Learning Blade: Variable Car Mission

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This is the supporting files for the Learning Blade Variable Car Mission. This derby car is to be used by students in the testing dependent variables while calculating the car's velocity (v+d/t). There are three independent variables that can be tested by students. See below for instruction. The base car is set up with four 6 mm wide wheels, and no weights. The print files allow for students to test the how the car's velocity changes when you change one of the independent variables. The three variables that can be changed on the Variable Car are wheel size, weight of the car, and weight distribution.. Standards NGSS Overview and Background Objective: Understand the concept of independent and dependent variables. This mission can be completed with this Variable Car kit, or through having your students design their own tires, print, and test them. Description: – Students will test how different independent variables change the Variable Car’s velocity. Lesson Plan and Activity Show students a completed Variable Car. Have students discuss what could be changed on the Variable car to make it go faster. If the students are going to be engineering their own wheels on TinkerCAD have a conversation with them on what they think would happen to the car’s velocity if the size of the wheels were changed. a. For TInkerCAD have students start on the Variable Car Wheels. Refer to the TinkerCAD Variable Car Guide on how to get your class started. For those using the Variable car Kit only the variables that students can choose between are wheel size and weight. TinkerCAD will focus solely on wheel size. a. Based on how you want to run the experiment in your class you can have the weight and wheel size variables be specific to the front axel, rear axel, or both axels. This will give greater variance in the variables tested in your class. i. For using the Variable Car kit only use the Variable Car Worksheet. ii. For TinkerCAD wheel testing use the P.I Variable Car Worksheet. Note: Teacher will need to build the ramp for all students to test their vehicles. Teacher should measure the ramp angle to monitor for consistency. Students will be measuring the length of the ramp in centimeters and calculating velocity as cm/per second. Using stopwatch and ruler - test each set of tires a minimum of 3 times. Students will be making their hypothesis, recording their results, and discussing the conclusions from the testing. Discussion Questions Which design was fastest? Was your hypothesis correct? Why or why not? What other variables could you test to see how it impacts average speed? Extensions: After students have finished testing their chosen variable, have student groups present their findings. This can open up the testing to have students choose a new variable to test based upon the results from the entire class. Also, this whole class reflection can lead to great conversations around test variability and error, especially if students have conflicting data. Have students test other independent variables - examples include the mass of tire, the aerodynamics of the chassis or tire, the tread on the tire, etc. Have students graph all teams data on one graph, consider using a Google sheet or web 2.0 to allow them to simultaneously enter data. Materials Needed Washers or coins (for weight placement variable) Ramp: Length should be at least 1 meter long Stop Watches or devices with timers.