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Barbie Bungee

Lesson Plan Items

• Activity Packet
• Lesson Plan
• Spreadsheet

Barbie Bungee

Created By: NCTM Illuminations

Reference:

Overview:
The consideration of cord length is very important in a bungee jump—too short, and the jumper doesn’t get much of a thrill; too long, and ouch! In this lesson, students model a bungee jump using a Barbie® doll and rubber bands. The distance to which the doll will fall is directly proportional to the number of rubber bands, so this context is used to examine linear functions.

Goals/Objectives:
Students will: * Collect data using a rubber band bungee cord and a Barbie doll. * Use the data collected to construct a scatterplot and generate a line of best fit. * Predict how many rubber bands are needed for Barbie to safely jump from a given distance

Time Required: 1 to 2 classes

Materials:
Rubber bands (all the same size and type) Yardsticks or measuring tapes Masking tape Barbie® dolls (or similar) Barbie Bungee Activity Sheet

Skills/Knowledge Gained by Learners:
See goals/objectives

Procedure:
Get students' interest by asking, "Do you think the length of the cord and the size of the person matters when bungee jumping? Would it be smart to lie about your height or weight?" Allow students to offer suggestions as to why an accurate estimate of height and weight would be important to conduct a safe bungeee jump. For the rest of the procedure please see attached links.

Closure: (How to draw the project to a close)
See attached link

Assessment:
1. As a journal response, have students answer the Key Questions above. Then, require students to present their solutions to the class and demonstrate that their answers are correct. For instance, if a student says that Barbie can jump safely from a height of 400 cm with 12 rubber bands, then they should demonstrate that Barbie will not hit the ground when 12 rubber bands are used. 2. A rubric, found in the lesson plan link, can be used to evaluate student work. You may wish to share this rubric with students prior to completing the lesson, so that they are aware of the criteria on which their performance will be measured.