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Science and Technology K–6 · Year 4

Toy car on a ramp: which surface stops it soonest?

Science understanding: Physical sciences

Practical, model not builtLow risk

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The idea

Friction is a force that acts against motion, and a car released from the same height travels a shorter distance on a rougher surface because friction takes its energy away sooner.

What you need

  • 1 toy car with free-rolling wheels (about 50 g)
  • a ramp: a 60 cm plank or shelf raised on books to a measured height of 10 cm
  • run-off surfaces as long as the room allows (a free-rolling car can roll several metres on smooth tiles): smooth tiles or laminate, carpet, a towel, a sandpaper strip
  • tape measure in centimetres
  • masking tape to mark the release line

How to do it

  1. Set the ramp height to 10 cm and tape a release line near the top.
  2. Release the car from the line without pushing, three times on the smooth surface, and measure how far it travels past the bottom of the ramp each time. Record all three and the mean.
  3. Repeat on carpet, towel and sandpaper.
  4. Draw a column graph of mean stopping distance for each surface.
  5. Raise the ramp to 20 cm and repeat on two surfaces; record how the distance changes.
  6. Name the variable changed, the variable measured and three variables kept the same.

What you should see

Stopping distance is longest on the smooth floor and shortest on sandpaper or towel. The ideal model gives distance = ramp height / friction coefficient: for 10 cm height and a coefficient of 0.30 the car runs 33 cm; halving the coefficient doubles the distance; doubling the height doubles the distance. The learner works out each surface's effective coefficient from the run itself (coefficient = ramp height / mean distance) and uses the model to predict the 20 cm runs; energy lost on the ramp and at the bottom join makes real runs shorter than the ideal.

What changes

What you change
run-off surface
What you measure
distance travelled after the ramp
What you keep the same
  • ramp height
  • release point
  • same car
  • no push

Common misconceptions

Each of these ideas is wrong, and the activity is a chance to test it.

  • A heavier car goes further (mass cancels; only height and surface matter).
  • Friction only happens on rough things.
  • The car stops because it runs out of push (a force, friction, slows it).

Safety card

Low riskLearners carry it out

Hazards

  • trip hazard on the floor

Controls

  • clear the run-off lane
  • walk, do not run, to fetch the car

Note

Risk assessment before the lesson using Primary RiskAssess or the school's own template.

Curriculum references

The NSW syllabus outcomes and Australian Curriculum v9 codes this activity supports. They are references, not a verified or complete curriculum alignment.

  • Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2017), current, taught until 2026; code read from the syllabus document on 22 September 2026ST2-9PW-STST2-1WS-S
  • Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2024), implemented from 2027; NESA's timeline is 2026 plan and prepare and 2027 start teaching, and schools may choose to implement it during 2026; code read from the outcomes page on 22 September 2026ST2-PQU-01ST2-DAT-01
  • Australian Curriculum v9AC9S4U03AC9S4I02AC9S4I03AC9S4I04AC9S4I05

Sources

The pages the author read to write this activity.

  1. www.scootle.edu.au/ec/search?accContentId=AC9S4U03
  2. curriculum.nsw.edu.au/learning-areas/science/science-and-technology-k-6-2024/outcomes
  3. www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/curriculum/science/science-and-technology-k-6-2017
  4. primaryconnections.org.au/v84-sequences/smooth-moves
  5. primaryconnections.org.au/teaching-sequences/year-4/access-all-areas

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