Use this category to discuss the unit: Newton Scooters: Self-Propelled Vehicles.
Unit Details
Description: Scooters guides students to design, build, test, and refine a self-propelled vehicle. The unit features investigations using scooters powered by elastic potential energy from rubber bands or balloons. Students explore scientific concepts related to energy and movement (potential, kinetic, and thermal energy; energy transformations and conservation) within a virtual experiment to iteratively improve their scooters.
Discipline: Physical Sciences / Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
Features: Virtual Model and Dynamic Graph, Concept Map, collaborative discussion board, external resources, design drawing.
Grade level: 8
NGSS Performance Expectations: MS-PS3 Energy (MS-PS3-1, MS-PS3-2, MS-PS3-3, MS-PS3-5) / MS-ETS1 Engineering Design (MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2, MS-ETS1-3)