Expressions of Motions

Purpose: To learn commonly used expressions for various speeds

Background

Kinetic energy is the energy of motion. Sometimes people use interesting expressions about how fast things are moving. These expressions often contain comparisons to animals or nature. Just how slow is “a snail’s pace? How fast is “a streak of lightning?”

Procedure

Match the expressions to the speeds and then write a funny story that uses all (or most) of them. You might even want to invent a few of your own!

Expression	Speed
“slow as a turtle” “like the speed of sound” “faster than a speeding bullet” “quick as a fox” “runs like a deer” “a mile a minute” “move at a snail’s pace” “escape velocity” “a blazing fastball” “like a streak of lightning”	300,000 km/s 0.16 km/h 40,000 km/h 96.5 km/h 165 km/h 5.0 cm/minute 275 m to 320 m/s 64 km/h 56 km/h 335 m/s

Story:

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Answer Key

Expression	Speed
“slow as a turtle” “like the speed of sound” “faster than a speeding bullet” “quick as a fox” “runs like a deer” “a mile a minute” “move at a snail’s pace” “escape velocity” “a blazing fastball” “like a streak of lightning”	0.16 km/h 335 m/s 275 m to 320 m/s 64 km/h 56 km/h 96.5 km/h 5.0 cm/minute 40,000 km/h 165 km/h 300,000 km/s