Maths Investigation - Ramp It Up

We started our maths investigation by brainstorming the different ways that toy cars can move. We discussed the forces involved, particularly push and pull forces.

The challenge was then given: how far can you get your toy car to move using a ramp? Children were able to choose their car and whether to work alone, in a pair or a small group of three. We used blackboards as the ramps.

There was lots of rich learning – lots of children used rulers without prompting, children hypothesising, testing, observing and drawing conclusions about the gradient (they talked about ‘steepness’) of the ramp and the types of forces.

Next time we will share our discoveries from last time by watching videos and photos, and explore the variables involved and how we are measuring in a consistent and fair way.