Get a free trial until June 30, 2026!
New members get full access to our science units, hands-on activities, mini-lessons, & more!

New members get a full, free trial through June 2026!
This Mystery is out of date! Please proceed to Invisible Forces to see the updated version.
Back > Share
How can you go faster down a slide?
Invisible Forces Unit | Lesson 3 of 5
Back > Share

How can you go faster down a slide?

Invisible Forces Unit | Lesson 3 of 5
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
Scroll for prep
Video trouble?

Discuss:

You can’t make the slide steeper, but you want to go down the slide faster.

What else could you change? (Think of your favorite slides.)

Video trouble?

Discuss:

Materials that have low friction are slippery.

Can you name some materials with low friction?

Video trouble?

Discuss: (question 1 of 3)

What happens when you put all the sliders on the slide when it’s flat, and then slowly raise one end of the slide?

Reveal answer

Discuss: (question 2 of 3)

What happened when you raced a cardboard slider with 5 pennies against one with no pennies?

Reveal answer

Discuss: (question 3 of 3)

What questions did you come up with? What happened when you experimented to answer them?

Reveal answer

TEACHERS — NEED A NATURAL STOPPING POINT?

The next video describes ways to do a “fair test” to decide which slider has the least friction. After the video, groups of students will use the Friction Investigation Worksheet and figure out their own method for testing. Then the class will discuss their results.

The remainder of this lesson will take at least 30 minutes. If your time is limited, this is a natural stopping point. Have students write their names on materials, then collect them and resume the activity next science class.

Video trouble?

Discuss: (question 1 of 3)

A claim is a statement that you think is true.

Who wants to make a claim about which material has the most friction? (That's the one that slides the worst.)

What’s your evidence?

Does anyone want to make a different claim?

Discuss: (question 2 of 3)

Who wants to make a claim about which material has the least friction?

What’s your evidence?

Does anyone want to make a different claim?

Discuss: (question 3 of 3)

If you had time in the future to do more friction experiments, what would you do differently?

What other tests would you want to try?

Why?

🎉 That’s it for this lesson! How did it go?
Sign up now for more great lessons!
Sign up
# Extensions
Below are ideas for extending this topic beyond the activity & Exploration you just completed.
# Funny Videos

Can you figure out what's going on in this video? What evidence supports your answers?

Image & Video Credits

Mystery Science respects the intellectual property rights of the owners of visual assets. We make every effort to use images and videos under appropriate licenses from the owner or by reaching out to the owner to get explicit permission. If you are the owner of a visual and believe we are using it without permission, please contact us—we will reply promptly and make things right.

Lesson Image
little girl on slide by rx2web , used under CC BY
Exploration
Ballot Box by FutUndBeidl , used under CC BY
sliding downhill by CS Roth
San Francisco panorama by Steven Damron , used under CC BY
playground set by Greg Goebel , used under CC BY-SA
stone slide by Joshua Stacy , used under CC BY
squiggle slide by F Delventhal , used under CC BY
Hickory Hills opening by City of Marietta, GA , used under CC BY
long slide by Seth Werkheiser , used under CC BY-SA
Burnham Thorpe playground by Elliot Brown , used under CC BY
big yellow slide by Jason Lander , used under CC BY
aquapark steep drop by Tim Sheerman , used under CC BY
Insano by Bloggedd , used under CC BY
double slides by Pilgrim Fatima , used under CC BY-SA
going down by N@ncyN@nce , used under CC BY
toddler slide by Today's Classroom , used under CC BY
friction by cdxglobal
wood slide by Little Wagon Train
playground slide by KENPEI , used under CC BY-SA
friction surface by Stack Exchange Inc , used under CC BY-SA
jeans by M62 , used under CC BY-SA
bottle cap collection by Carlos Jose
legendary slip n fly by Brice Milleson , used under CC BY
old slide by Corrine Klug
Credits

Featured Reviews

“Creativity, engagement, accountability=learning! Kids learned a lot about friction, but also about the importance of collecting clear data/evidence, and using evidence to justify claims. My favorite so far!”
· Clancy · Teacher
“Having the students make a claim based on their data was perfect. They also included their observations and also formulated question to investigate. Nice to have a program using the NGSS science practices.”
· Sandy · Teacher
“Student engagement was fabulous! They were able to verify which materials had the greatest and least amount of friction. :)”
· Kelly · Teacher
“My kids had a great time coming up with different materials to use on their slides. This lesson really helped them to understand the concept of friction as well as how to easily test it on a homemade slide. Very fun and easy-to-do lesson! Mystery Science definitely makes introducing physics fun.”
· Karen · Homeschooler
“The kids loved the freedom to experiment on their own and come up with their own experiments. They don't know it, but this is teaching them how to ask the right questions and discover independently.”
· Charlotte · Teacher
“The group interaction/learning was powerful. This is a perfect hands-on lesson for third grade students. The experimentation/reflection/recording can help stuents to see that science involves reading, writing, quantifying, etc. I found it took my fairly easy-to-manage class twice the suggested time.”
· James · Teacher
“Students loved the exploration piece and... the exploding watermelon!”
· Nicole · Teacher
“My students kept trying to change the weight variables, instead of the base of the sliders. I think this was teacher error ;) but it is still feedback.”
· Abby · Teacher
“The hands on learning, using a variety of materials to explore friction. ”
· Danielle · Teacher
“My class enjoyed building the slides and finding new ways to make items slide down them faster. It was a lot of fun but very educational for them at the same time!”
· Jennifer · Teacher
“It was great - sliders were appropriate and I loved the claims and evidence sheet. ”
· Roberta · Teacher
“My kiddos have a long way to go learning how to collaborate and discuss but they try. It would be great to have a lesson about how scientists work and use the scientific method when experimenting!”
· Roxanne · Teacher
“This activity was a little stressful to get prepared for, but once I gathered the materials (really not that hard, but I just put it off too long) the lesson was wonderful. We spread it over two days and the kids really enjoyed it and walked away with a great understanding of friction!”
· Kellie · Teacher
“My student would say colouring in the climate zones was a great learning tool (ok he wouldn't use those words),but I personally really enjoyed the exchange student story the best.”
· Kat · Homeschooler
“Tying the topic to the kids' world of play made it very relevant. My students were thrilled to be able to create the simple model and make their own discoveries during the activity. (It required little prep work on my part. Yea!)”
· Stephanie · Teacher
“My kids experimented with their slide and sliders for hours. They went way beyond the lesson and worksheet. Thanks for inspiring them!”
· Jennifer · Homeschooler
“It was fantastic!!! We spent 3 days on it. There was so much extra stuff that could be done. I really like that I can make it a single day project or extend it and go into more depth. Thanks for creating this awesome site. It make my life as a homeschool mom of three so much easier. And I just love the quality of the lessons!”
· Melissa · Homeschooler
“Testing the different materials and having the teacher slides prepped with engaging materials for the presentation.”
· Lara · Teacher
“We had such a blast creating slides and seeing what happened. We also visited a few parks and studied the materials, slopes etc of the slides. Great project!”
· · Homeschooler
“My kids loved being creative with the sliders. They combined different materials together to see what could go down the fastest! Thanks for another amazing lesson. We can't wait to start the next mystery. :)”
· Diana · Teacher
“My kids loved learning about friction through this lesson and I heard back from mothers that some of them went home and tried the activities again to show their families! Best news a teacher wants to hear. Thank you so much!”
· Chriss · Teacher
“The children enjoyed making their sliders and testing their theories. We took lots of photos and had lots of fun.”
· Zoe · Teacher
Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Grade 3

Forces, Motion, & Magnets

Friction & Pattern of Motion

3-PS2-1, 3-PS2-2

Activity Prep

Print Prep
In this lesson, students will learn about friction (the force that slows you down on a playground slide). In the activity, The Great Slide Challenge, students work in groups of four to test which materials have the most friction and which materials have the least friction. Each group makes a model of a slide using a stack of books and a piece of cardboard, and makes "sliders" out of different materials.
Preview activity

I have a Mystery Pack

Friction Investigation worksheet 30 copies
Hardcover Books
Used to prop up one end of the slide.
Details
24 books
Rulers
8 rulers
Chipboard
You can also use recycled cardboard cut into 1-inch squares.
Details
16 square inches
Craft Foam
Can also use thin styrofoam.
Details
16 square inches
Glue Dots
Tape will also work. We prefer sticky glue dots because they are easier to distribute in a classroom.
Details
160 dots
Large Plastic Buttons
You can also use recycled plastic bottle caps.
Details
16 buttons
Sandpaper
16 square inches
Stiff Cardboard
Needs to measure at least 12" by 16." Recycled is fine. The lid of a cardboard file storage box works well.
Details
8 pieces
Pennies
Used as weights on the "sliders."
Details
96 coins
Prep Instructions

We suggest students work in groups of four. Homeschool students can work on their own.

Prepare Testing Materials

Each of the materials that students will be testing as “sliders” needs to be about the same size. So before class, cut the chipboard (or cardboard), craft foam (or styrofoam), and sandpaper into 1-inch squares.

Make Model Slides

Each group first needs to make a model of a slide using books and a piece of cardboard. It should look something like this:

Slide Challenge Model

Separate Materials for Classroom Distribution

We suggest providing each group with 1-inch squares of each material that you have prepared prior to class, plus plastic buttons (or plastic bottle caps) and metal bottle caps (or large metal coins). Each group of four will also need about 20 sticky glue dots. You may want to separate or group these materials for easier classroom distribution. Groups will need two of each slider material so that they can do a fair test with different numbers of pennies.

Slide Challenge Supplies

Exploration

15 mins

Hands-On Activity

45 mins

Wrap-Up

5 mins

Grade 3

Forces, Motion, & Magnets

Friction & Pattern of Motion

3-PS2-1, 3-PS2-2

Slow internet or video problems?
Credits
 
Forces Lesson 3: How can you go faster down a slide?

How did the lesson go?
Terrible OK Good Great Terrific!

How can we improve it?

If you'd like our team to reply to you, please Contact Support instead.

Thanks for your feedback! If you have a question or need help, please contact us. Please consider sharing your review:

Sorry the lesson didn’t go well. We read every single review in an effort to improve our Mysteries.

Thanks for letting us know. We’ll wait to ask you for feedback until after you've actually taught it.

Thanks for the feedback! We read every single review in an effort to improve our Mysteries.

Is the video not playing properly?

Please follow these steps:

  1. Very rarely a video will fail to completely load in your browser. Try to reload this page to see if that fixes the problem.
  2. If reloading does not help, try our other video player .
  3. If the video still fails to play, open this video in a new tab and please let us know you’re having trouble. We want to fix this issue for you.

Close

How can we help you?

💡For purchasing info, see our Pricing Page

This episode is locked

This lesson is not included in your limited access.

View pricing

This episode is locked

Your membership is expired. The archive of past Mini Lessons is not included in your limited access.

View pricing