Predicting Swing Motion

The images show two different positions of a child on a swing. The patterns of a swing in motion in various situations can be observed and measured. Patterns of motion can be predictable and can change with varying velocity, friction, size, speed, and directions. 

How can the motion of a swinging object be predicted?

• How can we determine how slow or how fast the child can swing on the swing?
• What forces are acting on the child to create the movement on the swing?
• If the swing was at rest, how might you change this?

Students could:

• Reenact this on their playground using different types of force to get their swings to move. They could also explore different weights of children in the swing, different people pushing, and lengths of swings. 
• Explore things that might change the swing such as friction, velocity and momentum. Experiment with those differences and see what changes.
• Find other real-life applications for observing objects in motion. For example, seat belts in a car, car tires, a ball being rolled back and forth, children on a see-saw, a grocery cart being pushed through a parking lot in the summer versus winter in Iowa (snow on the ground). Make observations about the predictable patterns.

• The Wonder of Science | Predicting Future Motion: Instructional resources, assessments, lesson, plans and videos for this standard.
• PBS LearningMedia |Comparing Results to Predictions with Balls and Ramps: This video demonstrates a teacher-led class discussion comparing the results of her first-grade students’ experiments with their predictions. Students first predicted whether the size of a marble would affect how quickly it reaches the end of a ramp and then conducted the experiment. Looking back at their predictions allows the students to think about why they were right or wrong.