Momentum of Marbles Guided Inquiry

            The question I choose to investigate for my guided inquiry was:  How do different surfaces affect the momentum of marbles?  First, I thought about all the different surfaces around my house that I could use.  The surfaces I used were:  carpet, tile, concrete, asphalt, and wood.  I decided that I would build an inclined plane using card board and roll the marble down the ramp on each of the different surfaces from the same height.  The height I used for my inclined plane was ten centimeters.  I learned that the marble rolled the shortest distance on the carpet and the furthest on the wooden surface.  I discovered that smoother surfaces allow the marble to roll further because there is less friction and the momentum speeds up the marble and makes it roll further.  My results were what I expected because I knew that friction is a force.  It slowed the momentum down of the marble and eventually caused it to rest.  When the surface is smoother there is less friction so the marble is able to gain more momentum and travel further.  When the surface is rougher there is more friction so the marble had less momentum and the marble will not travel as far.

            I experienced some challenges in completing this guided inquiry.  I had a difficult time finding level surfaces to use around my home.  Many of the surfaces had a slight slope.  Outside my house, there was a slight slope to the concrete and the asphalt surfaces I used.  I tried to use the flattest areas that I could, but I also know that my results are not exactly accurate because of this.  If I were to do this experiment over again, I would make the height of my inclined plane a little shorter.  I think it might have been better to make the height of my inclined plane five centimeters tall instead of ten so that the marble would not have picked up as much momentum on some of the surfaces.  It would be interesting to see the difference in how far the marble rolled on each surface after adjusting the height of the ramp.

            Engaging my students in an experience like this would benefit my students by giving them the freedom to explore a question that I gave them in their own way.  Many times in science, students are not allowed to use their own creativity and ideas to find answers to their questions.  I believe my students could learn a lot about their physical world by investigating questions through guided inquiry.  This is a great opportunity for students to work with others to solve problems and learn from their mistakes.  It would also give me a better understanding of what my students know about the science concept.  I would probably have my students use toy cars on the inclined plane instead of marbles.  I believe that they would be excited to use the toy cars and this would make the experience more relevant to their lives.  I would want my students to learn that smoother surfaces have less friction and that objects can gain more momentum on smoother surfaces and travel further.  I believe that setting up a guided inquiry experience similar to this would allow my students to learn and achieve this goal.