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Teaching activity – Speed and distance – It's a drag

This resource for level 5 students illustrates how to gather and use evidence through an interactive model about braking efficiency of vehicles.

A screenshot of the interactive model – It’s a drag.

Tags

  • AudienceKaiako
  • Curriculum Level5
  • Resource LanguageEnglish

About this resource

This resource illustrates how an interactive model from Scootle about braking efficiency of cars can be adapted to provide opportunities for students to strengthen their capability to use evidence to support ideas. 

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Teaching activity: Speed and distance - It's a drag

Learning focus  

Students make predictions, and systematically gather evidence to test them. 

Learning activity 

Scootle: It's a drag  

This resource enables students to investigate the braking efficiency of cars and trucks by testing stopping distances under conditions they partially control. The simulation can be used to compare effects of vehicle type, tyres, road surface and weather conditions. Student can choose their driving speed in different conditions, then apply the brakes and compare stopping distances. They can make predictions and investigate relationships between friction, tyre type or driver fatigue and stopping distances. 

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First, allow students to explore the interactive and ask them to take particular notice of the many variables. Now encourage them to make specific predictions about stopping distances under different combinations of conditions and gather evidence to support or refute these. As well as thinking about which variables to alter they will need to think about which ones to keep the same. There are many possible predictions, some more complex than others. Examples could be: 

  • All vehicles will take a longer stopping distance if their tyres are bald. 
  • The loaded truck will go further than any other vehicle when it brakes, at any driving speed.   
  • Doubling the speed of any vehicle will more than double its stopping distance. 

If students claim a prediction, they made is correct, they should be able to back this up with data. This means they will need to devise ways of systematically collecting data from each trial that they run during their investigation.  

Understanding that scientists must systematically gather the evidence in order to check their predictions is an important aspect of developing scientific literacy.

Developing an appreciation of what counts as evidence in science supports students to become scientifically literate; that is, to participate as critical, informed, and responsible citizens in a society in which science plays a significant role. This is the purpose of science in The 2007 New Zealand Curriculum. 

We are we looking for?  

Do students make appropriate use of relevant evidence to support or refute their predictions? 

There are other similar resources in Scootle: 

  • Give me a brake (L52) is an interactive resource that investigates braking efficiency of cars and trucks by testing stopping distances under controlled conditions and manipulating variables.  
  • Fair test (L540) is an interactive resource that investigates the effects of different variables on the growth of lettuces, peas and tomatoes.