Sled Wars Language Objective: Students will manipulate variables to understand the relationship between mass, acceleration and energy.  Students will be able to answer questions and complete math calculations.

Prior Knowledge Questions. Copy into notebook 1. A firefighter is trying to break through a door. Is he more likely to break through if he runs at the door very slowly or if he runs at the door very fast? Explain. 2. Two firefighters are trying to break through a door. One firefighter is heavy, and the other is light. If they run at the same speed, which one is more likely to break through? Explain.

Do not copy The ability to crash through doors and cause other changes depends on an object’s energy. Sled Wars will show how factors affect the energy of the sled. The Yeti is named Burt.

Q: What is the effect of height on energy at 100kg?

What is the effect of mass on energy?

What is the effect of height and mass on energy and speed?

Explain how acceleration changed depending on the height and mass.

Potential (PE) and Kinetic (KE) energy How do the potential and kinetic energy change as the sled moves down the slope? How do you know what the total energy is? What happens to potential energy when mass is increased?

Two Sleds: Write your observations for each scenario in your notebook.

What happened after the crash? Explain.