Wheels That Roll

Lab Brief #1

🎯 Your mission

Run the experiment. Find out what really happens.

⚡ The twist

Speed isn't the same as force. Don't mix them up.

What you'll learn

Things with wheels roll easily. That is why wagons have wheels!

Key words

roll
To move by turning over and over along a surface.
wheel
A round part that turns to help things roll and move.

Make a hypothesis first

Guess: where does the energy go?

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Get ready

🧰 What you need

ramps

⚠️ Safety first

Have an adult check your set-up before you start, and tidy everything away afterwards.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Say the vocabulary words out loud. Can you repeat them?

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Roll a ball down a ramp. Try making the ramp steeper. What happens?

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Look closely! What do you see?

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Draw a picture of what you learned today.

Question 1 of 3

What do wheels help us do?

Question 2 of 3

What makes a ball roll?

Question 3 of 3

What happens if you make a ramp steeper?

Mind = blown

⚡ Static electricity is the same physics as lightning, just smaller.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: Ramps Help!All lessons

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: This is why airplanes can fly and why rockets reach space.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): This week, find one thing in your house that turns one kind of energy into another.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “Show me something at home that uses this kind of energy.”

🏋️Share card

Share this experiment

Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.

Wheels That Roll

Next Smart Experiment

Share this experiment

Wheels That Roll

Done with science? Try something else

Your Cart (0)