Question to Explore
How can you slide faster down a slide?
What is friction? Which objects have the least amount of friction and why?
Materials
- large piece of cardboard for slide
- pennies for sliders
- tape
- sandpaper square
- tinfoil square
- plastic square or button
- foam or sponge
- cardboard square
- any other materials you would like to test
Procedure
- Cut each material into equal sized squares
- Make your sliders by taping pennies onto each square
- Decide a way to test your sliders (two at a time, all at once, many pennies vs. no pennies, etc.)
- Decide which materials have the least and the most amount of friction. How do you know?
Observations/Conclusion
Teams decided how best to test their sliders to compare different amounts of friction. Many teams raced their sliders two at a time. The fastest slider was the tinfoil one because it had the least amount of friction.