Students begin asking this critical question by learning how test crashes are conducted and what types of information are gathered through test crashes. Then, using materials commonly found in a science lab, they simulate a car crash, make observations, and collect mass and velocity data.

Students begin asking this critical question by learning how test crashes are conducted and what types of information are gathered through test crashes. Then, using materials commonly found in a science lab, they simulate a car crash, make observations, and collect mass and velocity data. This is followed by rich discussion through which the concepts of kinetic energy, momentum, and conservation of momentum emerge. Finally students return to experimentation to confirm that momentum was conserved.

"During a crash, what happens to the car, to the person in the car, and to the object that it hits?” is one of five critical questions designed to help students answer the essential question, " How do you survive a car crash at 150 mph?" See "Fast Action Physics” ORC #10444, for a complete description of this inquiry challenge. (ts)