Barry and the Mountain
To learn more about Barry the rescue dog read about him here:
www.barry.museum/index_en.html |
In this STEM challenge students conducted various experiments with inclined planes.
Experiment #1: Students work on a long table or on the floor. Start with one book, and tape the top of the cardboard to the edge of the book, creating a small ramp or inclined plane. Next, place the ball at the top of the cardboard ramp, and let it roll down, until it stops. Students measure (in centimetres) how far the ball has rolled: start from the end (the bottom) of the inclined plane, and measure to the middle of the ball. Students will keep track of their measurements by recording them on a whiteboard. Conclusion - The steeper the plane is, the farther the ball travels. Experiment #2: Getting Barry up the mountain - The magnet represents Barry the dog, and the eraser is Barry’s sled. There is an injured hiker on the other side of the mountain, and Barry needs to bring them some medicine on his sled. Students in teams of 2 need to create an inclined plane that helps Barry get to the top of the mountain as easily as possible. |
Experiment #3 - Getting the medicine down the mountain
Now that Barry has gotten to the top of the mountain with his sled, there is a second problem. The
hiker is on the other side of the mountain, and Barry needs to drop the medicine down to the hiker.
Instead of making a very long inclined plane like before, we can build it on the side of the mountain, using paper rolls this time, and it will take up less space.
The medicine is in fragile glass bottles inside the ball, so the ball must travel down the inclined planes as slowly as possible, otherwise the bottles will break. Students can do this by adjusting the steepness and the number of inclined planes they use.
hiker is on the other side of the mountain, and Barry needs to drop the medicine down to the hiker.
Instead of making a very long inclined plane like before, we can build it on the side of the mountain, using paper rolls this time, and it will take up less space.
The medicine is in fragile glass bottles inside the ball, so the ball must travel down the inclined planes as slowly as possible, otherwise the bottles will break. Students can do this by adjusting the steepness and the number of inclined planes they use.