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Activity from the Alien unit © upd8 wikid, built by cracking science 2009 This page may have been changed from the original

cracking science!

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ContentsStudent Sheet 1 Blast off! and Astronaut Seat

Student Sheet 2 Take me to the Moon 1 and 2

Student Sheet 3Take me to the Moon 3 and Moon Work

Student Sheet 4Mission Far Side Lab Summaries 1 and 2

Student Sheet 5Mission Far Side Lab Summaries 3 and 4

Far SideActivity 2: Mission Far Side

Student sheetsCopymasters


Student Sheet 1 Far Side Activity 2 Mission Far Side

Astronaut seatTest

●The seat must not be slippery. Test three fabrics to see which slips least. For each fabric, record the force needed to make it start moving. Repeat the test 3 times. Calculate the mean (average). Record your results in a table. How reliable are your results? Why?

●The seat must be springy. Test the spring to see how much it stretches when you add weights to it. Record your results in a table.

Think

●What effects do forces have on objects and materials?

Blast off!Wear eye protection.

Model

●Make a model rocket with card and a tub (no lid).

●Blu-tack a piece of Alka-Seltzer to the inside of the lid of the tub.

●Pour water into the tub to about quarter full.

●Press the lid on the tub.

●Put the rocket on the floor, and stand back.

●Count down to blast off!

Think

●At blast off, are the forces balanced or unbalanced? How do you know?

●Predict what will happen if you increase the weight of the rocket.

●Explain how to overcome this greater downward force. Use the word thrust.



Take me to the Moon 2Will the astronauts feel gravity in Space?

Model

●Take two magnets. The stronger one represents the Earth. The weaker one represents the Moon. ● Use a paperclip to represent the rocket.●Make your rocket travel from Earth to the Moon.

Think

●How do the forces of attraction on the paperclip rocket change as it travels from Earth to the Moon?●How is the model useful in showing the changing forces on the rocket? How is the model not useful? Use the information below to help with this.

In reality, gravity is the force that attracts a rocket to the Earth and Moon. The mass of the Earth is bigger than the mass of the Moon. So the gravity force of the Earth is bigger than the gravity force of the Moon. This means that when the rocket is halfway between the Earth and the Moon, the rocket is more strongly attracted to the Earth.

Gravity can act at a distance. The greater the distance between two objects, the weaker the force of attraction between them.

Take me to the Moon 1Set this up

●Tie a paperclip to a piece of thread.

●Tie the thread to the base of a wooden stand.

●Clamp a magnet above the paperclip so there is a small gap between the paperclip and the magnet.

●Watch carefully!

Think and test

●Predict what will happen if you make the gap bigger.

●How big can you make the gap before you stop seeing the effect of the magnetic force on the paperclip?

Magnet forces act at a distance.


Take me to the Moon 3Do this outside, well away from people or buildings.

Feel the force•Step into the ball and hoop. Make the ball spin round your ankle. Feel the force.•Spin the hammer device (tights and ball) above your head – hold tight! Feel the force. Let go. What happens? •Take another hammer device. How is this different from the first one? Spin again. Feel the force.•Take a third hammer device. Predict how its spinning force will feel compared to the others. Try it. Were you right?•Hold the third hammer device on a shorter string. Predict what you will feel when you spin it. Try it. Were you right?

Think•Which way do you feel the force pulling?•What happens when you stop applying the force?•Which independent variables did you change?•Describe the relationships between each of these variables and the forces you felt.

What does all this suggest about rockets orbiting objects in Space, or about planets orbiting the Sun?


Moon workFeel the force

•Pick up a can of baked beans on ‘Earth’. Measure its weight with a forcemeter.

•Pick up a can of baked beans on the ‘Moon’. Measure its weight with a forcemeter.

•Which can has the greater weight?

Think

•Why does one of the cans have a greater weight than the other? Use the information below to help you explain.

•Does the mass of the beans change?

The force of gravity attracts the beans to the Earth and Moon. The gravity force of the Earth is bigger than the gravity force of the Moon. This is because the Earth has a bigger mass than the Moon.

On the computer

•Simulate the effect of gravity on penguin movement.

What does all this tell you about gravity on the Moon?


Mission Far SideLab Summary 1

Blast off!

• Forces on take off are _________

• If the rocket weight increases, we predict _____________________

• We can overcome this greater downward force by __________

___________________________

Astronaut seat

Two effects of forces:• ___________________________

• ___________________________



Take me to the Moon 1• The greater the distance between the

magnet and the paperclip, the

________________________________

________________________________

Take me to the Moon 2

• The force of _______ attracts objects to the Earth and the Moon.

• The gravity force of the Earth is _______ than the gravity force of the Moon because ____________________

________________________________

• A rocket halfway between the Earth and the Moon is more strongly attracted to the ________ because ___________

___________________________

• Astronauts do/do not feel gravity in Space because ____________________



Take me to the Moon 3

• When a rocket orbits the Moon, the direction of the force on the rocket is ____________________

___________________________

• If a heavier rocket orbits the Moon, the size of the force is ________ than for the lighter rocket.

• Two rockets orbit the Moon. One is further from the Moon than the other. There is a bigger force on the rocket that is _____________ the Moon.



Moon Work

• Weight of ‘Earth’ beans _________

• Weight of ‘Moon’ beans _________

• The ‘Earth’ beans are __________

because _____________________

____________________________

• The mass of the beans does/does not change because

_____________________________________

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