Graph mass & speed vs. kinetic energy

7.A Construct, analyze, and interpret graphical displays of data collected from a computer simulation to identify patterns in the data, including a linear relationship between the mass of a moving object and its kinetic energy and a nonlinear relationship between the speed of a moving object and its kinetic energy.

the y-axis on both graphs labeled as “kinetic energy of the cart (measured as the distance the box is pushed)”

the x-axis on one graph labeled as “mass” and the x-axis on the other graph labeled as “speed” or additional detail in the labels such as “mass of the moving object for a fixed speed” on the x-axis and “speed of moving object for a fixed mass” on the y-axis.

some major intervals marked on both graphs

equal intervals used along each axis

coordinate data points plotted on both

a directly proportional pattern [linear and passing through (0,0)] in the mass vs. kinetic energy graph

a nonlinear (quadratic) pattern curving upward from (0,0) in the speed vs. kinetic energy graph

• If you see students assigning the mass or the speed to the y-axis rather than the x-axis, encourage them to reference their graph from Lesson 4 to identify which variable was their independent variable and which axis they put it on in that graph.
• If you see students trying to assign a label to every interval on their axes, suggest they take the approach they see on a metric ruler, where only major intervals are labeled, such as every 10 mm intervals, so that the in-between interval lines are assumed to be 1/10 of the value between each major interval.
• If you see students alter their y-axes scale to go by nonlinear intervals, point out that it's easier to see linear vs. nonlinear patterns in coordinate graphs if the intervals for each axis are always equal along that axis and give students a new piece of graph paper to reset these up on.