MISSION VERIFIED
Classroom tested. Teacher designed. Safe at home.
Designed by Darin Carr (BScDip Ed)
Practising NESA accredited
Australian Science Teacher
★ 30+ years of classroom experience
MISSON PROGRESS
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young scientists have completed this mission.
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Before you investigate... watch the mystery
MISSION HOOK
Professor Picklebottom and the team are travelling and collecting amazing science mysteries.
✔ Coming in Term 1 2027
Share the science! Tag @the_crazy_scientist on Instagram
— we love seeing your experiments!
Mission Equipment
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
• Elastic Energy Launcher (commercial or homemade)
• Toy car
• Modelling clay or playdough
• Tape measure or ruler
• Recording sheet
• Pencil
Let’s Investigate
Follow the missions steps below to solve the mystery.
1
Big Title
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
1
Big Title
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
1
Prepare Your Car
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
1
Prepare Your Car
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
1
Big Title
Gather your materials and get
ready for an amazing mission!
PREDICT
OBSERVE
EVIDENCE
ASK
SAFETY
TIP
PREDICT
Alex
Mass Attack! – Car Race
Alex lined up two identical cars on the starting line.
Then he pressed a giant lump of modelling clay onto one of them.
Suddenly the race wasn’t fair anymore.
Or was it?
Which car would travel further?
The light car?
The heavy car?
Or would they travel exactly the same distance?
Ages
7-12 yrs
Duration
min
15
Difficulty
Medium
Stage
Stage 2-3
Cite this resource
Created by Darin Carr (BSc, DipEd)
NESA Accredited Teacher · Chemistry & Physics Specialist · 30+ years in-class teaching
Resource Version: 1.0
First Published:
Last Updated:
11 June 2026
3 July 2026
The Crazy Scientist LAB Learning System™
Every experiment follows The Crazy Scientist Lab Learning System™ — a simple way to help kids think like real scientists.
We
-
LINK to what they already know,
-
ACTIVATE curiosity through hands-on discovery
-
BUILD understanding that actually sticks.
Have you ever noticed that some things are much harder to push than others?
An empty shopping trolley is easy to move.
A full one takes much more effort.
Cars, trains and rockets all behave the same way.
Today you'll investigate how changing an object's mass affects its motion.
Think back to your two launches — the car without playdough and the car with it.
Which car travelled further? Was that what you expected?
The launcher stayed the same both times. So what was the only thing that changed?
Why do you think the extra mass made a difference to the distance?
More mass = harder to accelerate — that's Newton's Second Law at work.
A loaded truck and an empty truck brake at the same time. Which one stops faster?
A rocket burns fuel as it flies and gets lighter. How does that change how fast it can go?
A racing car engineer wants to go faster without changing the engine. What's the easiest fix?
"Want the full teacher guide? The Crazy Scientist Lab includes classroom delivery tips, how to manage the WOW moment, differentiation for Stage 2 & 3, — ready to teach tomorrow."
Think Like a Scientist
Scientists don't just do ONE experiment; they change one part of the experiment (independent variable) and then see how it affects another part of the experiment
(dependent variable)
Change ONE variable and test again.
What happens if you add more modelling clay to the car?
What happens if you use the same mass but launch from a different distance setting?
Dr Puddledrip’s Science Tip
🧪 Try it! Change ONE thing and test again. What did you discover?
Want to go deeper? Tap a section below to explore. ▼
The Science Behind It
Force and Motion
When the launcher releases, it pushes on the car.
Scientists call this push a force.
Forces can change the speed or direction of an object.
Mass Matters
Mass is the amount of matter in an object.
Adding modelling clay increases the mass of the car.
But how does that change the way the car responds to the launcher’s force?
That’s what you’ll investigate.
Looking for Patterns
Scientists rarely rely on a single result.
By repeating tests and recording measurements, they look for patterns in their data.
Those patterns help scientists develop explanations about how the world works.
Real-World Connections
Engineers think about mass every day.
Race cars, rockets, bicycles and even electric vehicles are designed with mass in mind.
Small changes in mass can sometimes make a surprisingly large difference to performance.
Teachers & Homeschoolers: Print-ready HD versions of this Science Behind It poster and companion G&T Challenge Card are available inside The Crazy Scientist LAB.
Extension: HPGE / Gifted Learners
Professor Picklebottom’s Scientist Challenge
You’ve already discovered that adding more mass can change how far a car travels.
Now investigate a different variable:
Force Challenge
Question
How does changing the force affect the distance travelled?
What To Do
Keep these the same:
✅ Same car
✅ Same amount of playdough
✅ Same surface
Change only:
How far you pull back the launcher
Teachers & Homeschoolers: Print-ready HD versions of this Science Behind It poster and companion G&T Challenge Card are available inside The Crazy Scientist LAB.
Vocabulary
Acceleration
Acceleration is how quickly an object speeds up, slows down, or changes direction.
Force
Force is a push or pull that can make an object move, stop, or change speed.
Know a parent or teacher who'd love this? Send it on! 👇
READY TO TEACH THIS
TOMORROW?
Running the experiment is easy; however, teaching it well is another challenge.
Teachers often ask:
How do I adapt this for Stages 1,2 or 3?
What misconceptions will they have?
What syllabus outcomes does it cover?
What do I do with fast finishers?
How do I structure this for a full class?
What do I say when they ask WHY?
BUILD AROUND THE LAB LEARNING SYSTEM™
Every resource is designed using our teaching framework.
Inside The Crazy Scientist LAB
Everything you need to confidently teach science tomorrow.
Opening early 2027. Join the Founding Member Waitlist
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