Science9-12+
Station Rotation on Collisions and Inertia
By Spartz, N.
A station-based lab packet for 10th grade physics that compares elastic, inelastic, and perfectly inelastic collisions while introducing inertia and mass in motion. Students observe demonstrations, record what they see, and then solve problems to reinforce each collision type, with key-term callouts and guided prompts throughout.
Customize for your classroom
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Run this as a rotation lab, with students moving through stations in small groups across one or two 45-minute blocks, starting with Station 1 on inertia and mass before the collision-type stations.
- Discussion question: Why does a loaded shopping cart resist changes in motion more than an empty one, and how does that connect to momentum in a collision?
- Scaffold for struggling readers: Pre-teach the key terms (inertia, mass, momentum, kinetic energy) and have students complete the observation sections with sentence stems before moving to the calculations.
- Extension for advanced students: Have them derive the coefficient of restitution for each collision type from their own measured data and explain how it differs across the three cases.
- Estimated time: About 20 minutes per station, plus 10 minutes for a wrap-up comparison table of elastic, inelastic, and perfectly inelastic collisions.
Science9-12+
Station Rotation on Collisions and Inertia
By Spartz, N.
A station-based lab packet for 10th grade physics that compares elastic, inelastic, and perfectly inelastic collisions while introducing inertia and mass in motion. Students observe demonstrations, record what they see, and then solve problems to reinforce each collision type, with key-term callouts and guided prompts throughout.
Customize for your classroom
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Run this as a rotation lab, with students moving through stations in small groups across one or two 45-minute blocks, starting with Station 1 on inertia and mass before the collision-type stations.
- Discussion question: Why does a loaded shopping cart resist changes in motion more than an empty one, and how does that connect to momentum in a collision?
- Scaffold for struggling readers: Pre-teach the key terms (inertia, mass, momentum, kinetic energy) and have students complete the observation sections with sentence stems before moving to the calculations.
- Extension for advanced students: Have them derive the coefficient of restitution for each collision type from their own measured data and explain how it differs across the three cases.
- Estimated time: About 20 minutes per station, plus 10 minutes for a wrap-up comparison table of elastic, inelastic, and perfectly inelastic collisions.