WorksheetPremium

Collision Clues at the Museum Disk Exhibit

Compare collisions at a science museum exhibit using motion data, observations, testable questions, and energy predictions.

Grade 4ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to4-PS3-3

Buy this worksheet: $1.50

Or unlock every Premium worksheet with Premium

PrintUnlock to print

Answer keyUnlock to see answers

Assign to classUnlock to assign with a class code

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, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use collision observations to identify evidence of energy transfer.
Students ask testable questions about energy when objects collide.
Students predict collision effects using motion data and changes in shape.

How to use

Read the exhibit notes together and review the graph scale. Have students answer independently, then discuss how movement, sound, and shape changes provide different clues.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

4-PS3-3

Ask questions and predict what happens to energy when objects collide.

Preview

OwlSheets.com

Name Date

Collision Clues at the Museum Disk Exhibit

Ask questions and use evidence to predict what happens to energy during collisions.

One Disk Meets Another

Read the exhibit notes. Use the observations and graph to answer the questions.

Testing the Museum's Bumper Disks

At a science museum, Imani visits an exhibit with two foam-edged disks. A blue disk rolls down a short ramp onto a smooth, level track. It strikes an orange disk that is resting on a marked starting spot. A collision happens when objects hit each other. Moving objects have energy. Changes in movement, sound, and shape can provide clues about what happens to energy during a collision.

A museum educator helps Imani compare three release marks on the ramp: low, middle, and high. For each test, Imani places the blue disk at a release mark and lets go without pushing. A camera shows that the blue disk reaches the orange disk slowest from the low mark and fastest from the high mark. The disks stay inside a wide tray with raised edges.

Imani changes the blue disk's release mark. She keeps the disks, ramp, track surface, and orange disk's starting spot the same. After each collision, she measures how far the orange disk travels before stopping. She measures from its starting spot to its final spot. She resets both disks before the next test. She repeats each release mark three times. The repeated distances are close together. The graph shows the average distance for each release mark.

During each test, the orange disk is still before the collision. After the disks touch, the orange disk moves forward, and the blue disk moves more slowly than it did just before the hit. Imani also hears a short tap when the disks meet. She records these observations along with the distances.