Polymer
Bouncing Balls
What is a polymer?
Polymer
• A large molecule that is made up of repeating
subunits connected to each other by chemical
bonds.
• Examples:
– Turtle Shell
– Anything Plastic
– Proteins- Hair, Nails
– Silly Putty
– Rubber
Not a polymer
• Elements – Periodic Table
• Metals- Gold
• Salt
Focus
How does the height
from which you drop a
ball affect the height
that it will bounce?
HYPOTHESIS: I think if a ball is dropped from a
greater height then,
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I think this because
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Experiment Plan/Procedure
• INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
– (the variable you are changing)
• DEPENDENT VARIABLE
–(the measurement variable)
• CONSTANTS
–(the variables you will keep the
same)
Independent Variable
• this is the variable that is
purposely changed in an
experiment. You change this
variable to see if it makes a
difference. A well designed
experiment will have only one
independent variable.
Dependent Variable
• this is what will be observed and
measured in the experiment. This is
called your measurement variable
that tells/measures the difference
the independent variable makes. This
responding variable responds to the
change you made in the independent
variable.
Constants
• these are the variables
that remain constant
throughout the entire
experiment in order for a
valid test to occur.
MAKE One BOUNCY BALL
• Materials
• ½ c. water
• ½ t. borax (a laundry booster; can be
found at Walmart and most grocery
stores)
• 2 T. school glue
• food coloring
• cup
• spoon
• paper towels
What does your experiment look like?
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE (the variable you
are changing)
________
DEPENDENT VARIABLE (the measurement
variable) _______________
CONSTANTS (the variables you will keep
the same)
_________________________________
Recipe
1.Stir the water and borax in a
cup until the borax is dissolved.
2. Mix coloring into your glue.
(Tip: Making two or more
colors of glue will make a very
colorful bouncy ball!)
3. Drop your glue by the
tablespoon into the borax
solution, stirring the glue as it
is pouring in. As the glue hits
the solution, it will solidify
into a slimy substance.
4.Now have fish out the glue
with your hands. If the glue
is still sticky, dip it into the
borax solution over and over
until it’s all solid.
5.The more you handle the
slime, the firmer it will
become. Eventually, you will
be able to form it into a ball
that bounces!
Procedure
1.Gather your materials.
2.In groups of 4, divide the activities so that
one student drops the ball, one student
watches the bounce and estimates the height
to which it bounces, one student measures
the height of the bounce, and one student
records the data.
3.Determine the height of the drop and the
bounce by measuring from the bottom of the
ball.
Procedure
4. Drop a ball from 50 cm and record how high it
bounces. The height to which the ball bounces is
to be estimated as carefully as possible.
5.Repeat steps 3 and 4 but change the drop
height to 1OOcm, 10 cm and 200 cm
6.Repeat steps 3-5 two more times so you have
three trials of data collected.
7. Find the mean (average) of the three trials
and use the mean to graph.
8. Clean up your work station and replace your
supplies.
Collecting Data
• Complete Chart
• Complete Graph
Questions
1.How did you use scientific knowledge to create your
structure?
2.How did your thinking and/or approach change
throughout the task?
3.From the activity, what skills do you believe are
important for scientific collaboration?
4.What challenges would scientist face when
developing their own projects?
5.How do you believe scientist overcome these
challenges ?