Guided Inquiry.

This weeks inquiry question that I addressed was what was how different surfaces affected the momentum of a marble. I explored this question using several different flooring samples, two meter sticks, the plunger from an old pinball game, a balance, a stop watch and one marble. I created a track across the different flooring samples out of the meter sticks and then used the plunger to send the marble across the flooring samples. I then took the mass of the marble and multiplied it by the velocity of the marble. To make sure that the only variable was the different surfaces I marked and made sure that the plunger was pulled back the same distance each time. My hypothesis was that the marble would have less momentum on surfaces like the plush carpet and would have more momentum on surface like the ceramic tile due to an increase in the amount of friction between the marble and the carpet. What I was able to discover was that my hypothesis was correct. The marble had less momentum on the carpeted surfaces due to the increased amount of friction. This experiment was not too challenging as I have had my students work through a structured inquiry project answering a very similar questions. Due to that fact completing this inquiry assignment was not too much of a challenge. If I were to modify this experiment I might add a second marble and have the students see what happens to the momentum when the two marbles collide. After completing this exercise I believe that I might have my students complete this activity as a guided inquiry rather than a structured inquiry activity this year. This will be a lot more fun and interesting for my students and allow them to use their problem solving skills.