Second-graders at Mill Pond School in Hodgdon have been exploring force and motion as they learn about informational writing through lab reports.
They are learning how to write like a scientist and how to organize their writing so others can read and test their experiments.
Give these experiments a try and send us your results!
Samuel Jay’s Lab Report
Question: Will the little wooden car go farther than the Hot Wheels car on the floor?
Hypothesis: My hypothesis is the Hot Wheels car will go farther because the wooden tires on the other car are bumpy and the Hot Wheels is not.
What you need:
a wooden car
you will need a ramp
a yard stick
Procedures
You will put up the ramp on the floor.
Set the yardstick at the end of the ramp.
Put the wooden car on top of the ramp.
Test the car about 3 times.
Write down the results.
Repeat the procedures for the Hot Wheels car.
Results: I tested the wooden car. First the car went 19 inches. Second the car went 19 inches. Third, the car went 19 inches.
On experiment 2: The first time the car went 43 inches. The second time the car went 36 inches.
The third time the car went 33 inches.
Conclusion: My hypothesis was right. The Hot Wheels went farther.
Why did the Hot Wheels go farther than the wooden car? Maybe because the wooden car has bumpy tires. Maybe on the Hot Wheels the front was curved up.
Maybe because it has small tires. I wonder if we tried it on a track. What would happen? I think it went farther because when it went down the ramp the force was pulling it down.
Destiney Bulley’s Lab Report
Question: Will it go farther with a ball on the floor or a car on the floor?
Hypothesis: I think it will go farther with the ball on the floor because the ball’s rough and the floor is easier to use balls on.
You will need:
ball
car
ramp
yardstick
open area
Procedures: Set up the yardstick, ramp, and ball. Put the ball on the ramp gently. Do not push on it or it will roll off.
Tap the ball gently. See how far it goes (3 or 4 times).
Write your results in the lab report.
Results
Car Ball
T1: 9 feet 31 inches
T2: 9 feet 2 inches 11 feet, 3 inches
T3: 9 feet 8.5 inches 11 feet 7 inches
T4: 9 feet 7 inches 24 inches
Conclusion: My hypothesis about the experiment was right. I guessed the ball would go further. Why did it go further? Maybe because it was a new ball?
Maybe because it went right. But either way it was still right. It went farther than 3 yard sticks. I was excited when i was first getting to know I was right.
Now I am wondering if a big or little ball will go further. I am thinking a force was pushing the ball faster. The motion of the ball went fast, and on the car there was a force stopping the car.
Kaelynn Little’s Lab Report
Question: Using the catapults we build, which goes farther, the ping-pong ball or the cotton ball?
Hypothesis: My hypothesis is that the ping-pong ball will go farther than the cotton ball because I think the force behind the ping-pong ball is stronger than the cotton ball.
You will need:
ruler
cotton ball
ping-pong ball
elastic
spoon
tape
block
Results
Ping Pong Cotton ball
T1: 9 inches 2.5 inches
T2: 63 inches 35 inches
T3: 18 inches 2.9 inches
Conclusion: My hypothesis was that the ping-pong ball would go farther than the cotton ball. Turns out my hypothesis about the experiment was right. The ping-pong ball went way farther than the cotton ball.
Maybe it was because the force behind the ping-pong ball was stronger than the force behind the cotton ball?
Maybe it was because the ball was in motion? Maybe it was because the ball was in motion. Maybe it was the because the ping-pong ball is heavier than the cotton ball?
