The 8th graders continue to explore energy, energy transfer and transformation! In this lab we tested the Law of Conservation, which states, energy can not be created nor destroyed. This means that energy must simply flow from one type to another or from one object to another. To evaluate this theory, the 8th grade took an object (like a baseball, tennis ball or racket ball) and found the mass on a triple beam balance. Once the mass was recorded, the groups ran 3 trials where they dropped the object from a known height and we recorded the time it took to fall. After the 3 trials the students took the average and used that time for their calculations. Once we had our time, height and mass we were able to calculate the total potential energy of the object and the total kinetic energy it experienced as it fell. The young scientists would then compare the potential energy and kinetic energy to see if they were equal. Theoretically, they would be equal to each other which would align with the Law of Conservation, however, due to human error (starting and stopping the timer off from the person dropping the ball) and energy transformation (which wasn’t part of the calculations) the numbers were not exactly the same. These energy transformations are a great segway into the next unit which deals with energy transformation and heat.