction, position, speed
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. If you are pushing a shopping cart and you start pushing harder, what happens?
Shopping cart will increase in speed
2. What happens to a shopping cart if you get it rolling and then release it?
It will coast and slow down due to friction
Gizmo Warm-up
1. In the Gizmo, turn the fan Off. Click Play ( ). Did the cart move? _________________
2. Click Reset ( ). Press the Low fan speed button to
turn on the fan. Click Play. What happened?
The cart moved forward
3. A force is something that causes change in motion.
What provided the force that made the cart speed up?
The speed of the fan increasing
4. The speedometer shows the cart’s speed, or how fast it
moves. A speed of 30 cm per second means the cart moves
30 cm every second. What was the final speed of the cart?
122.7 cm/s
5. Friction is a force that works against motion as surfaces rub each other. Click Reset. Select
the No Friction surface. Click Play. What was the final speed this time?
134.3 cm/s
Activity A:
Force and motion
Get the Gizmo ready:
Click Reset.
Change the Surface to Wood.
Be sure there are no objects on the cart.
The Fan speed should be set to Low.
Question: How does force affect motion?
1. Run Gizmo: Press Play. What was the final speed of the cart? 90.6 cm/s
2. Predict: Would the cart’s final speed be higher or lower if the fan were set to Medium
instead of Low? higher
3. Experiment: Click Reset. Change Fan speed to Medium. Click Play.
What was the cart’s final speed? 119.3 cm/s
4. Draw conclusion: Did the cart speed up more quickly with the fan on Low or Medium?
The cart sped up more on medium because the fan propelled it harder
5. Generalize: On Medium the fan provides more force than on Low. Make two rules by filling
in the blanks below. (Put the same word in both blanks.)
Force causes the acceleration of the cart to change.
If more force is used, the acceleration of the cart changes more quickly.
6. Predict: Select the DATA tab. Choose Bar graph or Line graph. This graph shows the cart
speed over time. How would the graph be different if the fan were on High? Why?
All of the numbers would increase because the fan would cause the cart to go much faster
and increase speed much faste
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