Predicting Motion Patterns
Make observations and measurements of an object's motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion
What a learner can do afterwards
- Measure an object's motion (distance, speed, direction) under different conditions
- Identify a pattern in the data (e.g. steeper ramp = further roll)
- Use the pattern to make and test a prediction about future motion
1 · Read
You already know that pushes and pulls can start, stop, or change how something moves. Now it's time to become a motion detective. If you measure how far, how fast, or which way something moves under different conditions, and write the numbers down, a pattern often shows up. You can use that pattern to guess what will happen next, before it even happens.
Mia rolls a ball down ramps of different heights and measures the distance each time. A 10 cm ramp sends it 1 meter. A 20 cm ramp sends it 2 meters. A 30 cm ramp sends it 3 meters. Mia sees the pattern: double the height, double the distance. She predicts a 40 cm ramp will send the ball about 4 meters, then tests it to check.
A pattern is only useful if you test it. If your prediction matches what really happens, the pattern holds. If it doesn't, check what might have changed, like a bump on the ramp or how you let go of the ball.
Measure carefully, find the pattern in your numbers, then use it to predict and test what happens next.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
This opens up
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.