Physical Guided Inquiry-week 2

During my experiment I looked at how friction would stop or hinder the momentum of a marble.  My results were that it rolled furthest on linoleum and concrete, and less far on carpeting and grass.  I expected the grass to have the most friction, but because it was just cut, it actually provided less friction than I originally expected

The experiment went pretty well.  I think that it was very beneficial that I brought home the walking meter stick for measurements so that they were as accurate as possible.  I would have really liked to use some sort of delivery device so that I could guarantee the velocity of the marble at the start of the experiment.  Instead i had to rely on my ability to roll it the same exact way.  I believe that this could have impacted my experiment.

I would use a ramp to start the marble next time so that it would have the same velocity and momentum for each experiment and trial.  Making sure to control all variables except the independent variable is important for not only reproducibility, but for accurate initial results as well

I think I would use toy cars instead of marbles and have the students determine how momentum would be impacted by different road surfaces. I would then have them right a proposal to the city council to defend their results for repaving the roads with a different surface than what is currently used. 

I would like students to really understand that everything will remain in motion unless friction is present.  I also think it is important for the students to realize that different surfaces will have different impacts on motion.  For the most part I achieved my goal in this experiment, so therefore with a few modification I would be able to do this with my students and have them understand the concepts that I believe this lab best represents.