Physics · Unit 1: Kinematics ·  Project 1-2-3

Reconstruct the Ride

🚀 PROJECT

You're handed real velocity data from a bike ride, a drive, or a rollercoaster clip. Calculate how far it actually went, how hard it accelerated, and where it would end up next — the exact moves the Problem is about to ask you to make on your own  ·  3 class days

Synthesizing1-2-1 · v-t graph reading1-2-2 · the kinematic equations

🧭 Project Summary

Real motion doesn't come as a clean, pre-drawn graph — it comes as a messy stream of numbers, or a video with a speedometer bouncing around in the corner of the frame. Your job is to take a real velocity record (from a bike ride, a car's dashboard, or a rollercoaster POV clip) and turn it into the same kind of structured analysis you've been practicing on tidy textbook graphs since Lesson 1-2-1.

By the end, you'll be able to say — with actual numbers, not estimates — how far the ride actually traveled, how hard it accelerated during each stretch, and what would happen next if the pattern held for a few more seconds. That last move, forecasting forward from data you already have, is exactly what Problem 1-3-1 will ask you to do on your own, with a completely different scenario.

The three days

1Turn raw velocity data into a clean v-t table and identify roughly constant-acceleration segments.
2Calculate acceleration and displacement for every segment, and build a running total.
3Forecast what happens next, then write up your method.

Turn in

  • Your completed calculation table — every segment's acceleration, displacement, and running total
  • A short written explanation of your method — which equations you used, why, and how you made your forecast

Why it matters

This project has no target graph to match and no rubric line for "closeness" — the whole grade rides on whether your method is sound. That's deliberate: Problem 1-3-1 will hand you a real-world scenario with no answer key at all, and the only thing that will save you there is a method you already trust.

🧩 Before You Start — Prerequisite Check

This project assumes you're solid on Lessons 1-2-1 and 1-2-2 — and, underneath those, the vocabulary from 1-1-1 through 1-1-3. Check yourself honestly.