A hands-on STEM buddy for the Push, Pull, and Play! breakout. Build a ramp and use a push to send a toy car as far as you can — then make it even better.
🎯 The problem
Make a ramp that helps a toy car roll far. Let the car go from the top and see how far it rolls. Then change your ramp to make the car go even farther!
Big question: Does a taller (steeper) ramp make the car roll farther than a low ramp?
🧰 What you need
A toy car or a ball that rolls
Something to make a ramp: a book, a board, or a piece of cardboard
Blocks or books to lift the top of the ramp up
A way to measure: floor tiles, big steps, or a measuring tape
🔁 Be an engineer
Ask: How can I make the car roll far?
Imagine: Should the ramp be high or low? Take a guess!
Plan: Pick your ramp and how high to lift it.
Build: Set up your ramp. Let the car go from the top (no pushing — let gravity pull it!).
Test: Measure how far the car rolled. Write it down.
Make it better: Change one thing — make the ramp higher — and test again.
📊 What happened?
Ramp
How far did the car roll?
Low ramp
Higher ramp
🗣️ Tell about it
Which ramp made the car roll farther?
Why do you think so? (Try the words push, ramp, and far.)
🚗 Meet a STEM job — Engineer. Engineers build ramps, roads, and machines. They test their ideas and make them better, just like you did! (Grade 1 scientists to meet: Katherine Johnson, Sally Ride, Ernest Just.)
TEKS for this challenge
1.7(A) pushes & pulls change motion · 1.1(B) plan & do a simple test · 1.1(G) make a model · 1.2(D) tell if a design works. Aligned to, not reproduced from, the official TEKS — confirm before adoption.