Rapunzel,

Rapunzel,
Let Down
Your Hair

1
 Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair

Story: In the story of Rapunzel, climbing up her hair is the only way to enter her lonely tower.
How long was Rapunzel’s hair? How high was the tower? Could Rapunzel’s hair really support
the weight of the witch or the prince? Did Rapunzel suffer from horrible headaches? These (and
others) are the questions you will need to answer as you sort fact from fiction in the tale of
“Rapunzel”.

Objectives: The student knows force and motion are related to potential and kinetic energy. The
student is expected to:
(A) compare and contrast potential and kinetic energy;
(B) identify and describe the changes in position, direction, and speed of an object when
acted upon by unbalanced forces;
(C) calculate average speed using distance and time measurements;
(D) measure and graph changes in motion; and
(E) investigate how inclined planes can be used to change the amount of force to move an
object.
In Texas, these are 6th grade science TEKS 8A-E.

Note: If you have questions about this product, please feel free to send me an e-mail at
thewaspwhisperer@gmail.com.

Materials: timer, meterstick, masking tape or chalk, thread, Ziplock sandwich bags, dowel rods,
cardboard boxes, heavy books, pennies or weights, balance or scale, force meters, wooden
blocks, duct tape, string, flat boards

Table of Contents:
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………… 4
Introduction (Projection-friendly version)………………………………………………… 5
Predictions…………………………………………………………………………………. 7
Making a Model…………………………………………………………………………… 8
Finding the Rate…………………………………………………………………………… 9
Speed………………………………………………………………………………………. 10
Find Your Speed (Lab)……………………………………………………………………. 11
Graphing Speed…………………………………………………………………………… 12
Speed Calculations and Graphing Practice……………………………………………….. 14
Forces……………………………………………………………………………………… 16
Measuring Forces (Lab)…………………………………………………………………….. 17
Using a Ramp (Lab)………………………………………………………………………… 19
Energy……………………………………………………………………………………… 21
Energy, Forces, and Motion Practice………………………………………………………. 23
The “True” Story…………………………………………………………………………… 25
Teacher Pages………………………………………………………………………………. 26

2
Part I: Student Pages

3
 Rapunzel: Introduction
The story goes something like this:

Once upon a time, in the middle of the night, a woman craved a salad. Her kind husband,
knowing the grocery store to be closed, hunted through the neighborhood for a garden. He
spotted one behind the dilapidated old house at the end of the street. He picked some arugula, a
few celery stalks, and some rampion (a vegetable known as rapunzel in German). No sooner had
he yanked out the rampion root, an old woman appeared out of the darkness. The woman, well-
known in the community as a witch, told him he could take the vegetables, but in exchange he
must agree to give her his first-born child. Not expecting any children in the foreseeable future,
the husband agreed.

That night, his wife dined on salad. Nine months later, their newborn daughter disappeared from
her cradle in the middle of the night.

The witch named the girl Rapunzel and raised her as her own daughter
for many years. Then, she locked Rapunzel in a high tower with no
door. While we assume the witch used a ladder to put Rapunzel in the
tower, the ladder was never seen again. From that day on, whenever the
witch wished to visit Rapunzel (and hopefully bring her food and water
and maybe a book to read), she would call out, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
let down your hair”. Rapunzel would lower her extremely long hair,
and the witch would climb up.

One day, a prince was out in the woods and spotted the witch climbing up the tower. He was
curious. When the witch left, he positioned himself below the tower and yelled up, “Rapunzel,
Rapunzel, let down your hair”. Rapunzel did. The prince climbed up. It was love at first sight.

After several months, the witch found out about the prince. Angrily, she cut off Rapunzel’s hair
and sent her into the woods. When the prince called up, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your
hair,” the witch dropped down the long, now-severed braid. The prince climbed up, but horrified
to find the witch ogling at him through the window, fell backward and crashed to the ground.
The resulting head injury left him blind.

Eventually, the prince and Rapunzel would reunite. Rapunzel would cure his blindness by crying
in his eyes. They would run off and live happily ever after. Neither would be significantly
traumatized by the events that had occurred at the tower.

How long was Rapunzel’s hair? How high was this tower? Could Rapunzel’s hair really support
the weight of the witch or the prince? Did Rapunzel suffer from horrible headaches? These (and
others) are the questions you will need to answer as you sort fact from fiction in the tale of
“Rapunzel”.

4
 Rapunzel: Introduction
The story goes something like this:

Once upon a time, in the middle of the night, a woman craved a salad. Her kind
husband, knowing the grocery store to be closed, hunted through the neighborhood
for a garden. He spotted one behind the
dilapidated old house at the end of the street. He
picked some arugula, a few celery stalks, and some
rampion (a vegetable known as rapunzel in German).
No sooner had he yanked out the rampion root, an old
woman appeared out of the darkness. The woman, well-known in the community
as a witch, told him he could take the vegetables, but in exchange he must agree to
give her his first-born child. Not expecting any children in the foreseeable future,
the husband agreed.

That night, his wife dined on salad. Nine months later, their newborn daughter
disappeared from her cradle in the middle of the night.

5
The witch named the girl Rapunzel and raised her as
her own daughter for many years. Then, she locked
Rapunzel in a high tower with no door. While we
assume the witch used a ladder to put Rapunzel in
the tower, the ladder was never seen again. From
that day on, whenever the witch wished to visit
Rapunzel (and hopefully bring her food and water
and maybe a book to read), she would call out,
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair”.
Rapunzel would lower her extremely long hair, and the witch would climb up.

One day, a prince was out in the woods and spotted

the witch climbing up the tower. He was curious.
When the witch left, he positioned himself below the
tower and yelled up, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down
your hair”. Rapunzel did. The prince climbed up. It
was love at first sight.

After several months, the witch found out about the prince. Angrily, she cut off
Rapunzel’s hair and sent her into the woods. When the prince called up,
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,” the witch dropped down the long, now-
severed braid. The prince climbed up, but horrified to find the witch ogling at him
through the window, fell backward and crashed to the ground. The resulting head
injury left him blind.
6
Eventually, the prince and Rapunzel would reunite. Rapunzel
would cure his blindness by crying in his eyes. They would run
off and live happily ever after. Neither would be significantly
traumatized by the events that had occurred at the tower.

How long was Rapunzel’s hair?

How high was this tower?
Could Rapunzel’s hair really support the weight of the witch or the prince?
Did Rapunzel suffer from horrible headaches?

These (and others) are the questions you will need to answer as you sort fact from
fiction in the tale of “Rapunzel”.

7
 Rapunzel: Predictions

How tall is the tower?

How long would

Rapunzel’s hair need to be
to work as a ladder?

How fast do you think hair

grows?

8
 Rapunzel: Making a Model
A model is a representation of something that
would otherwise be too big or too small or
perhaps too dangerous to observe in nature.
A globe, for example, is a model of the Earth.
You can see the location of land and water and
see how the Earth spins by looking at a globe.
Because the Earth is so large, unless you are
viewing it from outer space, you cannot see
these things all together by observing the actual
Earth.
We will use this picture as a model of
Rapunzel’s tower. That way we can make
comparisons without having to build an actual
stone tower.
1. Decide how high you think the tower is from
the ground to the window.
Some things to think about:
 The tower was high enough Rapunzel
never tried to jump out.
 The prince was injured, but not killed, by
his fall.
 Rapunzel’s hair had to reach from the
window to near the ground.
Divide the ruler space equally to show the
number of feet. Label the sections of the ruler.

2. Decide how tall the witch is. (The average

height for women worldwide is 5 feet 3 inches.)
Draw the witch next to the tower. Use your
tower ruler to draw the witch to scale.

3. Draw in a length of Rapunzel’s hair starting

from the window. Use your tower ruler to
measure the length of her hair (in feet).

9
 Rapunzel: Finding the Rate
Hair grows at an average rate of ½ foot per year. According to interviews with the witch,
Rapunzel’s hair began to grow out at age 2. Fill in the chart to help answer the questions below:

0 ft ½ ft 1 ft 1 ½ ft

Age 2 Age 3

a) At what age would Rapunzel’s hair have been 1 foot long?

b) At what age would Rapunzel’s hair have been 3 feet long?

c) How long was Rapunzel’s hair at 10 years of age?

d) Look back at Making a Model. What length did you decide Rapunzel’s hair would need to be?
If hair grows at a rate of ½ foot per year, how old was Rapunzel when her hair was long enough
to use as a ladder for the tower.

e) In the original Brothers Grimm tale, Rapunzel is 12 when she is locked in the tower. How long
would her hair be at this age? Could your predicted tower work for this scenario? Why or why
not?

10
 Rapunzel: Speed
Speed, like hair growth, is a rate–a comparison between two numbers. Speed is a comparison
between distance and time. If your car is traveling at 30 miles per hour, this means that every
hour, the car goes 30 miles. This speed can also be written as 30 mi/hr.

There are other ways to measure distance and time besides miles and hours.

Units we can use for distance:

Units we can use for time:

To find the speed of an object, divide the distance the object travels by the time it takes to get
there.
Speed = distance ÷ time

a) In the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, the tortoise traveled 6 miles in 2 hours. What was the
tortoise’s speed?

b) A hare, at top speed, can hop 39 meters in 3 seconds. What is the top speed of the hare?

c) Usain Bolt holds the 2009 record for the fastest time in the 100-meter dash. He ran the race in
9.58 seconds. What was Bolt’s speed in this race?

11
 Rapunzel: Find Your Speed
You will measure your own speed while traveling from place to place. You can round your time
to the nearest second.

Materials: timer, meterstick

Procedures:
1. Use the meterstick to measure the distance from the starting line to the finish
line.
2. Take turns serving as the recorder and the timer.
3. Have volunteers from the group choose from the tasks listed below. Measure the
time it takes to get from the starting line to the finish line.

- Hop on one foot. - Hop on two feet. - Do the chicken walk.

- Do the crab walk. - Walk heel to toe. - Do the spider walk.

4. Calculate each speed.

Task Team Member Distance Time Speed

Name Traveled (m) (s) (m/s)

12
 Rapunzel: Graphing Speed

The witch was extremely protective of Rapunzel and installed a motion detector so that she could
make sure that she was the only visitor.

Climb 1: This was the witch’s graph on one of her first visits:

13
Climb 2: This is a graph from a few weeks after:

Questions:
1. Which line shows the witch waiting on the ground?

2. Which line shows the witch sitting with Rapunzel in the tower?

3. Which line shows the witch climbing up Rapunzel’s hair?

4. Which line shows the witch climbing down Rapunzel’s hair?

5. How many minutes did the witch wait before climbing up Rapunzel’s hair?

6. How many minutes did it take the witch to climb up Rapunzel’s hair?

7. What was the witch’s speed up the hair?

8. How long did the witch stay at the top and visit with Rapunzel?

9. At what speed did the witch climb down the hair?

10. How long was the witch at the tower in total?

14
 Rapunzel: Speed Calculations and Graphing Practice
1. Rapunzel is able to lower her hair at a rate of 2 feet every 0.5 seconds.
a) At what speed does her hair drop down from the tower?

b) How many seconds would it take her hair to fall 14 feet? (Make a chart to
help figure this out.)

2. With practice, the witch is able to climb up Rapunzel’s hair at speeds between 0.5 and 1.5
meters/minute. Which graph would not be a possible representation of the witch’s climb?
Explain your answer.

3. Rapunzel times herself running laps around her small room. The room has a circumference of
10 meters.
a) If she runs around the room twice in 4 seconds, what is her speed?

b) If she runs around the room 4 times in 10 seconds, what is her speed?

c) If she runs around the room 3 ½ times in 5 seconds, what is her speed?

15
4. Use the information from the story to graph the witch’s visit on the grid below.
 The witch arrived at the tower at noon but sat at the base of the tower for 3 minutes to eat
her lunch. She then spent 3 minutes climbing 6 feet into the air. Here, she stopped for a
minute to swat a mosquito that was buzzing around her nose. She climbed the remaining
4 feet in 2 minutes. After 1 minute spent passing Rapunzel’s lunch across the window
sill, the witch hurried down the 10 feet of hair in 1.5 minutes.

5. Use the information from the story to graph Rapunzel’s journey through the forest.
 Rapunzel ran crying from the tower traveling 10 miles in 1 day. She then stopped to rest
and slept for 3 days straight. For the next 5 days, she walked in a slow trance-like state
over 10 miles. Then she decided to walk back to the tower and walked 5 miles in 2 days.
At this point, she was unsure what to do and sat down to think for 1 day.

16
 Rapunzel: Forces
I. A force is a push or a pull. Let’s look at some of the forces at play on Rapunzel’s hair.

Balanced Unbalanced
Forces Forces

II. Predict the direction and speed for the following:

A game of tug of war Pulling a sled on a hill Balloon in the air

a) Forces are balanced. a) Forces are balanced. a) Forces are balanced.

b) Forces are unbalanced. b) Forces are unbalanced. b) Forces are unbalanced.

17
 Rapunzel: Measuring Forces
Weight is an example of a force. It is a pull on a mass by gravity. How much weight can a hair
hold before it breaks? Is it really possible for the witch to climb up Rapunzel’s hair?

Materials: thread, Ziplock sandwich bag, dowel rod, cardboard box, books, pennies or weights,
balance or scale

Procedures:
1. Cut off 1 foot of thread.
2. Tie one end of the thread through a hole in
the plastic bag. (Make the hole directly
below the harder plastic of the Ziplock.)
3. Tie the other end of the thread to the
dowel rod. Make sure the bag is several
inches off the ground.
4. Add weights to the Ziplock bag until the
thread breaks.
5. Find the mass of the bag.

6. Cut off two feet of thread.

7. Fold the thread in half.
8. Tie one end of the folded thread through a
hole in the plastic bag. (Make the hole
directly below the harder plastic of the Ziplock.)
9. Tie the other end of the folded thread to the dowel rod. Make sure the bag is several inches off
the ground.
10. Add weights to the Ziplock bag until the thread breaks.
11. Find the mass of the bag.

Data:
One-Thread Two-Thread
Support Support
Mass
(g)

Questions:
1. Look at the mass held by one strand of thread and two strands of thread. What is the
relationship between the two?

2. An average human hair can hold 0.070 kilograms of mass.

a) Based on your experimental results, how much mass would you expect 2
strands of human hair to hold?

b) How much mass would 6 strands hold?

18
3. The table below shows the average number of hairs on the human head (depending on hair
color).
Blonde Brown or Black Red
Average 120,000 100,000 80,000

a) What mass, in kilograms, could a head of blonde hair hold?

b) What mass, in kilograms, could a head of red hair hold?
c) What mass, in kilograms, could a mass of brown hair hold?
d) Could Rapunzel’s hair hold up a person weighing 50 to 80 kg (110 – 176 pounds)?
Explain.

4. What other variables besides hair strength might impact Rapunzel’s ability to use her hair as a
ladder?

5. Read the interview below. Then answer the questions:

Interviewer: “You have a very interesting job. Can you explain what
you do?”
Performer: “I am a circus performer. I hang from my hair while
dancing in mid-air.”
Interviewer: “How did you learn to do that?”
Performer: “It is my family’s business. I learned from my parents and
sisters.”
Interviewer: “Doesn’t it hurt?”
Performer: “Yes, it hurts every time. At first, it is like putting boiling
hot water on your head. But, you get used to it. My hair
must be braided in a very specific way to help even out the
force on my scalp. Otherwise, I’ll lose chunks of hair. I
use special shampoos and I take vitamins to make sure my
hair stays healthy. But hair is naturally very strong. I could
probably lift several people with my hair.”

a) What tricks does the hair hang performer use to safely lift using her hair?

b) What is different between how the hair hang performer lifts with her hair and how
Rapunzel lifts with her hair?

19
 Rapunzel: Using a Ramp
Even if it is possible for Rapunzel to lift people with her hair, it certainly can’t be pleasant for
her. The witch may not care. (After all, she has locked Rapunzel permanently in a tower.) But,
one hopes the prince does. (We don’t want Rapunzel jumping from one abusive relationship to
another.)

How can the prince reduce the pain of using Rapunzel’s hair as a climbing rope? The key may be
simple machines.

Ramps can be used to reduce the force needed to get an object from one point to another. Look at
the three ramps below. Which do you think would require the most force to pull an object to the
top of the books?_________ Which do you think would require the least? _________

Prove it:
Using the materials provided, design an experiment to determine which ramp requires more force
to pull an object to the height of the books.

Materials: force meter, sled, ramp, books,

Procedure: What steps will you follow to test the force needed to pull the sled up each ramp?

20
Data: Draw a data table and record your data.

Conclusions: What did your testing prove? How could the prince use this idea to save Rapunzel
from a headache?

Extension: Can you think of other simple machines that could help the prince to get in the
tower?

21
 Rapunzel: Energy
Energy is the ability to do work. There are many different types of energy.
Kinetic energy is the energy of motion. An object must be moving to have kinetic
energy. The faster and more massive an object, the more kinetic energy it has.
Potential Energy (also called Gravitational Potential Energy) is the energy of
position. The higher and more massive an object is, the more potential energy it
has.
In his fall from the tower, the prince experiences both potential and kinetic energy.

Use the phrases below to complete the Venn Diagram about Kinetic and Potential
Energy.
 Type of energy
 Energy of motion
 Energy of position
 Depends on speed
 Depends on height above the ground
 Depends on mass
 Example: A ball rolling across the ground
 Example: A ball at the top of a hill
 Example: A ball rolling down a hill

22
Rapunzel: Energy

23
 Rapunzel: Energy, Forces and Motion Practice
I. Speed: Find the speed.
1. At top speed, a white-tailed deer can travel 2. A swordfish travels 200 miles in 4 hours.
132 feet in 3 seconds. What is the deer’s What is the average speed of the swordfish?
speed?

II. Speed: Read the graph. Choose the story that best represents the motion shown on the graph. Label the
lines on the graph with the events from the story.
Story A: A rabbit waits in her burrow for 5
seconds before leaping forward to pull up a
carrot. She stops for 5 seconds to eat the
carrot and then returns to her burrow.
Story B: A dog sits on the porch. When the
mailman comes, he runs forward to the
fence to bark at the mailman for a few
seconds. He then jumps over the fence to
continue following the mailman.

III. Forces: Explain what happens.

Forces are balanced. The boy and the dog are still or
are walking at a constant speed.

The forces are unbalanced. What will happen to the

dog’s direction and speed?

The forces are unbalanced. What will happen to the

boy’s direction and speed?

24
IV. Simple Machines: Ramps
1. Which ramp would require the least force to
pull the wagon up to the ledge?

2. Which ramp would require the most force to

pull the wagon up to the ledge?

3. What do you notice about the distance the boy

will have to pull the wagon if he wants to use the
ramp that requires the least force?

V. Energy
For 1-6, label each with: all potential energy, all kinetic energy, or both potential and kinetic
energy.
1. 2. 3.

4. The amount of energy depends on the height of an object above the ground.

5. The amount of energy depends on the speed of an object.

6. The amount of energy depends on the mass of the object.

7. Which yo-yo would have the most potential

energy? How do you know?

8. If all of the yo-yos were dropped from the

child’s hand, which yo-yo would have the most
kinetic energy? How do you know?

25
 Rapunzel: The “True” Story

Given what you now know about Rapunzel, her hair, and her tower, re-write the
story from the moment when Rapunzel is locked in the tower. Your story should be
scientifically correct in all details relating to force, motion, and energy.

The witch told _______ year old Rapunzel to climb the ladder into the _____ foot
tall tower. She removed the ladder and called to Rapunzel, “Rapunzel, let down
your hair.” Rapunzel let all _____ feet of her hair fall down the side of the tower.

26
Part II: Teacher Pages

27
Possible timeline (non-block):

Day 1: Day 5:
- Read Introduction - Using a Ramp
- Predictions
- Making a Model* Day 6:
- Finding a Rate* - Energy*
- Energy, Forces, and Motion
Day 2: Practice
- Speed* - Start The “True” Story
- Find Your Speed (Lab)
Day 7:
Day 3: - Finish The “True” Story
- Graphing Speed* - Share Stories
- Speed Calculations and Graphing
Practice
Starred items (*) should be stapled into
Day 4: each student’s science notebook. These
- Forces* are notes that will need to be referenced
- Measuring Forces later.

28
 Rapunzel: Introduction
Read the introduction aloud as a class. There is a larger-text version to project on a document
camera/ overhead on page 5.
The story goes something like this:

Once upon a time, in the middle of the night, a woman craved a salad. Her kind husband, knowing the
grocery store to be closed, hunted through the neighborhood for a garden. He spotted one behind the
dilapidated old house at the end of the street. He picked some arugula, a few celery stalks, and some
rampion (a vegetable known as rapunzel in German). No sooner had he yanked out the rampion root, an
old woman appeared out of the darkness. The woman, well-known in the community as a witch, told him
he could take the vegetables, but in exchange he must agree to give her his first-born child. Not expecting
any children in the foreseeable future, the husband agreed.

That night, his wife dined on salad. Nine months later, their newborn daughter disappeared from her
cradle in the middle of the night.

The witch named the girl Rapunzel and raised her as her own daughter for
many years. Then, she locked Rapunzel in a high tower with no door. While
we assume the witch used a ladder to put Rapunzel in the tower, the ladder
was never seen again. From that day on, whenever the witch wished to visit
Rapunzel (and hopefully bring her food and water and maybe a book to read),
she would call out, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair”. Rapunzel
would lower her extremely long hair, and the witch would climb up.

One day, a prince was out in the woods and spotted the witch climbing up the
tower. He was curious. When the witch left, he positioned himself below the tower and yelled up,
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair”. Rapunzel did. The prince climbed up. It was love at first sight.

After several months, the witch found out about the prince. Angrily, she cut off Rapunzel’s hair and sent
her into the woods. When the prince called up, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,” the witch
dropped down the long, now-severed braid. The prince climbed up, but horrified to find the witch ogling
at him through the window, fell backward and crashed to the ground. The resulting head injury left him
blind.

Eventually, the prince and Rapunzel would reunite. Rapunzel would cure his blindness by crying in his
eyes. They would run off and live happily ever after. Neither would be significantly traumatized by the
events that had occurred at the tower.

How long was Rapunzel’s hair? How high was this tower? Could Rapunzel’s hair really support the
weight of the witch or the prince? Did Rapunzel suffer from horrible headaches? These (and others) are
the questions you will need to answer as you sort fact from fiction in the tale of “Rapunzel”.

29
 Rapunzel: Predictions
Divide students into pairs. Show Page 7: Predictions on thee overhead or document
camera. Have pairs discuss the questions below and record their answers in their science
notebooks. Discuss as a class.
How tall is the tower?
How long would Rapunzel’s hair need to be to work as a ladder?
How fast do you think hair grows?

Rapunzel: Making a Model

Copy Making a Model and Finding the Rate (next) for each student.
Read about models aloud. Have students work with Making a Model
and Finding a Rate in their small group.
A model is a representation of something that would
otherwise be too big or too small or perhaps too dangerous to observe
in nature.
A globe, for example, is a model of the Earth. You can see the
location of land and water and see how the Earth spins by looking at a
globe. Because the Earth is so large, unless you are viewing it from
outer space, you cannot see these things all together by observing the
actual Earth.
We will use this picture as a model of Rapunzel’s tower. That
way we can make comparisons without having to build an actual stone
tower.

1. Decide how high you think the tower is from the ground to the
window.
Some things to think about:
 The tower was high enough Rapunzel never tried to jump out.
 The prince was injured, but not killed, by his fall.
 Rapunzel’s hair had to reach from the window to near the
ground.
Divide the ruler space equally to show the number of feet. Label the
sections of the ruler. For this example, the window is 12 feet above
the ground.
2. Decide how tall the witch is. (The average height for women
worldwide is 5 feet 3 inches.) Draw the witch next to the tower. Use your tower ruler to draw the witch to
scale.
3. Draw in a length of Rapunzel’s hair starting from the window. Use your tower ruler to measure the
length of her hair (in feet). 10 feet long
*NASA research says a fall from over 12 meters (≈39 ft) is generally not survivable.

30
 Rapunzel: Finding the Rate
Hair grows at an average rate of ½ foot* per year. According to interviews with the witch, Rapunzel’s
hair began to grow out at age 2. Fill in the chart to help answer the questions below:
*https://www.livescience.com/42868-how-fast-does-hair-grow.html
0 ft ½ ft 1 ft 1 ½ ft 2 2½ 3 3½ 4

Age 2 Age 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

a) At what age would Rapunzel’s hair have been 1 foot long? Age 4

b) At what age would Rapunzel’s hair have been 3 feet long? Age 8

c) How long was Rapunzel’s hair at 10 years of age? 4 feet

d) Look back at Making a Model. What length did you decide Rapunzel’s hair would need to be? 10 feet
If hair grows at a rate of ½ foot per year, how old was Rapunzel when her hair was long enough to use as
a ladder for the tower.

0 ft 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2 yrs 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22

e) In the original Brothers Grimm tale, Rapunzel is 12 when she is locked in the tower. How long would
her hair be at this age? Could your predicted tower work for this scenario? Why or why not? 5 feet. The
tower would need to shorter than my model for the witch to be able to grab on to her hair – maybe 9 feet
tall.

Have students present their thoughts on Making a Model and Finding a Rate.

Rapunzel: Speed
Present as notes.
Speed, like hair growth, is a rate–a comparison between two numbers. Speed is a comparison between
distance and time. If your car is traveling at 30 miles per hour, this means that every hour, the car goes 30
miles. This speed can also be written as 30 mi/hr.

There are other ways to measure distance and time besides miles and hours.

Units we can use for distance: meters, inches, kilometers, centimeters, etc.

Units we can use for time: seconds, minutes, years, milliseconds, etc.

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To find the speed that an object is traveling at, divide the distance the object has traveled by the time it
takes to get there.
Speed = distance ÷ time
a) In the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, the tortoise traveled 6 miles in 2 hours. What was the
tortoise’s speed? 6 miles ÷ 2 hours = 3 mi/hr

b) A hare, at top speed, can hop 39 meters in 3 seconds. What is the top speed of the hare?
39 meters ÷ 3 seconds = 13 m/s

c) Usain Bolt holds the 2009 record for the fastest time in the 100-meter dash. He ran the race in
9.58 seconds. What was Bolt’s speed in this race? 100 meters ÷ 9.58 seconds = 10.4 m/s

Help students understand how to label their answer with units.

Rapunzel: Find Your Speed

You will measure your own speed while traveling from place to place. You can round your time to the
nearest second.

Materials: timer, meterstick, masking tape or chalk

Preparation:
- Before class, find a hallway, a spot outside, or move chairs in the classroom to make racing lanes.
Tape (or if outside, chalk) a starting line and a finish line approximately 4 meters apart.

Procedures:
Place students into groups of 3 or 4.
1. Use the meterstick to measure the distance from the starting line to the finish line. If you would prefer
not to arm each group with a meterstick, you can give them this value.
2. Take turns serving as the recorder and the timer.
3. Have volunteers from the group choose from the tasks listed below. Measure the time it takes to get
from the starting line to the finish line.
- Hop on one foot.
- Hop on two feet.
- Do the chicken walk. Students will need to bob their heads and flap their arms as they leisurely
walk from one line to the other.
- Do the crab walk. Students crawl (upside-down) with their back down toward the ground.
- Walk heel to toe. The heel of one foot must touch the toe of the second foot each tie a step is
taken.
- Do the spider walk. Regular crawl.
Have students record the task, distance and time while experimenting. They can then do the calculations
at their desks,
4. Calculate each speed.
Task Team Member Distance Time Speed
Name Traveled (m) (s) (m/s)

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 Rapunzel: Graphing Speed

Present as notes.
The witch was extremely protective of Rapunzel and installed a motion detector so that she could make
sure that she was the only visitor. This graph assumes the window to the tower is 10 feet high.

Climb 1: This was the witch’s graph on one of her first visits:

The witch starts at the ground. She climbs 6 The witch is at the top of the tower for 7
feet in 1 minute. Her speed is 6 ft/min. minutes. The flat line shows us her distance
doesn’t change so she isn’t climbing up or
down.

The witch climbs from 6 feet to 10 feet in The witch climbs down from 10 feet to 0
2 minutes. Her speed is 4 feet ÷ 2 feet in 1 minute. Her speed is 10 ft/min.
minutes, or 2 ft/min.

The steeper the line, the faster the speed.

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Climb 2: This is a graph from a few weeks after:

Questions:
1. Which line shows the witch waiting on the ground? A

2. Which line shows the witch sitting with Rapunzel in the tower? C

3. Which line shows the witch climbing up Rapunzel’s hair? B

4. Which line shows the witch climbing down Rapunzel’s hair? D

5. How many minutes did the witch wait before climbing up Rapunzel’s hair? 2 min

6. How many minutes did it take the witch to climb up Rapunzel’s hair? 3 min

7. What was the witch’s speed up the hair? 10 ÷ 3 = 3.3 ft/ min

8. How long did the witch stay at the top to visit with Rapunzel? 6 min

9. At what speed did the witch climb down the hair? 10 ÷ 1 = 10 ft/ min

10. How long was the witch at the tower in total? 12 minutes

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 Rapunzel: Speed Calculations and Graphing Practice
1. Rapunzel is able to lower her hair at a rate of 2 feet every 0.5 seconds.
a) At what speed does her hair drop down from the tower? 2 ft ÷ 0.5 sec = 4 ft/sec

b) How many seconds would it take her hair to fall 14 feet? (Make a chart to
help figure this out.) 3.5 seconds
2 ft 4 6 8 10 12 14
0.5 sec 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5

2. With practice, the witch is able to climb up Rapunzel’s hair at speeds between 0.5 and 1.5
meters/minute. Which graph would not be a possible representation of the witch’s climb? Explain your
answer. B

10 ÷ 10 = 1 ft/min 10 ÷ 5 = 2 ft/min 10 ÷ 20 = 0.5 ft/min

3. Rapunzel times herself running laps around her small room. The room has a circumference of 10
meters.
a) If she runs around the room twice in 4 seconds, what is her speed? (2 x 10) ÷ 4 = 5 m/s
b) If she runs around the room 4 times in 10 seconds, what is her speed? (4 x 10) ÷ 10 = 4 m/s
c) If she runs around the room 3 ½ times in 5 seconds, what is her speed? (3.5 x 10) ÷ 5 = 7 m/s
4. Use the information from the story to graph the witch’s visit on the grid below.
 The witch arrived at the tower at noon but sat at the base of the tower for 3 minutes to eat her
lunch.
 She then spent 3 minutes climbing 6 feet into the air.
 Here, she stopped for a minute to swat a mosquito that was buzzing around her nose.
 She climbed the remaining 4 feet in 2 minutes.
 After 1 minute spent passing Rapunzel’s lunch across the window sill,
 the witch hurried down the 10 feet of hair in 1.5 minutes.

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5. Use the information from the story to graph Rapunzel’s journey through the forest.
 Rapunzel ran crying from the tower traveling 10 miles in 1 day.
 She then stopped to rest and slept for 3 days straight.
 For the next 5 days, she walked in a slow trance-like state over 10 miles.
 Then she decided to walk back to the tower and walked 5 miles in 2 days.
 At this point, she was unsure what to do and sat down to think for 1 day.

36

I. A force is a push or a pull. Let’s look at some of the forces at play on Rapunzel’s hair.
Balanced
Forces
When the force of
the hair up equals
the force of the
witch down, the
witch doesn’t move
or moves with a
constant speed.
II. Predict the direction and speed for the following:
A game of tug of war
a) Forces are balanced.
The two sides don’t move.
b) Forces are unbalanced.
Both teams speed up as they
fall to the left.
Quick video clip:
https://youtu.be/csZcqm7y
ceg
Rapunzel: Forces
Pulling a sled on a hill
a) Forces are balanced.
The sled and man don’t
move or move at a constant
speed either up or down the
hill.
b) Forces are unbalanced.
The sled speeds up as it is
pulled up the hill.
Quick video clip:
https://youtu.be/CF_FaM1Pl
EM
Unbalanced
Forces
When the force of
the witch down is
greater than the
force of the hair up,
the witch speeds up
as she falls
downward.
Balloon in the air
a) Forces are balanced.
The balloon is not moving or
is moving at a constant
speed.
b) Forces are unbalanced.
The balloon speeds up as it
moves down.
Quick Video Clip:
https://youtu.be/MqbkzoNpt
yw
37
 Rapunzel: Measuring Forces
Weight is an example of a force. It is a pull on a mass by gravity. How much weight can a hair hold
before it breaks? Is it really possible for the witch to climb up Rapunzel’s hair?

Preparation: Build several testing boxes. You can use two dowels per box so that two groups can work on
the same box.

Materials: thread -You want the cheapest cotton thread you can find, like the thread in a small travel
sewing kit)
- Ziplock sandwich bag – sandwich size
- dowel rod, cardboard box, books – These are to build the testing boxes. You can change this
design depending on the materials you have available.
- pennies or weights – Do a double thread test ahead of time (Procedures 6-11) to see how many
pennies each group will need. If the thread holds a lot of weight, find a poorer quality thread.
- balance or scale

Procedures:
1. Cut off 1 foot of thread.
2. Tie one end of the thread through a hole in the
plastic bag. (Make the hole directly below the
harder plastic of the Ziplock.)
3. Tie the other end of the thread to the dowel rod.
Make sure the bag is several inches off the ground.
4. Add weights to the Ziplock bag until the thread
breaks.
5. Find the mass of the bag.

38
6. Cut off two feet of thread.
7. Fold the thread in half.
8. Tie one end of the folded thread through a hole in the plastic bag. (Make the hole directly below the
harder plastic of the Ziplock.)
9. Tie the other end of the folded thread to the dowel rod. Make sure the bag is several inches off the
ground.
10. Add weights to the Ziplock bag until the thread breaks.
11. Find the mass of the bag.

Data:
I used a way-too-strong One-Thread Two-Thread
polyester thread in Support Support
this test. Mass 0.73 g 1.4 kg
(g)

Questions:
1. Look at the mass held by one strand of thread and two strands of thread. What is the relationship
between the two? Two threads hold two times the weight.

2. An average human hair can hold 0.070 kilograms of mass.

a) Based on your experimental results, how much mass would you expect 2
strands of human hair to hold? 0.070 x 2 = 0.14 kg

b) How much mass would 6 strands hold? 0.070 x 6 = 0.42 kg

3. The table below shows the average number of hairs on the human head (depending on hair color).

Blonde Brown or Black Red

Average 120,000 100,000 80,000

a) What mass, in kilograms, could a head of blonde hair hold? 120,000 x 0.070 kg = 8,400 kg
b) What mass, in kilograms, could a head of red hair hold? 80,000 x 0.070 kg = 5,600 kg
c) What mass, in kilograms, could a mass of brown hair hold? 100,000 x 0.070 kg = 7,000 kg
d) Could Rapunzel’s hair hold up a person weighing 50 to 80 kg (110 – 176 pounds)?
Explain. Yes. Her hair could hold up 10 people.

4. What other variables besides hair strength might impact Rapunzel’s ability to use her hair as a ladder?
neck strength, ability of scalp to hold in hair

39
5. Read the interview below. Then answer the questions:
Interviewer: “You have a very interesting job. Can you explain what you do?”
Performer: “I am a circus performer. I hang from my hair while
dancing in mid-air.”
Interviewer: “How did you learn to do that?”
Performer: “It is my family’s business. I learned from my parents and
sisters.”
Interviewer: “Doesn’t it hurt?”
Performer: “Yes, it hurts every time. At first, it is like putting boiling
hot water on your head. But, you get used to it. My hair must be braided
in a very specific way to help even out the force on my scalp. Otherwise,
I’ll lose chunks of hair. I use special shampoos and I take vitamins to make sure my hair
stays healthy. But hair is naturally very strong. I could probably lift several people with
my hair.”

a) What tricks does the hair hang performer use to safely lift using her hair? Special braid, healthy hair,
practice
b) What is different between how the hair hang performer lifts with her hair and how Rapunzel lifts with
her hair? The hair is pulled in a different direction – the hair is not straight up or straight down from the
scalp. Rapunzel has much longer hair. Rapunzel does not have a special braid.

Quick Video: Hair hang at circus - https://youtu.be/_A-RJPeiH4s

40
 Rapunzel: Using a Ramp
Even if it is possible for Rapunzel to lift people with her hair, it certainly can’t be pleasant for her. The
witch may not care. (After all, she has locked Rapunzel permanently in a tower.) But, one hopes the
prince does. (We don’t want Rapunzel jumping from one abusive relationship to another.)

How can the prince reduce the pain of using Rapunzel’s hair as a climbing rope? The key may be simple
machines.

Ramps can be used to reduce the force needed to get an object from one point to another. Look at the
three ramps below. Which do you think would require the most force to pull an object to the top of the
books?_________ Which do you think would require the least? _________

Prove it:
Using the materials provided, design an experiment to determine which ramp requires more force to pull
an object to the height of the books.

Materials:
force meter – 1 per group
sled - the sled can be a child’s building block or small piece of 2 x 4 with
string taped on one end as a handle (1 per group)
ramp - can use a wooded board, cafeteria tray, or anything long and flat (1 per group)
books – three or four textbook-sized books per group

Procedure: What steps will you follow to test the force needed to pull the sled up each ramp?

Data: Draw a data table and record your data.

Conclusions: What did your testing prove? How could the prince use this idea to save Rapunzel from a
headache? Students should find that less force is needed when the slope of the ramp is low.

Extension: Can you think of other simple machines that could help the prince to get in the tower?

41
 Rapunzel: Energy
Present as notes.
Energy is the ability to do work. There are many different types of energy.
Kinetic energy is the energy of motion. An object must be moving to have kinetic energy. The faster and
more massive an object, the more kinetic energy it has.
Potential Energy (also called Gravitational Potential Energy) is the energy of position. The higher and
more massive an object is, the more potential energy it has.
In his fall from the tower, the prince experiences both potential and kinetic energy.

Use the phrases below to complete the Venn Diagram about Kinetic and Potential Energy. Have students
complete on their own and then check.

 Type of energy  Depends on mass

 Energy of motion  Example: A ball rolling across the ground
 Energy of position  Example: A ball at the top of a hill
 Depends on speed  Example: A ball rolling down a hill
 Depends on height above the ground

Rapunzel: Energy

42
 Rapunzel: Energy, Forces and Motion Practice
Independent practice.
I. Speed: Find the speed.
1. At top speed, a white-tailed deer can travel 132 2. A swordfish travels 200 miles in 4 hours.
feet in 3 seconds. What is the deer’s speed? What is the average speed of the swordfish?
132 ft ÷ 3 seconds = 144 ft/s 200 miles ÷ 4 hours = 50 mi/hr

II. Speed: Read the graph. Choose the story that

best represents the motion shown on the graph. Label the lines on the graph with the events from the
story.
Story A: A rabbit waits in her burrow for 5
seconds before leaping forward to pull up a
carrot. She stops for 5 seconds to eat the
carrot and then returns to her burrow.
Story B: A dog sits on the porch. When the
mailman comes, he runs forward to the
fence to bark at the mailman for a few
seconds. He then jumps over the fence to
continue following the mailman.

III. Forces: Explain what happens.

Forces are balanced. The boy and the dog are still or
are walking at a constant speed.

The forces are unbalanced. What will happen to the

dog’s direction and speed? Dog will be pulled right
and will speed up.

The forces are unbalanced. What will happen to the

boy’s direction and speed? Boy will be pulled left and
will speed up.

43
IV. Simple Machines: Ramps
1. Which ramp would require the least force to pull the
wagon up to the ledge? C

2. Which ramp would require the most force to pull the

wagon up to the ledge? B

3. What do you notice about the distance the boy will

have to pull the wagon if he wants to use the ramp that
requires the least force? Will have to go a further
distance

V. Energy
For 1-6, label each with: all potential energy, all kinetic energy, or both potential and kinetic energy.
1. Potential 2. Kinetic 3. Both

4. The amount of energy depends on the height of an object above the ground. Potential

5. The amount of energy depends on the speed of an object. Kinetic

6. The amount of energy depends on the mass of the object. Both

7. Which yo-yo would have the most potential

energy? How do you know? A, most height

8. If all of the yo-yos were dropped from the child’s

hand, which yo-yo would have the most kinetic
energy? How do you know? B, has fallen the longest
so it would have the most speed

44
 Rapunzel: The “True” Story
You can choose to have students can work alone or in pairs. Allow students to read their stories
to the class when complete.
Given what you now know about Rapunzel, her hair, and her tower, re-write the story from the
moment when Rapunzel is locked in the tower. Your story should be scientifically correct in all
details relating to force, motion, and energy.
The witch told _______ year old Rapunzel to climb the ladder into the _____ foot tall tower.
She removed the ladder and called to Rapunzel, “Rapunzel, let down your hair.” Rapunzel let
all _____ feet of her hair fall down the side of the tower.

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 Images

Rapunzel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapunzel#/media/File:Stamps_of_G Public

Stamp ermany_(DDR)_1978,_MiNr_2383.jpg Domain
Salad https://openclipart.org/detail/261933/salad-bowl Public
Domain
Lovers https://openclipart.org/detail/274922/lovers-silhouette Public
Domain
Cradle https://openclipart.org/detail/2417/cradle Public
Domain
Tower scene https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapunzel#/media/File:Johnny_Gruel Public
le_illustration_-_Rapunzel_-_Project_Gutenberg_ etext_11027.jpg Domain
Johnny Gruelle - From The Project Gutenberg eBook, Grimm's Fairy Stories, by Jacob
Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm, Illustrated by John B Gruelle and R. Emmett
Owen, http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11027

Speedometer https://openclipart.org/detail/202704/car-dashboard-instruments Public

Domain
Car https://openclipart.org/detail/234440/white-blank-racing-car-top- Public
view Domain
Pocket watch https://openclipart.org/detail/298832/pocket-watch-and-chain Public
Domain
Hair braid https://openclipart.org/detail/263648/french-braid-lineart Public
domain
Witch https://openclipart.org/detail/213868/witch-lineart Public
Domain
Tug Of war https://openclipart.org/detail/282313/tug-of-war-sign Public
Domain
Tower prince https://openclipart.org/detail/271088/shakespeare-characters- Public
hamlet Domain
Hair hang https://openclipart.org/detail/280243/unicycle Public
Domain
Boy with dog https://openclipart.org/detail/286685/boy-walking-dog Public
Domain
Yoyo https://openclipart.org/detail/264935/yoyo Public
Domain
Wooden https://openclipart.org/detail/170649/wood-block Public
block Domain
Child with https://openclipart.org/detail/231036/child-pulling-wagon- Public
wagon silhouette Domain

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