Q2. IDEAS & ACTIVITIES - PROJECTILES

PLEASE CHECK OUT THIS ACTIVITY BEFORE YOU CONTINUE. When a golfer hits a ball, in science, we call the ball 'a projectile'.

NERF blasters and similar toys fire foam projectiles. We will use a Nerf gun to discover more about Gravity in this experiment.

INTRODUCTION:

A crime has been committed and we need to bring in the WPS Forensic Science Team (NCIS Wahroonga) to find out where the 'perpetrator' was located when they carried out their nasty crime.

HYPOTHESIS:

That foam darts fired from a Nerf gun can be used to calculate the location that the gun was fired from.

MATERIALS:

$4.95 from local toy store. 'Total Crush' Nerf gun with six foam darts (range up to 7.5 metres)

METHOD:

There are two student teams - a 'perpetrator' and an 'investigator'. A teacher may set up the 'perpetrator part of the experiment and hand their video to the investigation team.
The 'perpetrator' must carry out the first part of the experiment and create a video recording of the falling darts that is handed to the investigation team.
Set up the Nerf gun so that darts are fired in a repeatable way. In our experiment, the Nerf gun was placed on a table and set up so that each foam dart was fired from exactly the same height (table top) and in the same direction.

The Investigation team must use CCTV footage to estimate the location where each foam dart hit the floor (but the video must not show the location that the dart was fired from).
Each location must be marked and recorded. A tape measure is used to measure the distance from the gun to the point where each foam bullet hit the floor.
Using the Nerf gun that wqas left behind by the perpetrator, the investigation team must experiment to find the range of the gun and then apply maths to their results to discover the location that the gun was fired from.

RESULTS:

DISCUSSION:

SUMMARY:

Students may use simulation software or any other on-line resources to assist their enquiries.

REFERENCES:

Stage 2 Science Day: 19 May 2015