Help the Rabbit Reach the Carrot: Learning Projectile Motion Through Play

How do launch speed and angle affect the path of a moving object?

In the Rabbit Projectile Challenge, students help a rabbit reach a carrot by adjusting its launch speed and angle. Rather than simply applying a formula, students learn through exploration, prediction and repeated testing.

Learning Physics Through Experimentation

At each level, students must decide how the rabbit should jump to land safely on the target platform. They can adjust the:

• Launch speed, which affects how far and how high the rabbit travels

• Launch angle, which changes the shape of the rabbit’s trajectory

• Combination of speed and angle, which determines whether the rabbit reaches, overshoots or falls short of the target

After launching the rabbit, students immediately see the resulting curved path. This visual feedback helps them connect the values they selected with the rabbit’s actual motion.

Developing an Understanding of Projectile Motion

The game supports students in exploring several important physics concepts.

Horizontal and Vertical Motion

A projectile moves horizontally while also accelerating vertically due to gravity. Although these two components of motion occur at the same time, they affect the projectile differently.

Students can observe that the rabbit continues moving forward while its vertical velocity changes throughout the jump.

Effect of Launch Speed

Increasing the launch speed generally allows the rabbit to travel further. It may also cause the rabbit to rise higher, depending on the launch angle.

Students need to recognise that using the highest possible speed is not always the best solution. Too much speed may cause the rabbit to overshoot the carrot.

Effect of Launch Angle

A lower launch angle produces a flatter path, while a higher angle produces a steeper path with a greater maximum height.

Students explore how different angles may result in similar horizontal distances but different flight times and trajectories.

The Role of Gravity

Once the rabbit leaves the ground, gravity continuously accelerates it downwards. This causes its vertical velocity to decrease as it rises, become zero momentarily at the highest point, and then increase downwards as it falls.

The game makes this otherwise abstract idea visible through the rabbit’s changing motion and trajectory.

Progressive Levels of Challenge

The game introduces the concepts gradually to manage students’ cognitive load.

In the earlier levels, students receive more guidance and adjust fewer variables. As they progress, the scaffolds are reduced and students must determine an appropriate combination of launch speed and angle independently.

The later levels encourage students to:

• predict the rabbit’s trajectory before launching;

• use evidence from previous attempts;

• make purposeful adjustments rather than guessing randomly; and

• explain why a particular combination of speed and angle works.

Immediate Feedback for Learning

After each attempt, students receive feedback on whether the rabbit fell short, travelled too far or reached the target.

Feedback prompts encourage students to think about the cause of the outcome. For example:

• Should the launch speed be increased or reduced?

• Would changing the launch angle make the trajectory higher or flatter?

• Which variable should remain unchanged during the next attempt?

Students also complete short concept-check questions after successful jumps. These questions help them consolidate the relationship between launch conditions and projectile motion.

Making Students’ Thinking Visible

The game includes a real-time analytics panel that records students’ actions, including:

• changes made to the speed and angle;

• the sequence and outcome of each launch;

• the number of attempts taken;

• students’ responses to concept-check questions; and

• whether each response was correct.

Teachers can use this information to identify students who are systematically testing variables and those who may still be relying on trial and error. The action log can also support class discussions about effective scientific investigation strategies.

Suggested Classroom Use

Teachers may use the Rabbit Projectile Challenge as:

• an introduction to projectile motion;

• an inquiry activity before formal instruction;

• a consolidation task after teaching the relevant concepts;

• a station-based learning activity;

• a formative assessment of students’ conceptual understanding; or

• a stimulus for discussing fair testing and controlling variables.

Students can work individually or in pairs. When working in pairs, one student may propose a launch setting while the other explains the prediction before they test it.

Reflection Questions

After completing the game, students may reflect on the following:

1. How did changing the launch speed affect the rabbit’s motion?

2. How did changing the launch angle affect the height and distance of the jump?

3. Why might two different launch settings allow the rabbit to reach a similar position?

4. How did evidence from an unsuccessful attempt help you improve your next launch?

5. What strategy did you use to avoid changing too many variables at the same time?

Through purposeful play, the Rabbit Projectile Challenge helps students move beyond memorising equations. It gives them opportunities to observe patterns, test ideas, learn from mistakes and develop a more meaningful understanding of projectile motion.

Try the Rabbit Projectile Challenge:
https://iwant2study.org/lookangejss/02_newtonianmechanics_2kinematics/ai/rabbitProjectileGame/rabbitProjectileGame.html