Science Fair

Grown-ups

Which shoe grips a slope best?

4th–8th grade · 1 day of testing · free · ages 9 to 14 · 40 minutes a sitting

  • ✅ Nothing sharp, hot or small
What you need for the shoe soles and slopes project: three different shoes: a sneaker, a boot and a sandal, flat cardboard, masking tape, to mark lines, a tape measure, or a long ruler

My hypothesis

If I change which shoe sits on the slope, then how high the board is lifted when the shoe starts to slide will ______, because ______.

You fill in the blanks. Think about what holds a shoe on a slope, and what changes as the slope gets steeper. A guess is a good because: the test finds out.

Change, measure, keep the same

CHANGE

which shoe sits on the slope: Sneaker, Boot, Sandal

MEASURE

how high the board is lifted when the shoe starts to slide, in cm

KEEP THE SAME

  • the same board
  • the shoe set in the same spot, pointing straight down the slope
  • lifting the end slowly, at the same speed
  • the same dry floor

Scientists call the thing you change the independent variable and the thing you measure the dependent variable. The things you keep the same are the controls: if one of them changed too, you wouldn't know which change made the difference. Try each of the 3 levels 3 times.

What you need

  • Three different shoes: a sneaker, a boot and a sandal
  • Flat cardboard: the biggest stiff, flat piece you have
  • Masking tape, to mark lines
  • A tape measure, or a long ruler

Steps

  1. Tape one end of the cardboard to a table, so that end can't slide.
  2. Stick tape marks on the board for the shoe's heel, so it starts in the same spot every time.
  3. Set the sneaker on its marks with its sole flat, pointing straight down the slope.
  4. Lift the free end of the board very slowly, and watch the shoe.
  5. The moment the shoe starts to slide, hold the board still.
  6. A helper measures straight up from the table to the lifted end with the tape measure.
  7. Write the height in your table under Try 1.
  8. Put the shoe back on its marks and test it two more times.
  9. Test the boot three times and the sandal three times the same way.
  10. Find the mean for each shoe and draw a bar graph.

Every step is one you can do yourself, with a grown-up nearby. Write each number down straight away, in the table below, so nothing is lost.

Your results table

MY RESULTSPeabody 🦉 peabody.kids/science-fair

Name ______________________ Fair day ____________

Question: Which shoe grips a slope best?

I changed: Shoe   I measured: how high the board is lifted when the shoe starts to slide (cm)

ShoeTry 1 (cm)Try 2 (cm)Try 3 (cm)Mean
Sneaker
Boot
Sandal

MY GRAPH (a bar graph: shoe along the bottom, cm up the side)

What I noticed: ______________________________________________

From 4th grade, add the tries for each level and divide by how many there were: that's the mean, and it goes in the last column. Then draw a bar graph, one bar for each thing you tried.

📊 Make my graph🖨 Print the whole packet (9 pages)

Why it works

A shoe stays on a slope because friction, the grip between its sole and the board, holds it. As you lift the board, gravity pulls the shoe down the slope more and more, until it beats the grip and the shoe slides. A sole that grips better holds on until the slope is steeper, so the board has to be lifted higher.

Going further (7th and up): Change a second thing: put 20 pennies in each shoe, test again, and draw both tests on one graph. Does more weight change the slope?

Board layout

MY BOARD · 36 × 48 in tri-foldPeabody 🦉 peabody.kids/science-fair
  1. ❓ Question (10 × 8 in): Which shoe grips a slope best?
  2. 💭 Hypothesis (10 × 9 in): If I change which shoe sits on the slope, then how high the board is lifted when the shoe starts to slide will ______, because ______.
  3. 🧺 Materials (10 × 12 in): 4 things: see your list.
  4. 🪜 Steps (22 × 9 in): 10 steps, three tries at each level.
  5. 📊 Results (22 × 16 in): Your table (Shoe down the side, tries across) and your bar graph.
  6. ✅ Conclusion (10 × 14 in): My hypothesis was right / partly right / not right. I know because…

Materials to list: Three different shoes: a sneaker, a boot and a sandal; Flat cardboard; Masking tape, to mark lines; A tape measure, or a long ruler.

Bring photos or drawings of your test. Nothing wet, hot, powered or alive on the table.

This project at your grade

4th–6th gradeTries: three at each level. The table: units in the header and a mean column. The graph: a bar graph, or a line for a number that grows. The conclusion: right, partly or not, and the numbers that show it.
7th grade and upTries: three or more at each level. The table: a mean for every level of both tests. The graph: a graph with two lines or two sets of bars. The conclusion: the numbers, what might have gone wrong, and a next question. Second variable: put 20 pennies in each shoe, test again, and draw both tests on one graph. Does more weight change the slope?

Every grade this project fits works out a mean. See every project for 4th grade, or print a blank results table.

What a judge will ask

  • What did you change, and what did you measure? I changed which shoe sits on the slope and measured how high the board is lifted when the shoe starts to slide, in cm.
  • What did you keep the same, and why does that matter? I kept the same board and the shoe set in the same spot, pointing straight down the slope the same, so the only difference was which shoe sits on the slope.
  • How many times did you test it? 3 times at each of my 3 levels.
  • If you did it again, what would you change or test next? I'd put 20 pennies in each shoe, test again, and draw both tests on one graph. Does more weight change the slope?

Make it yours

Keep this project on this device and Peabody counts down to your fair day, with a plan for each day. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Try next

👨‍👩‍👧 For grown-ups and teachers: how much to help, the safety rules, and running a school fair. Science fair v0.16.1 · Checked .

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