Designing Experiments

I never really played with Hot Wheels growing up -- I was much more into unicorns than cars. After this last month, though, I have to say that these speedy little toys are definitely at the top of my to-give-to-nieces-and-nephews list.

Right before Christmas, a huge box of cars, ramps, loops and connectors showed up at my door, courtesy of their Speedometry curriculum. I figured it'd be good for a challenge or two, a nice break from the routine, but nothing serious.

Boy, was I wrong.

My second-graders have been experimenting with Hot Wheels for the past month -- first designing tracks to see how far they could make one go, then following the Speedometry curriculum's lesson on potential and kinetic energy. Their theme for the year is "change," so I introduced the idea of "variables" -- the parts of an experiment that can change. We did Speedometry's book/ramp experiment -- then branched out to our own.

I created this experiment design page, and my kids have been designing their own experiments with their own identified variables. Questions included "How does the number of tracks in the loop affect the car's ability to go around it?" And "Does the type of car determine the success of the loop?" (As you can probably tell, my second-graders are really into loops!) 

I'm not sure how much longer we'll be working with the Hot Wheels, but I definitely give them two-thumbs up as classroom supplies.