Middle School Inquiry Lab on Inclined Planes
In this lab students will use books and boards to create inclined planes and investigate how they change the amount of force used to move an object higher.
Each inquiry lab will contain an essential question that will drive the lesson and make students think. For this lesson, the essential question is:
- How are inclined planes used to change the amount of force it takes to move an object?
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND MATERIALS LIST:
Students will begin the lab by reading the essential question and background information. This can be done individually, as lab groups, or as a whole class. If you consider lab groups, you also might include some type of whole class formative checks before digging into the lab.
.svg)
Materials List:
- 3 boards of different lengths
- 3 textbooks
- 1 car with a string attached
- assorted hanging masses
PROCEDURE:
For this lab, students will get to see just how much mass it takes to move objects across certain distances. First, students will stack the three textbooks on a table, preferably near the edge. Next, students will take their toy car and attach a string to one end and place the rest of the string over the books and down the table.
Now that the lab is ready to begin, students will add mass to the end of the string hanging over the edge to see just how much it will take to move the car up and over the textbooks. Students will record how much mass it took on their lab sheet. Students will continue this process three more times, but each time using a different length ramp: small, medium, and large. With each ramp, students will add masses to the end of the string hanging off the table/desk, and record how much mass it took to move the car.
Finally, students will have to calculate, using the masses taken multiplied by the force of gravity, the amount of force needed to move the car.
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING:
At this point in the lab, students will be checked for understanding by answering questions about their findings. Here is one that comes with the lab:
- Define an inclined plane and why it makes moving objects easier.
CONCLUSION
Students will go back to the essential question and write a CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) to conclude the lab. Once completed, students will reflect back on their learning by answering the following questions:
- What is the unit of measurement for force?
- What information do we need to calculate force?
- How do you think changing the height of the ramp will affect the force required to move the car?
MODIFIED AND INDEPENDENT INQUIRY VERSIONS
All of the Kesler Science inquiry labs come with three different modification levels. Each lab is differentiated using the icons below.
STANDARDS ALIGNMENT
TEKS: 6.8E – Investigate how inclined planes can be used to change the amount of force to move an object.
