In the Richland School District's fourth grade  Motion and
Design" science unit, students explore the physics of motion and
how it relates to technological design.

After building a car, students attach a string to the front end. The
other end of the string is weighted down with washers and dropped over
the end of a desk. Students observe what happens when they keep the
force constant (washers), but vary the mass of the vehicles by changing
the number of wooden blocks being carried. Students discover that the
larger the load, the more slowly the vehicle gains speed.

Students form a hypothesis as to what they think will happen and
conduct a controlled experiment using the blocks as the variable. They
chart results and form conclusions based on those results.

"This unit provides students with a better understanding of force,
mass and changes in motion," says Debbie Umlauf, Tapteal fourth grade
teacher. "Students also learn how to work together in teams and that
is equally as important."