Student Pre-project Assessment
Instructions
You may use a ruler, protractor or compass rose, calculator, and scrap paper.
You must include appropriate units with your answers.
All angle measurements should be given from 0° True North as shown below.
1. Give an example of one type of vector quantity.
2. A hiker leaves camp and using a compass, walks 15 kilometers due East then 18 kilometers due
South. At the end of 2 days, the hiker is lost. What is the hiker's displacement? (Give angle
measurements from 0° North)
3. What is the wind velocity near New York City as shown below?
4. You need to get from New York City to Washington D.C. as quickly as possible . You can either
take a direct Amtrak train that travels at a speed of 80 km/h or a small private plane that can fly 150
km/h. Looking at the weather forecast you see that there are strong winds blowing from the southwest
at 60 km/h along a direct path between the two cities. Assuming there are no delays at either the train
station or airport, which mode of transportation should you take? Explain.
5. Pretend you are a pilot for one of the Goodyear blimps. You need to get to a point that is 300 km
from your current position. A steady wind coming directly from the south is blowing at 20 km/h. Your
airspeed is 65 km/h and heading is 150°. How long will it take you to reach your destination?
Pre-project Assessment
Answer Key and Grading Rubric
TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS: 10
1. Give an example of one type of vector quantity.
Answer: A common example of a vector quantity is velocity. A vector quantity is one that has
both a magnitude and a direction.
Points
Acceptable Responses
Examples
1
A good response will give an example of a type of displacement, velocity,
quantity that is considered a vector quantity.
acceleration, force (there may
be others also)
Points
0
Unacceptable Responses
Any type of scalar quantity would not be
acceptable.
Examples
distance, speed, time, etc.
Any kind of formula is not acceptable.
v = d/t
Although the words "magnitude" and "direction"
are used to describe vector quantities, they would
not be correct as an example.
magnitude and direction
2. A hiker leaves camp and using a compass, walks 15 kilometers due East then 18 kilometers due
South. At the end of 2 days, the hiker is lost. What is the hiker's displacement? (Give angle
measurements from 0° North)
Answer: The displacement is approximately 23.4 kilometers at 140°.
Points
2
Acceptable Responses
Student gives both distance and angle
measurement with correct units. Can solve using
Pythagorean Theorem or graphically.
Points
1
Partial Credit Responses
Partial credit should be given if a student correctly
gives either distance or angle measurement with
correct units.
Points
0
Unacceptable Responses
If a student does not answer the question correctly,
he or she should not receive any credit for the
problem.
Examples
Displacement is 23.4 kilometers
at 140°.
Examples
Displacement is 23.4 meters at
50° (angle measurement is not
measured from 0°)
Examples
A displacement is 549 kilometers
at 50°.
3. What is the wind velocity near New York City as shown below?
Answer: 15 knots from the southwest or 15 knots from approximately 244°. (OK of students
give general direction of southwest).
Points
2
Acceptable Responses
Students should indicate the magnitude in knots
and the direction (either from or to).
Examples
15 knots from the southwest or
15 knots toward the northeast.
Points
1
Partial Credit Responses
Partial credit should be given if a student correctly
gives either the magnitude or direction.
Examples
15 knots from the northwest. 25
knots from the southwest.
Points
0
Unacceptable Responses
If a student does not give both the magnitude and
direction correctly, he or she should not receive
any credit for the problem.
Examples
25 knots from the northwest
4. You need to get from New York City to Washington D.C. as quickly as possible. You can either
take a direct Amtrak train that travels at a speed of 80 km/h or a small private plane that can fly 150
km/h. Looking at the weather forecast you see that there are strong winds blowing from the southwest
at 60 km/h along a direct path between the two cities. Assuming there are no delays at either the train
station or airport, which mode of transportation should you take? Explain.
Answer: Take the plane. It will be faster. (see below)
Points
2
Points
1
Points
0
Acceptable Responses
Students should state which mode of
transportation will be faster and give a correct
explanation for this.
Examples
You should take the plane. Even
though you will be heading into
the wind, your resulting speed
will be 90 km/h which is greater
than the train speed of 80 km/h.
Take the plane because the
resultant speed will be 90 km/h
which is still faster than the
train.
Partial Credit Responses
Examples
Partial credit should be given if a student correctly The plane is faster because its
states that the plane will be faster but does not give resultant speed is 210 km/h.
any explanation or gives an incorrect explanation.
Unacceptable Responses
If a student does not answer both parts of the
question correctly, he or she should not receive
any credit for the problem.
Examples
Take the train because it is not
affected by the wind.
5. Pretend you are a pilot for one of the Goodyear blimps. You need to get to a point that is 300 km
from your current position. A steady wind coming directly from the south is blowing at 20 km/h. Your
airspeed is 65 km/h and heading is 150°. How long will it take you to reach your destination?
Answer: Estimated flight time is approximately 6 hours.
Points
3
Acceptable Responses
Students must give approximately the correct
flight time. This is based on an approximate
ground speed of 50 km/h and direction of 135°. If
student answers are close to these, they are
acceptable.
Points
2
Partial Credit Responses
Students may receive partial credit if they
correctly calculate ground speed and direction but
do not calculate flight time correctly.
Examples
Flight time is 0.16 hours.
1
If students determine either ground speed OR
direction correctly they may receive partial credit.
Ground speed is 50 km/h at 45°.
Points
0
Unacceptable Responses
If a student does not answer any parts of the
question correctly, he or she should not receive
any credit for the problem.
Examples
6 hours
Examples
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