Mario Kart? Science!?

While teaching my students about motion, I have to distinguish between velocity and acceleration.  Most students have an idea that acceleration means to speed up.  They've ridden in cars and can feel themselves getting pushed into a seat when a car takes off from a stop.  But it's not something they're used to quantifying.  Fortunately, I have a tool in the back pocket to help...MARIO KART!

I put my DS under the Elmo camera and project it on my big screen.  Then I compare Toad and Bowser.

Toad:  High acceleration/low speed.

Bowser:  Low acceleration/high speed.

Then I do a race with each character without using any power ups and have my students record any observations about how the character performs.  Here are some of their observations:

Toad:  Has good starts; makes it around turns easily; has trouble catching up to people.

Bowser:  Has crummy starts, crummy turns; has little trouble catching up to people.

Poor Bowser can't get off the line.

Because acceleration is a change in velocity, I impress upon my students that this includes speeding up, slowing down, and changing direction.  With regards to Mario Kart, I explain what statistics are important for varying circumstances and how stacking one statistic is usually a recipe for disaster.

Lesson for the day...go with Yoshi...or Dry Bones.