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Speed Clues in a Backyard Feeder Journal

Analyze a backyard feeder field journal and motion data to explain how a faster object has more energy.

Grade 4ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to4-PS3-1

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
14 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 4
Subject: Science
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use motion and impact data as evidence that a faster object has more energy.
Students compare repeated trials and identify choices that make a speed investigation fair.
Students make cautious predictions about an object's energy from test results.

How to use

Read the field journal together and discuss how travel time shows speed. Then have students use the repeated data to explain the relationship between speed and energy.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

4-PS3-1

Use evidence to explain that a faster object has more energy.

Preview

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Name Date

Speed Clues in a Backyard Feeder Journal

Use a student's field notes to connect speed with energy.

Read the field journal

Read Ari's journal. Use the notes and data to answer the questions.

Ari's Four-Day Feeder Journal

11. Ari kept a field journal beside a backyard bird feeder. He wanted to study a wooden seed carrier that could roll along a 1-meter ramp. The carrier was a model for moving supplies to the feeder; it was not used near the birds. At the end of the ramp, the carrier bumped an empty cardboard cup. Ari measured how far the cup moved after the bump.

22. On Day 1, Ari practiced timing the carrier. For each test, he used the same carrier, ramp, and cup. He changed the ramp height to make the carrier move at different speeds. The carrier always traveled the same 1-meter distance, and the cup began on the same starting line.

33. On Day 2, Ari recorded three trials at each ramp height. His table showed the travel time for the carrier and the distance the cup moved. A shorter travel time over the same distance meant the carrier was moving faster.

4Day 2 data: Low ramp: travel times 4.0 s, 4.2 s, 3.9 s; cup movements 3 cm, 4 cm, 3 cm. Middle ramp: travel times 2.6 s, 2.5 s, 2.7 s; cup movements 7 cm, 6 cm, 7 cm. High ramp: travel times 1.5 s, 1.6 s, 1.4 s; cup movements 12 cm, 11 cm, 12 cm.

54. On Day 3, Ari repeated one low-ramp trial and one high-ramp trial. The low-ramp carrier took 4.1 seconds, and the cup moved 3 centimeters. The high-ramp carrier took 1.6 seconds, and the cup moved 11 centimeters. On Day 4, Ari reviewed the notes before making a claim. He knew that cup movement was evidence about the effect of the bump, not a direct measurement of energy.

Which feature did Ari change to produce different speeds in the main test?