top of page

The Slow Coaster: Slo-Poke 

For this project we worked with inertia, change in movement, friction, and gravity to eventually be successful in making a "Slow Coaster" which transports a ping pong ball from the top of a board to the bottom slowly on rubber bands linked to screws in the board.
This is the peg board that was used in the project prior to adding the screws and rubber bands.
To provide a "peg" for the rubber bands to attach to we used screws with a nut between it and the board and a wing nut to tighten the screw to the board.
Our finished board looked very uniform and we found alternating the "rows" was best to provide the lowest speed.
Our finished Slow Coaster! From top to bottom the ball took 23 seconds!
So.... How does it work?!
Inertia is present in this project as it shows us that things are stubborn and continue to have a constant result (such as not moving or moving in a straight line at a low or high speed) until influenced by an unbalanced force. When the ball changes direction, it is getting an unbalanced force from the rubber band and/or gravity.  When it is speeding up it is reacting to the gravity of the slope of the path it is traveling. When it is slowing down it is reacting to the friction of the fall to the next rubber band and then the gravity of the drop as well.
STATS:
  • ​23.52 Seconds from top to bottom
  • Average speed of 9.14 cm/sec
  • Includes elements from 6 different K-6 Science Curriculum standards
The average speed of our ball is 9.14 cm/ second. We found the speed by dividing the distance the ball would travel(215 cm) by the amount of time it took for it to reach the bottom of the peg board(23.52 sec)-or "coaster". 215 cm/ 23.52seconds= 9.14 cm/second. 
K-6 Science Curriculum Standards included or paralleled with the context of this project: 

K.P.1 Understand the positions and motions of objects and organisms observed in the environment

3.P.1 Understand motion and factors that affect motion

3.P.3 Recognize how energy can be transferred from one object to another

4.P.1 Explain how various forces affect the motion of an object

5.P.1 Understand force, motion, and the relationship between them

6.P.3 Understand characteristics of energy transfer and interactions of matter and energy

Math tools included in this project:
​
Counting and understanding time-to calculate the speed of the ball
Developing and understanding equations
Measurement and data- collecting the data to determine speed and distance
​
  • LinkedIn - Black Circle
bottom of page