Forces and Motion
What is the name of the force that pulls objects toward Earth?
Gravity
What do we call the ability to do work or cause change?
Energy
What is engineering (in the context of solving problems with science)?
Engineering is the process of designing solutions using science.
What is a collision?
When two objects crash into each other.
If two boxes have the same acceleration when lifted but different masses, which box requires more force to move and why?
The heavier/more massive box requires more force because force needed to change motion is larger for larger mass.
What is stored energy and give one example from home or school?
Stored energy = energy held for later (e.g., battery, stretched rubber band)
What is a model and why do engineers use models during design?
A model is a smaller version or representation used to test ideas.
How fast an object is moving is called what?
Speed
A student drops two objects of different masses from the same height. What causes both objects to fall toward the ground? Explain using the correct vocabulary word.
Gravity causes both to fall.
A bowling ball hits pins. Name two forms of energy produced after the collision and explain how energy changed.
Motion (kinetic) and sound energy; energy transferred from ball to pins and into sound.
Why is it important to test different designs for the same problem?
Testing multiple designs lets teams compare which best meets criteria and constraints
Two toy cars collide: one is fast, one is barely moving. Which car has more energy? Explain why using evidence.
The faster car has more kinetic energy because speed increases energy.
Describe how the motion of an object changes when the force changes.
More force makes it go faster, less force makes it go slower.
Define energy transfer and give an example from a chain reaction machine.
Energy transfer = energy moving from one object to another; e.g., dominoes: one domino knocks the next, transferring energy.
Describe how students could plan and carry out a fair test to improve a chain reaction machine. What would they control and what would they measure?
Control variables, run multiple trials, measure success criteria (e.g., bell rung distance/time); identify failure points.
A ball rolls down two ramps: Ramp A is short and steep, Ramp B is long and gentle. Which ramp makes the ball move faster and why? Use energy vocabulary in your answer.
Ramp A (steeper) gives object greater change in gravitational potential converting to greater kinetic energy, so it moves faster.
Explain how the same force acting on objects of different masses affects acceleration.
With same force, lighter object has greater acceleration
Explain how gravitational energy is related to speed using a skateboarder rolling down a hill.
Gravitational energy converts to kinetic energy as speed increases downhill.
Give a short explanation of how sharing critiques with peers can improve a design.
Peer critique shares evidence and suggestions that can reveal improvements.
Two carts collide. One stops and the other moves faster forward. Explain where the energy went during the collision and why one cart speeds up while the other stops.
Energy transferred from one cart to the other; some may convert to sound/heat; the cart that stops lost kinetic energy that transferred to the other.