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
The lesson
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.
Watch it
Where it sits
This opens up
Nothing builds on it yet.
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.