Mini Sled
Collect:
• Building materials (Paper and plastic cups or
milk cartons are a good start. Raid your recycling bin!)
• Scissors
• Tape
• A weight (Try a can of tuna, a bag of pennies,
or a metal spoon)
• Watch or stopwatch (optional)
Construct your sled.
1. Use your building materials to make a mini sled. It can be any shape or material you want!
2. Use tape to attach a weight to the sled. You can also add a passenger. Do you have a toy that will fit in
your sled?
Hit the slopes!
3.
4.
5.
6.
Time to head outside! Make a pile of snow and pat it down until it’s solid.
Keep adding more snow and patting it down until your hill is tall enough for your mini sled to slide down.
Set your mini sled at the top of the hill and let it slide down to the bottom.
Mark how far the sled slides by making a line in the snow at its stopping point. Can you make your sled
go farther? What can you change about the sled or the slope to change how far it goes?
Take it further.
Can you get your sled to climb another hill? Can you figure out a way to launch the sled into the air?
How does it work?
Your sled slides down the snowy hill because the weight of the sled is being pulled down the slope by
gravity. The bigger the slope, the faster the sled will go. The type of material you used for the bottom of the
sled will also determine how fast it slides down the hill. This is because the friction between the bottom of
the sled and the snow will slow it down. Materials that are bumpy like burlap fabric will have a greater
amount of friction, and materials that are smooth like metal or plastic will generate less friction and slide
more quickly.
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