ALEX Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] PS8 (8) 16 :

16 ) Apply the law of conservation of energy to develop arguments supporting the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object (e.g., bowling ball hitting pins, brakes being applied to a car).

[SC2015] PS8 (8) 13 :

13 ) Create and analyze graphical displays of data to illustrate the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass and speed of an object (e.g., riding a bicycle at different speeds, hitting a table tennis ball versus a golf ball, rolling similar toy cars with different masses down an incline).

This learning activity should be used during a lesson to make predictions, record observations, and create a hypothesis to help fully understand the relationship between potential and kinetic energy. Students will observe and record the results of three different balls rolling down an inclined plane towards a cardboard box. Students will hypothesize the reason the balls made the cardboard box move. 

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.