Ramp Exploration

Facilitator prep:

When was the last time you played on a slide? Here’s a chance for you to revisit the fun, because a slide a ramp. So grab a willing friend and a ball to explore ramps together as you experience and observe how things roll and slide down an inclined plane.  You can also learn more about the science of inclined planes by watching this 7-minute video from Kids Academy:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6VjHcOX8_o

Common Misconceptions to be aware of:

• Objects which are not in motion have no force applied to them.  (The force of gravity is always present.)

• The surface on which an object rolls does not affect its motion.  (Ramp angles affect motion.)

In this STEM active learning experience, youth will work in small groups of two to design, build, and test ramps in order to both increase and decrease the speed of the ball rolling down it.  You’ll need to gather and prepare all of the Ramp Exploration materials before class putting them into separate boxes for each small group. Organizing the materials before class begins in this manner will help make your facilitator work easier and eliminate youth spending too much time finding their materials.

It is important that youth have the opportunity to explore ramps (inclined planes) before they attempt to build their own.  This could be achieved by building a ramp system and allowing youth to experiment with it during free play time. You could also go on a Ramp Scavenger Hunt on your playground and search for ramps.  Both activities will help get everyone thinking about ramps and how they work.

Literacy Connection:  Read Michael Dahl’s nonfiction book Roll, Slope, and Slide: A Book About Ramps to provide a great hook that will prompt student’s interest in learning more about ramps before you begin this activity.  (available on Amazon).

Materials

Youth Materials:  Facilitator will need to prepare a Materials Box for each youth team.

• 2 ramp pieces of the same length (heavy cardboard, wood, cove molding, or toy car tracks);

• Two each of a variety of three balls made of different materials (tennis balls, racquet balls, plastic balls, etc.)

• Several thick books, wooden blocks, or small boxes (used to adjust the ramp height);

• Empty soup cans with smooth edges (used as targets at bottom of the ramps);

• Masking tape; and

• Ruler

• Ramp Exploration recording sheets (download here) 

Room:  This activity needs a lot of open floor space to allow youth teams the freedom to test and retest the engineering of their ramp systems.

Content:

• A force is a push or a pull on an object.

• Pushes and pulls can have different strengths and directions.

• Gravity is a force that pulls objects to the Earth.

• A ramp or inclined plane is a flat surface that always has one end higher than the other.

Angle of Incline:  The steeper a ramp becomes, the more quickly an object will roll or slide down the incline and farther it will roll after leaving the ramp.  A ball rolling down the steeper ramp (the one propped up on the taller boxes/books) will travel farther than a ball rolling down a less steep ramp.

Knocking Over Obstacles:  A ball’s ability to move or knock something over depends on momentum.  The momentum of a ball depends on how fast the ball is going and how heavy it is.  If two different balls are rolling at the same speed, the heavier ball has more momentum. If two balls the same weight are rolling, the ball that is rolling faster has more momentum.

Vocabulary:

Inclined Plane:  An inclined plane, also known as a ramp, is a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle, with one end higher than the other, used as an aid for raising or lowering a load. The inclined plane is one of the six classical simple machines defined by scientists.  Throughout history, humans have developed several devices to make work easier. The most notable of these are known as the Six Simple Machines: wheel and axle, the lever, the inclined plane, the pulley, the screw, and the wedge, although the latter three are actually just extensions or combinations of the first three.

Engineering:  Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings.

Ramp:  A ramp is a slope or inclined plane for joining two different levels, as at the entrance or between floors of a building.

Motion:  In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position over time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and time.

Force:  In physics, a force is any interaction that, when unopposed, will change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity, i.e., to accelerate. Force can also be described intuitively as a push or a pull.

Inquiry: Youth are to be encouraged to design their ramps and test the movement of the balls on their own without explicit direction from the facilitator thus eliciting youth to ask their own questions to guide this learning experience. Some potential questions to pose to youth throughout this activity include:

• How can you change the speed of the ball as it moves down the ramp?

• Can you find a way to make the ball go faster on the ramp? Slower?

• Are you helping the ball down the ramp or just letting gravity do the work?

• Are your results the same every time you roll the ball down the ramp?

• What happens if you move the soup can target further away from the end of the ramp?

• What would happen if your ramp was flat?

Facilitator Checklist for Preparation:

• Organization: I practiced the activity/technology, prepared materials/extras/place to record youth ideas, completed an activity (including timings).

• Materials:  Materials are appropriate for teaching the learning goals; youth will be able to use them and will think they are appealing.

• Space Utilization:  The space is set up appropriately for the activity and there will be no safety issues or distractions.

• Relevance:  I have researched why the content matters to youth’s everyday lives.

• Content Learning:  I have become familiar with the content.

• Inquiry:  I have become familiar with how authentic, age-appropriate inquiry practices look in this activity.