Name: Date:

Student Exploration: Force and Fan Carts

Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and
prompts in the orange boxes.
Vocabulary: force, friction, position, speed
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. If you are pushing a shopping cart and you start pushing harder, what happens?

The cart changes speed

2. What happens to a shopping cart if you get it rolling and then release it?

The cart eventually comes to rest due to no force acting on it

Gizmo Warm-up

1. In the Gizmo, turn the fan Off. Click Play ( ). Did the cart move?

No

2. Click Reset ( ). Press the Low fan speed button to turn on the fan. Click
Play. What happened?

The cart began to move and accelerate

3. A force is something that causes change in motion. What provided the

force that made the cart speed up?

The fan

4. The speedometer shows the cart’s speed, or how fast it moves. A speed of 30 cm per second means the
cart moves 30 cm every second. What was the final speed of the cart?

122 cm/s

5. Friction is a force that works against motion as surfaces rub each other. Click Reset. Select the No
Friction surface. Click Play. What was the final speed this time?

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130 cm/s

Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved
 Get the Gizmo ready:

● Click Reset.
Activity A:
● Change the Surface to Wood.
Force and motion
● Be sure there are no objects on the cart.

● The Fan speed should be set to Low.

Question: How does force affect motion?

1. Run Gizmo: Press Play. What was the final speed of the cart?

90 cm

2. Predict: Would the cart’s final speed be higher or lower if the fan were set to Medium instead of Low?

Higher

3. Experiment: Click Reset. Change Fan speed to Medium. Click Play. What was the cart’s final speed?

119 cm

4. Draw conclusion: Did the cart speed up more quickly with the fan on Low or Medium?

Medium

5. Generalize: On Medium the fan provides more force than on Low. Make two rules by filling in the blanks
below. (Put the same word in both blanks.)

Force causes the speed of the cart to change.

If more force is used, the speed of the cart changes more

6. Predict: Select the DATA tab. Choose Bar graph or Line graph. This graph shows the cart speed over
time. How would the graph be different if the fan were on High? Why?

If the fan was set to high, the y values would increase because the cart would go at a faster
rate

7. Test: Check your prediction with the Gizmo. What do you observe?

The cart crossed the finish line in 6 seconds at a faster rate than the medium fan

8. Extend: Design an experiment to test the effect of force on a loaded cart. You can choose any surface and
any object to load onto the cart. In the space below, report your question, prediction, procedure,
observations, and conclusion.

Does weight affect the speed of a cart?

If more force is added to the cart, then the rate of speed will be faster, because acceleration
= force/mass; the greater the force, the greater the acceleration
Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved
 1) Create 3 different cart presets set to the following settings:
Surface: No friction
Cart weight: 6 kg
Fan speed: Low, Medium, High
2) Run the model on all three speeds and record data.
3) Compare and contrast between collected data

Low: 18 seconds
Med: 15.8 seconds
High: 13.6 seconds

Based on the data, we can conclude that the greater the force, the greater the acceleration

Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved
 Activity B: Get the Gizmo ready:
Running out of
steam? ● Click Reset.

Question: Why do objects slow down when there is nothing pushing them?

1. Observe: Use the Gizmo to explore the question above. Try different objects and surfaces. Each time, turn
the fan Off while the cart is moving. (You may find it helpful to pause the Gizmo with the Pause ( )
button, turn the fan off, and then click Play to restart.)

2. Form hypothesis: What causes an object to slow down after no longer being pushed?

External forces such as friction cause objects to slow down

3. Predict: Set Fan speed to High. Based on your hypothesis, circle all surfaces that will cause a moving
Hand draw in this space or click here to select EDIT to use the drawing tool.
cart to slow down after the fan is turned off. (You may circle more than one.)

No Friction Metal Cement Wood

4. Test: Run the trials using the Gizmo. Which surface(s) caused the cart to slow down?
Hand draw in this space or click here to select EDIT to use the drawing tool.

No Friction Metal Cement Wood

5. Draw conclusion: What causes objects to slow down when they are no longer pushed?

Friction on the surface

6. Think about it: Imagine the track in the Gizmo went on forever. If there were no friction, how long would it
take the cart to stop after you turned off the fan? Explain.

The cart would go on forever since there are no external forces acting on it

7. Analyze: Which surface in the Gizmo has the most friction? Explain how you can tell.

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 The wooden surface; the cart decelerates quicker than on other surfaces

Get the Gizmo ready:

● Click Reset. Select No friction.

Activity C:
Patterns in ● Place only the soda and book on the cart.
motion
● Set the Fan speed to High.

● Select No Friction.

Question: Are there any patterns in the motion of objects?

1. Run Gizmo: Be sure No friction is selected. Click Play. After about 3 seconds, turn the fan Off. (We
recommend that you click Pause, turn the fan off, and then click Play to restart the Gizmo.)

2. Observe: Select the DATA tab. Select Position. The position of the cart is its location (how far from the
start line). What pattern do you see in the position data after the fan is off?

The position slope remains constant

3. Connect: How is the final speed of the cart related to the pattern in the position data?

The final speed dictates the constant distance traveled in the end

4. Analyze: Why does that pattern happen? (Hint: Think about what “cm per second” means.)

This happens because the cm per second still changes with the fan turned off

5. Observe: Select Speed. What pattern do you see in the speed data, after the fan is off?

The xy values were equal because there was no change in speed

6. Connect: How does the bar graph (or line graph) show the pattern you found?

The bar graph remains flat indicating no change in speed

7. Generalize: Fill in the blank below to state a rule based on what you saw.

If there is no force, the speed does not change at all.

Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved