About Fan Cart Study
Highly Recommended
Like all our Science Reasoning Center activities, the completion of the Fan Cart Study activity requires that a student use provided information about a phenomenon, experiment, or data presentation to answer questions. This information is accessible by tapping on the small thumbnails found on the bottom right of every question. However, it may be considerably easier to have a printed copy of this information or to display the information in a separate browser window. You can access this information from
this page.
The Standards
The Fan Cart Study task is a five-part activity that describes an experiment with fan-propelled carts accelerating along a track. Students consider questions that can be asked and answered, analyze the design of the investigation, analyze and interpret data, describe the resulting relationship, and use the relationship to rank four situations by increasing acceleration. This NGSS-inspired task consists of five activities. Each activity involves a different type of skill or understanding. Collectively, these fiver activities were designed to address the following NGSS performance expectation:
HS-PS2-1:
Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration.
As a whole, the questions in this task address a wide collection of
disciplinary core idea (DCI),
crosscutting concepts (CCC), and
science and engineering practices (SEP). There are 69 questions organized into 18 Question Groups and spread across the five activities. Each question is either a 2D or (preferrably) a 3D question. That is, the task of answering the question requires that the student utilize at least two of the three dimensions of the NGSS science standards - a DCI, a CCC, and/or an SEP.
The following DCI, SEPs, and CCCs are addressed at some point within Fan Cart Study:
DCI: PS2.A: Forces and Motion
Newton’s second law accurately predicts changes in the motion of macroscopic objects.
SEP 1.3: Asking Questions and Defining Problems
Ask questions to determine relationships, including quantitative relationships, between independent and dependent variables.
SEP 2.3: Developing and Using Models
Develop, revise, and/or use a model based on evidence to illustrate and/or predict the relationships between systems or between components of a system.
SEP 2.6: Developing and Using Models
Develop and/or use a model (including mathematical and computational) to generate data to support explanations, predict phenomena, analyze systems, and/or solve problems.
SEP 3.1: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
Plan an investigation to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence as part of building and revising models. Consider possible variables or effects and evaluate the confounding investigation’s design to ensure variables are controlled.
SEP 4.1 Analyze and Interpreting Data
Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claim.
SEP 5.3: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
Use mathematical, computational, and/or algorithmic representations of phenomena or design solutions to describe and/or support claims and/or explanations.
SEP 6.1: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Make a quantitative and/or qualitative claim regarding the relationship between dependent and independent variables.
CCC 2.1: Cause and Effect
Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.
CCC 2.2: Cause and Effect
Systems can be designed to cause a desired effect.
CCC 3.1: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
The significance of a phenomenon is dependent on the scale, proportion, and quantity at which it occurs.
CCC 3.2: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
Algebraic thinking is used to examine scientific data and predict the effect of a change in one variable on another (e.g., linear growth vs. exponential growth).
Here is our NGSS-based analysis of each individual activity of the Fan Cart Study Science Reasoning task. The core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices that we reference in our analysis are numbered for convenience. You can cross-reference the specific notations that we have used with the listings found on the following pages:
Disclaimer: The standards are not our original work. We are simply including them here for convenience (and because we have referenced the by number). The standards are the property of the Next Generation Science Standards.
Part 1: Asking Questions
This activity consists of 16 forced-choice questions organized into four Question Groups. Students are provided a sample data collection plan and identify questions that can be answered based on plan. Students
earn the trophy for this activity once they have demonstrated mastery on each Question Group.
NGSS Claim Statement: Given a data collection plan for
how varying mass and net force affect the acceleration,
ask questions in order to determine the relationship between acceleration, mass, and net force.
| Target DCI(s) |
Target SEP(s) |
Target CCC(s) |
|
Forces and Motion
PS2.A
Newton’s second law accurately predicts changes in the motion of macroscopic objects.
|
Asking Questions and Defining Solutions
SEP 1.3
Ask questions to determine relationships, including quantitative relationships, between independent and dependent variables. |
Cause and Effect
CCC 2.2
Systems can be designed to cause a desired effect. |
Part 2: Planning the Investigation
This activity consists of 20 forced-choice questions organized into five Question Groups. Students identify key components of a data collection plan, identify limitations and weaknesses of the plan, and identify strategies that would improve the plan. Students
earn the trophy for this activity once they have demonstrated mastery on each Question Group.
NGSS Claim Statement:
Analyze an experimental design that is intended to identify the relationship between mass, net force, and acceleration by observing changes in the acceleration that results from proportional changes in the independent variables.
| Target DCI(s) |
Target SEP(s) |
Target CCC(s) |
|
Forces and Motion
PS2.A
Newton’s second law accurately predicts changes in the motion of macroscopic objects.
|
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
SEP 3.1
Plan an investigation to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence as part of building and revising models. Consider possible variables or effects and evaluate the confounding investigation’s design to ensure variables are controlled. |
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
CCC 3.1
The significance of a phenomenon is dependent on the scale, proportion, and quantity at which it occurs. |
Part 3: Analyzing the Data
This activity consists of 16 forced-choice questions organized into four Question Groups. Students analyze collected data to identify the supported claims and associated evidence. Students
earn the trophy for this activity once they have demonstrated mastery on each Question Group.
NGSS Claim Statement:
Analyze collected data for a study of
the dependence of acceleration upon mass and net force in order to make claims regarding the acceleration, net force, and mass relationship.
| Target DCI(s) |
Target SEP(s) |
Target CCC(s) |
|
Forces and Motion
PS2.A
Newton’s second law accurately predicts changes in the motion of macroscopic objects.
|
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
SEP 4.1
Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claim.
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
SEP 6.1
Make a quantitative and/or qualitative claim regarding the relationship between dependent and independent variables. |
Cause and Effect
CCC 2.1
Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects. |
Part 4: Describing the Relationship
This activity consists is a paragraph completion activity. There are seven blanks in a paragraph that must be completed by selecting appropriate phrases from a bank of phrases. Students
earn the trophy for this activity once they have accurately completed the paragraph.
NGSS Claim Statement: Use
Newton's second law to describe the proportional relationships associated with
how changes in mass or net force affect the acceleration of an object.
| Target DCI(s) |
Target SEP(s) |
Target CCC(s) |
|
Forces and Motion
PS2.A
Newton’s second law accurately predicts changes in the motion of macroscopic objects.
|
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
SEP 5.3
Use mathematical representations of phenomena to describe and/or support claims and/or explanations. |
Cause and Effect
CCC 2.1
Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects. |
Part 5: Using the Model
This activity consists of 16 forced-choice questions organized into four Question Groups. Given information about mass and net force,students rank four situations in increasing order of acceleration. Students
earn the trophy for this activity once they have demonstrated mastery on each Question Group.
NGSS Claim Statement:
Use the mathematical and computational aspects of
Newton's second law to rank four situations that demonstrate
the interdependency of acceleration, mass, and net force.
| Target DCI(s) |
Target SEP(s) |
Target CCC(s) |
|
Forces and Motion
PS2.A
Newton’s second law accurately predicts changes in the motion of macroscopic objects.
|
Developing and Using Models
SEP 2.3
Develop, revise, and/or use a model based on evidence to illustrate and/or predict the relationships between systems or between components of a system.
Developing and Using Models
SEP 2.6
Develop and/or use a model (including mathematical and computational) to generate data to support explanations, predict phenomena, analyze systems, and/or solve problems. |
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
CCC 3.2
Algebraic thinking is used to examine scientific data and predict the effect of a change in one variable on another (e.g., linear growth vs. exponential growth). |
Complementary and Similar Resources
The following resources at The Physics Classroom website complement the Fan Cart Study Science Reasoning Activity. Teachers may find them useful for supporting students and/or as components of lesson plans and unit plans.
The Physics Classroom Tutorial, Newton's Laws: Newton's Second Law
Physics Video Tutorial, Newton's Laws: Newton's Second Law of Motion
Physics Interactives, Newton's Laws: Force
Physics Interactives, Newton's Laws: Falling Bodies 1D
Concept Builders, Newton's Laws of Motion: Newton's 2nd Law - Equations as a Guide to Thinking
Concept Builders, Newton's Laws of Motion: Net Force Ranking Tasks
Minds On Physics, Newton's Laws Module: Mission NL7, Newton's Second Law
The Calculator Pad, Newton's Laws: Problem Sets NL5 - NL10