Problem: Does height of a ramp affect the distance a hot wheels car will travel?

Hypothesis: I think that ... because ...

Materials:

1. one meter ramp
   
2. hot wheels car
   
3. meter stick
   
4. 4 science books
   
5. science journal and pencil

Procedure:

1. Build the ramp one science book high.
   
2. Place the hot wheels car at the starting point and release.
   
3. Measure the distance the car travels down the ramp and onto the floor.
   
4. Record the distance in centimeters in your data table.
   
5. Repeat two more times.
   
6. Find the average distance of the three trials and record.
   
7. Repeat steps 1-6 for 2, 3, and 4 science books.
   
8. Make a bar graph of the average distances for 1, 2, 3, and 4 science books high.
   
9. Write a conclusion about your findings.

Observations:

Data Table
Ramp	Trial 1 Distance (cm)	Trial 2 Distance (cm)	Trial 3 Distance (cm)	Average Distance (cm)
1 Book
2 Books
3 Books
4 Books

Conclusion: Write a paragraph. Answer the following questions:

1. Did the height of the ramp increase the distance the car rolled? Why? Why not?
   
2. If the ramp keeps getting steeper, will the marble roll farther each time? Why? Why not?
   
3. Do you think the same thing would happen if you used a different surface for your ramp (example: carpet, sandpaper, tile)?
   
4. Which do you think is more important the size of the car or the weight of the car? Explain.
   
5. Design an experiment to test questions # 3 and # 4.

Home