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Rope Waves on the Park Fitness Terrace

Compare rope-wave models, draw a new wave pattern, and use observations to explain how waves can move objects.

Grade 4ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to4-PS4-1

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
13 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, Drawing

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students compare wave heights and the spacing between neighboring crests in models.
Students draw a wave model with a specified height and crest spacing.
Students use observations as evidence that waves can move objects.

How to use

Read the passage together and locate the resting height on each model. Have students work independently, then discuss how the ribbon observations support their claims.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

4-PS4-1

Model waves to describe patterns in their height and spacing and that waves can make objects move.

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Rope Waves on the Park Fitness Terrace

Use models and observations to investigate wave patterns and motion.

Read the Wave Models

Read the passage. Use Models A, B, and C to answer the questions.

A Moving Pattern at the Fitness Terrace

At a city park's fitness terrace, a recreation leader helps a science club investigate waves. The group uses a long, soft rope above a mat, away from people using the exercise equipment. One adult holds the far end steady. The leader moves the near end up and down. A raised part of the rope travels toward the far end. The club watches before the wave returns.

The students make side-view models of several repeating wave patterns. Each grid uses the same scale. Grid spaces are model units, not centimeters. The rope's resting height is 4 on the vertical axis. A crest is a high point, and a trough is a low point. To compare heights, students count upward from the resting height to a crest. To compare spacing, they measure along the horizontal axis from one crest to the next crest.

Straight lines connect the dots in their models. The real rope bends more smoothly. Each model represents one moment, rather than the rope's full motion. The students keep the same resting height and show the same length of rope so that they can compare the patterns fairly.

For a motion test, the leader ties a light ribbon near the middle of the rope. The group uses the same rope, ribbon, and starting position in each trial. They change whether the leader makes a wave. They record the ribbon's motion. With no wave, the ribbon hangs still. When a wave reaches it, the ribbon rises and falls. After the wave passes, the ribbon is still tied near the middle, not at the far end. The group repeats the test three times and records the same pattern.

Model A — The resting height is 4.