Faster Down a Steeper Hill
- Physics
- Ages 6–8 · Grades 1–2
- Hands-on experiment
What you’ll find out
- A bigger push makes things go faster and farther.
- A steeper ramp makes a rolling toy go faster.
- A fair test changes only one thing at a time.
No sign-up and no real names. In the lesson you check your understanding as you read, run the experiment yourself, and practise until it sticks.
Harder push, faster move
Give a toy car a gentle push and it rolls a short way. Give it a harder push and it goes faster and rolls much farther. A bigger push makes a bigger change in how something moves. The same is true for a ball. Kick it softly and it rolls near you. Kick it hard and it zooms across the field.
Steeper is faster
Make a ramp from a board and a pile of books. Let a toy car roll down it. Now add more books to make the ramp steeper, and let the car go again. This time it rolls faster and goes farther. To make it a fair test, use the same car and let it go from the same spot each time. Only the ramp changes.
Curriculum links: NGSS K-PS2-1