4th Grade Motion & Design The 4th grade Motion and Design Inquiries Group met weekly over the course of the school year. The Motion and Design unit combines the physics of forces and motion with technological design. The students used Knex, weights, rubber bands, and propellers to design and build vehicles, then test how those vehicles respond to different forces of motion, like pushes, pulls, or rubber band energy. The final project was to design a vehicle to meet a specific design challenge.

Challenge E: Owen My vehicle’s challenge was to travel a distance of 6.5 feet and stop within 20 inches or less of 6.5 feet in 2 seconds. First I started with rubber band power but it was challenging and didn’t work. Then I changed to a falling weight system and it worked very well. It stopped at the correct distance within the time limit. It stopped on its own.

Challenge A: Remy & Adam Our task was to climb a mountain (ramp-8 inches high) in less than five seconds. It couldn’t go off the mountain or roll down. Our first vehicle was small and propeller driven. The propeller kept getting caught. So we scrapped our first vehicle and started again. Our second vehicle was wider and used a sail. We used a fan on high. We added a barrier at the top to keep it in place.

Challenge D: Rafael My challenge was to create a vehicle that had a cardboard sail propelled by a fan that went 10 feet in 10 seconds or more. I started out with a big , basic, stable car with a sail and it worked perfectly. My strategy was to have the fan go slow then after approximately ten seconds I bumped it up to full speed and it went 10 feet. Then I made it smaller by using less pieces and I re-tested it. It worked perfectly.

Challenge C: Sam My vehicle’s challenge was to deliver a pizza and then return without the pizza. The delivery distance was 10 feet and the time limit was within 4 seconds. The return was also 10 feet within 7 seconds. The first thing I tried was just rubber band power but that didn’t work so I added a sail. I used a fan on medium power. The addition of the sail made a huge difference.

Challenge C: Alex My vehicle’s challenge was to transport a pizza 10 feet in 4 seconds or less, then return without the pizza in 7 seconds or less. I used wind power (fan). I attached a propeller first but It didn’t work right away. So I added a sail, but it still didn’t work. I had to adjust my sail because the vehicle wouldn’t travel straight and kept hitting the wall. After I adjusted the sail’s position the propeller got more air and helped it move.

Challenge D: Will & Aidan Our challenge was to use a sail to push our vehicle ten feet in ten seconds or more. Our vehicle is a float so it needs to go slow like a float in a parade. We made our structure like a box for more support and also to make it a more traditional float shape. We used a sail and a fan. Our vehicle was able to complete the task but wouldn’t travel in a straight path. At first we added tape to secure the sail but that didn’t work. Then we changed the sail from vertical to horizontal. Then it worked!

Challenge C: Thomas & Jack Our vehicle’s challenge was to deliver a pizza and then return without the pizza. The delivery distance was 10 feet and we had to get there in 4 seconds. We tried 2 types of vehicles. The first used falling weight. Our obstacles were that the table height was too short and we couldn’t put enough weights to make it move 10 feet. The second vehicle used rubber band power, but that did not work either. We learned that sometimes things don’t work out the way you planned. Sometimes you just have to deal with that and learn from it.