5-E Model STEM Lesson

Title The Amazon launching tower (equations of motion)

Purpose/Rationale Have students apply equations of motion to an engineering design

problem.

Community Students with unique needs will work alongside their peers during
Resources and this activity.
meeting needs
students

Virginia Science PH.5 The student will investigate and understand the
SOLs interrelationships among mass, distance, force, and time through
mathematical and experimental processes. Key concepts include
c) projectile motion;
d) Newtons laws of motion;

PH.6 The student will investigate and understand that quantities

including mass, energy, momentum, and charge are conserved. Key
concepts include
a) kinetic and potential energy;

Virginia Math SOLs AII.6 The student will recognize the general shape of function
(absolute value, square root, cube root, rational, polynomial,
exponential, and logarithmic) families and will convert between
graphic and symbolic forms of functions.
AII.7 The student will investigate and analyze functions algebraically
and graphically. Key concepts include:
a) domain and range, including limited and discontinuous domains
and ranges;
b) zeros;
c) x- and y-intercepts;
d) intervals in which a function is increasing or decreasing;

NGSS Cross-cutting Patterns

Concepts Cause and Effect
Systems and System Models

Materials Dynamic (Frictionless) Launch Track, spring loaded cart, balls of

different mass, yard stick, motion detector
Safety and Class Closed toed shoes must be worn during the lab, due to falling objects.
Management Issues Keep all body parts clear of the track and the fall zone of the objects.

Procedures for Teaching (include time frame)

Engage What will the teacher be doing? What will the students be doing?
Define Problem
Tell students about the scenario, Students will make a list of all of
which is that Amazon wants to the parameters/factors they must
devise a way to deliver products consider for designing this tower.
to locals in a quick and relatively Students will brainstorm with a
effortless process. Their plan is to partner about the best way to
build a tower from which they accomplish this task.
will launch orders to surrounding
customers.

The teacher also activates the

prior knowledge of the equations
the students will be using in the
lab:
x=V x t
1
y= g t 2 +V 0 t A brief
2 x

discussion of their derivations

(previously covered) will take
place.

What open-ended questions will the teacher ask? (e.g. prediction,

observation, inference)

Do you think there will be a limit to how far you can launch the
projectile? Why or why not? What will determine that limit?

What factors do you need to consider when launching your package?

Explore What will the teacher be doing? What will the students be doing?
Planning, Modeling,
Testing Provide students with the Planning: Looking ahead to
materials and activity sheet. which x and y they
need, and thinking about which
Reviewing testing parameters and variables are constant and which
data taking procedures. Explain ones they may change in order to
safety procedures of lab. meet the desired values for
x and y.
Monitoring and aiding their
 questioning of the procedure. Modeling: The student will set
up these various variables in
their environment. E.g., they
must figure out how to measure a
point that is both x and
y away from the launch
position.

Testing:
The students will change the
variable they have control over
(launch velocity), and see how
much closer these variables get
them to their target.

What open-ended questions will the teacher ask?

(e.g. prediction, observation, inference)

Did the balls travel the distance you expected?

How did you determine which spring length to use?
What was the effect of mass on the horizontal distance?

Explain What will teacher be doing? What will students be doing?

Calculations and
Explanations of Explain the observation of Calculations and testing of the
Uniform Acceleration due to package delivery system.
Science and
gravity.
Mathematics
What key vocabulary/concepts will be addressed that are related to
the exploration?

Physics: Initial Velocity, final velocity, x, acceleration,

gravitational constant

Math: square root function, rates of change, increasing/decreasing,

domain, range

Elaborate What will the teacher be doing? What will the students be doing?
Reflect and Redesign
Asking the students probing Building justifications for the
questions about the changes they changes they are making in order
can make to their system in order to hit the launch target.
to meet their landing target. E.g.,
what do you think will happen to
x if you change the launch
 angle? y?

What open-ended questions will the teacher ask? (e.g. prediction,

observation, inference)
What real world factors are we not considering in our experiments?
How realistic is this idea in the real world? Can you come up with
any more effective methods that could be tested?

Evaluate

Formative What information or data can the teacher collect to assess the
development of students learning?

The teacher will provide prompts for their reasoning about changing
their design and collect it.
Students will complete the discussion questions and have time to
share out with the class.

Summative How will students demonstrate that they have achieved lesson
objectives?

The students will apply what they have learned about the lab to an
extraneous situation involving an actual city.
 The Amazon Delivery Launch Tower
Amazon is designing a cheap new way to distribute packages to a local area. They are building
a tower that launches packages towards nets installed on the buildings receiving the packages.
You are tasked with designing and calibrating the launcher so that the packages hit their targets.

Phase 1: Launch Calibration

Your delivery method is expected to deliver three varieties of packages (3 different kinds of
balls). These packages will be propelled by spring based launchers, that can vary their launch
speed, by adjusting the Initial Spring Length. You will test each packages launch speed
based on variations of the Initial Spring Length.

Based on the height of your table, calculate the flight time(s) that you would expect for an object
launched from the table ledge. This will be your Flight Time. Based on your Flight Times, you
will find the velocities of these objects based on the horizontal distance traveled.

Be sure that you take consistent measurements, because this data will be helpful for you when
designing/calculating launch velocities for different packages.
Package 1
Ball Description: ___________________________________

Mass of ball (kg): ___________

Height of Table (m): ______________

Trial #1

Initial Spring Length (cm): ________________

Flight Time (s): ____________

Horizontal distance Calculated speed of ball when Measured speed of ball using
ball travels (m): leaving the table (m/s): motion detector (m/s):

Average speed of ball (m/s):_____________

Trial #2

Initial Spring Length (cm): ________________

Flight Time (s): ____________

Horizontal distance Calculated speed of ball when Measured speed of ball using
ball travels (m): leaving the table (m/s): motion detector (m/s):

Average speed of ball (m/s):_____________

Trial #3

Initial Spring Length (cm): ________________

Flight Time (s): ____________

Horizontal distance Calculated speed of ball when Measured speed of ball using
ball travels (m): leaving the table (m/s): motion detector (m/s):

Average speed of ball (m/s):_____________

Package 2

Ball Description: ___________________________________

Mass of ball (kg): ___________

Height of Table (m): ______________

Trial #1

Initial Spring Length (cm): ________________

Flight Time (s): ____________

Horizontal distance Calculated speed of ball when Measured speed of ball using
ball travels (m): leaving the table (m/s): motion detector (m/s):

Average speed of ball (m/s):_____________

Trial #2

Initial Spring Length (cm): ________________

Flight Time (s): ____________

Horizontal distance Calculated speed of ball when Measured speed of ball using
ball travels (m): leaving the table (m/s): motion detector (m/s):
Average speed of ball (m/s):

Trial #3

Initial Spring Length (cm): ________________

Flight Time (s): ____________

Horizontal distance Calculated speed of ball when Measured speed of ball using
ball travels (m): leaving the table (m/s): motion detector (m/s):

Average speed of ball (m/s):_____________

Package 3

Ball Description: ___________________________________

Mass of ball (kg): ___________

Height of Table (m): ______________

Trial #1

Initial Spring Length (cm): ________________

Flight Time (s): ____________

Horizontal distance Calculated speed of ball when Measured speed of ball using
ball travels (m): leaving the table (m/s): motion detector (m/s):
Average speed of ball (m/s):_____________

Trial #2

Initial Spring Length (cm): ________________

Flight Time (s): ____________

Horizontal distance Calculated speed of ball when Measured speed of ball using
ball travels (m): leaving the table (m/s): motion detector (m/s):

Trial #3

Initial Spring Length (cm): ________________

Flight Time (s): ____________

Horizontal distance Calculated speed of ball when Measured speed of ball using
ball travels (m): leaving the table (m/s): motion detector (m/s):

Average speed of ball (m/s):_____________

Graphing Spring Length vs. Horizontal Distance (x)

1.) Fill in the first TWO columns in the following tables for balls 1, 2, and 3:
*Note: you may want to find more than 3 spring lengths to plot on your graph.

Ball 1
Spring Length (cm) Horizontal Distance (x) Calculated k value
 Ball 2
Spring Length (cm) Horizontal Distance (x) Calculated k value

Ball 3
Spring Length (cm) Horizontal Distance (x) Calculated k value

2.) Create a graph using your measured spring lengths and horizontal distance for each different ball.

Ball 1:
Spring Length vs Horizontal Distance
Ball 2:
Spring Length vs Horizontal Distance

Ball 3:
Spring Length vs Horizontal Distance
Discussion Questions

1.) Is there a linear relationship between spring length and horizontal distance? How
do you know?

2.) What is the domain? What is the range? Are there any limitations to the domain
and range? Why/why not?

3.) Where are your graphs increasing/decreasing? What does this tell you about the
relationship between the spring length and how far the ball travels?

4.) What kind of relationship do these graphs show? (linear, quadratic, exponential,
square root, logarithmic, cubic, etc.) What might happen to your graphs if you collect
more spring lengths?

5.) Compare and contrast the 3 different graphs for the 3 different masses. What do
your graphs have in common? How are they different?
Another design decision Amazon must consider is the material they make their spring out of.
Weve learned about the spring constant, k, that can tell us how much potential energy a string
can store. Now we would like to hold the amount were compressing the spring (d) constant in
order to analyze how changes in k affect how far the ball will travel (x). Use following formula to
calculate the k constant for each of your different spring lengths. Fill in the third columns in your
tables above.

1 2 1 x 2
PE spring = k (d) =KE ball = m( )
2 2 t
2
1 1 x
k ( d)2= m( )
2 2 t

*where d is the length of the adjustment knob for the spring

If you only use one type of ball, which variables are changing in this equation? Which ones are
staying constant?

Based on the formula, what do you think the relationship is between k and the horizontal
distance?

If you needed to deliver a package to a certain horizontal distance x, then how could you use k
to help you figure out what spring length to use? (Hint: Your answer to the last question can be
helpful here.)

Phase II: Order Delivery.

You are now tasked with delivering three packages to three different locations, as a proof of
concept of your methodologies. You will have 3 attempts to deliver each package to each
location (Remember! There is a learning curve for all technologies).

Using the data you compiled during Phase I of Development, calculate and plan your launch
conditions (Initial Spring Length) before attempting.

How will increasing the launch velocity of the packages affect y? x?

Which material will have the greatest x for a given initial velocity? y? Apply your answer to
Amazons launch tower: What consideration must Amazon make about their launches?

Your group will be assigned one of the materials as your package to be delivered. You must
find the initial velocity the package must be launched at in order to hit given target coordinates.
Record the spring length you chose for each test, along with whether or not you hit the target
(success or fail). 3 test columns are provided, but do further testing if your result needs more
refinement.
 Target Test 1 Test 1 hit? Test 2 Test 2 hit? Test 3 Test 3 hit?
Coordinates (Spring (Spring (Spring
(m) and ball Length) Length) Length)
type

Tennis Ball
y = .27
x = .93

Red Ball
y = .54
x = .39

Styrofoam
y = .43
x=
1.06

Discussion Questions:

1.) How did you determine what spring length to use?

2.) What factors did you have to consider?

3.) How are spring length and horizontal distance related?

4.) How did the mass of the ball effect what spring length you chose?