Part Two: Design and Test a Skate Park Ramp: Playground Simulation In Part Two, you will apply the engineering design process to design your own skate park ramp.

Instructions:

Select the Playground Simulation at the bottom of the simulation window.
Once the Playground Simulation loads, select all of the following options located on the right-hand side of your screen:
Pie Chart
Bar Graph
Grid
Speed
Leave mass on the center setting
Set friction to none
Complete the Hypothesis, Design, Testing, and Conclusion sections below.

Hypothesis:
In this section, include the if/then statement for your lab. This statement reflects your predicted outcome for the investigation. With the grid selection on, make a hypothesis about how the starting height of the skater will affect the energy needed to successfully complete your skate park playground ramp design.

If my skater begins at a height of meters, then the skater will have enough total energy to successfully complete the skate park ramp from start to finish. (Fill in the blank with a height between 0 and 10 meters.)

Design:
You will test three different skate park ramp designs that meet the following criteria:

The skate park playground ramp must include at least one loop.
The skate park playground ramp must rest on the ground.
The skater must complete a successful run from one side of the ramp to the other without falling off the ramp.
To begin designing your skate park ramp, use the ramp pieces located on the bottom left of the Playground Simulation. Drag and drop sections of ramp onto the screen. You may also select and drag the red dots to extend, move, and/or connect each individual section.

Get your ramp design working well with no friction. Then, increase the friction and explore what happens. Observe how increasing friction changes the height the skater can achieve.

How did the ramp perform? Was the skater able to complete the ramp successfully? You may open a new tab for each ramp design. You will choose one ramp design for further testing.

Record your observations in the data chart below for all three ramps. To insert an image into the chart, go to the bottom right corner of the simulation screen. You will find the screenshot option in the 3-line main menu icon. Insert the image into the chart and resize. Or, you can describe your ramp in words. Be sure to include the height from which the skater begins in your description.

Design Description and/or image Increasing Friction Observations Observations for Overall Performance
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Testing:
Select one of your ramp designs for further testing. Set friction to none for all of your trials. During the testing process, you will determine the lowest starting height from which the skater can start to successfully complete the ramp from start to finish. Record the results for all three trials in the data chart below.

I chose ramp design # for further testing.

Test Starting Height of Skater
(meters) Height of Highest Potential Energy
(meters) Height of Highest Kinetic Energy
(meters) Outcome: Successful or Unsuccessful Run?
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Conclusion:
Complete the conclusion questions below. Please write in complete sentences.

What is the lowest starting height from which the skater can start to successfully complete the ramp? Use the data from your chosen ramp design from the “Testing” section of the lab. Be sure to include if your results support your hypothesis.

Explain why the skater must be at a specific height at the start to successfully reach the end of the ramp. Be sure to use the terms "potential energy" and "kinetic energy" in your answer.

Does your skate park playground ramp design support the law of conservation of energy? Use evidence to explain why or why not. Be sure to include both parts of the law of conservation of energy in your answer.