4th Grade Force and Motion

Student Summative Assessment

Use the following scenario to answer questions 1 and 2.

While playing “Simon says” during recess, a student walked 5 feet forward, 2 feet
backwards, and then 4 feet forward again.

1. What was the total distance that the student traveled?

A. 6 feet
B. 7 feet
C. 9 feet
D. 11 feet

2. Which best describes the student’s final position compared to their starting
position?
A. 6 feet
B. 7 feet
C. 9 feet
D. 11 feet

3. Race car drivers must complete 200 laps to travel 500 miles to win the Indianapolis
500. Has the driver’s position changed at the end of the race? Explain.

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Use the following map to answer question 4. Each block in the grid is 200 m X 200 m.

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6
W E
5

4. Sarah has several errands to do for her mother before she can play in the park.
A. Sketch the path that Sarah takes as she does these errands on the map above.
 Sara starts from her house, which is house D.
 She leaves the house through the front door shown on the map and goes
100 m west and 10 m north to the Computer Store.
 After purchasing a new mouse for her computer, Sarah walks 800 m east
and 400 m north to the Post Office to mail several letters.
 From there she walks 1200 m west to visit a sick friend in the hospital.
 Finally, she walks 1400 m south and 100 m west to the Park.
B. What is the total distance in meters (m) that Sarah has walked from her house to
The Park? How did you determine this distance?
C. How many meters (m) is Sarah from the origin once she reaches the Park?

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5. Kaitlyn is watching a wind-up toy walking across a table. She observes that the toy covers
1 cm every second for 10 seconds. Which graph below do you think most closely represents
the toy’s journey across the table?

6. Which graph most closely represents no motion for the wind-up toy?

7. Which graph most closely represents the wind-up toy moving backwards (towards

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 the origin) with uniform motion?

Use the following Position vs. Time graph for a toy car to answer questions 8 - 11.

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 Position vs Tim e for a Toy Car

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Time (sec)

8. What is the speed of the toy car?

A. 2 cm/sec
B. 5 cm/sec
C. 30 cm/sec
D. 60 cm/sec

9. How far from the origin is the toy car at 35 seconds?

A. 30 cm
B. 35 cm
C. 60 cm
D. 70 cm

10. How far does the toy car travel from 10 seconds to 25 seconds?
A. 10 cm
B. 15 cm
C. 25 cm
D. 30 cm

11. What can you NOT tell about the motion of the object from the graph?
A. Position
B. Speed
C. Time
D. Direction

Use the following graph to answer questions 12 - 15.

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 D
E

B
A
C

12. Which graph or part of a graph represents the fastest, steady speed?
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E

13. Which graph or part of a graph represents no motion?

A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E

14. Which graph or part of a graph represents an object speeding up?

A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E

15. Which graph or part of a graph represents an object returning to the origin?
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
E. E
Use the following picture to answer question 16.

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16. If the man is pushing the game piece to the right, which arrows would best show
the direction of the forces acting on the game piece?

A.

B.

C.

D.

17. When an instantaneous kick is given to a ball, the ball rolls away on the ground
from the person who kicked it, but it eventually stops. What force acting on the ball
is responsible for the ball stopping?

A. gravity
B. instantaneous kick
C. friction
D. continuous force

Use the following graph to answer questions 18 –

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 Distance vs. Tim e Graph for Tw o Boxes of Equal Weight

80

70

60

50 Box 1
Box 2
40

30

20

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Time (sec)

18. Which box is the fastest?

A. Box 1
B. Box 2

19. The speed of the fastest box is about _____.

A. .5 cm/sec
B. 1 cm /sec
C. 2 cm/sec
D. 5 cm/sec

20. Which of the following would NOT explain why one box is moving faster than the
other?
A. Friction was reduced for one box but not the other.
B. One box received a harder push than the other.
C. One box received a continuous force and the other did not.
D. The surface was rougher for one box and smoother for the other.

21. Now, what if the boxes whose motion is represented by the graph above were
changed, so that one box is two times as heavy as the other box. Both boxes
receive the same instantaneous force, which box is the heaviest?
A. Box 1
B. Box 2

22. Explain your answer for number 21.