As part of our unit on forces and motion, students were asked to design and build their own sleds.  Children had lots of fun constructing imaginative creations including a sled with jet propulsion, a 12 seater, a sled with oxygen tanks just in case it needed to go under water, and an enclosed sled with lots of cozy insulation to keep passengers warm.  Some made passengers for their sleds as well.

Once the building process was complete we tested sleds inside on cardboard ramps, noting design features that affected how different sleds moved.    One sled had a tendency to follow a twisting path, while some were fast, and some were slow.  We came to the conclusion that the sleds with the smoothest bottoms were fastest because there was less friction, while adding something like pipe cleaners to the bottom would be a great way to slow a sled down.