Quarter 3

The activity was the science fair Experiment and the Science fair! We had to come up with a Testable question that we could later test.

Testable question

Does the weight of a go-kart affect its’ speed going down a hill? 

Then we made a hypothesis of what we thought would happen.

Hypothesis: If a go-kart without added weight and a go-kart with added weight going down a hill then they will have the same times, because all objects dropped at the same time from the same height land at the same time.

The purpose of this experiment is to see if weight will affect the speed of a go-kart going down a hill. Most people believe that more weight would make the go-kart go down a hill fast, but the laws of gravity state that all objects dropped at the same time will land at the same time. The basic purpose was to put your minds at ease and uncover the true fact of the matter. I knew that the heavier kart tires would compress more than the lighter ones. I also knew that lighter karts have less kinetic energy then heavier ones, so this also would affect the speed of a go-kart going down a hill. The purpose of of the science fair its self was to learn new things and learn to work with others. The working with others part I think was the most important because you can learn new things with one and other. It puts learning in a whole new perspective. This was challenging at some times, but we pushed trough to the end and ended up wining second place. 

I learned that working with a partner can be hard, but if you don't have disagreements, then you would never catch mistakes or flaws. So what I am trying to say is disagreements can help you in the long run. I learned my hypothesis was not correct. It was the lighter go- kart that had the best time. I think this is because the lighter go-kart tires were not as compressed as the go-kart with the added 50 kilograms. I was almost certain that the go-karts would have had similar times but they were drastically different. The laws of gravity have other factors that I feel I over looked when making my hypothesis. I would also like to add that when conducting this experiment never try to a push cart wheels.It will not work at all. At first we made a go-kart out of wood and peddles. This Go-Kart did not run well.  This was a great learning experience that lead us to a great scientific discovery. In conclusion if you are wanting to make a go-kart to race down a hill for speed try to make it as light as possible. 

I could have learned more if I did more research on gravity and the laws of physics. I also could have done more research on the structure of go carts. I could have learned differently if I changed a different variable. Maby instead of weight I could have changed the tire size.


This particular activity did activity did not relate to my goals, but I might in the future because for my goal next year I would like to try to win first in the science fair. The science fair was an amazing experience that I will carry with me all throughout my life.