Exploring Forces with Cars!

In order to gather more information about how different forces affect the motion, speed and direction of an object, students used matchbox cars and meter sticks to make some initial observations. In partners, students set up cars and applied different forces to the back end of the cars to see what path the car took, the relative speed as well as distance in meters and centimeters (we have not discussed fair tests, this was done merely to observe general trends in motion due to force). Students recorded data for four tests: a hard push with their hand, a gentle push with their hand, a flick with their pointer finger, and a release from a deep breath. Here is what students generally found to be true:

The greater the force exerted on the car, the more sporadic the path of the car.
The greater the force exerted on the car, the farther the distance the car traveled.
The smaller the force exerted on the car, the straighter it's path.
The flick caused the car to flip and turn.
Blowing on the car was challenging because sometimes the path of air was blowing on top of the car instead of behind the car. This meant the car wasn't going to go anywhere.
The hard push made the car travel the farthest distance
The car won't move anywhere unless you push it, flick it or blow on it.
If the car hit a wall, a chair or someones foot it would move backwards.