Force & Motion

Last Friday, our Science Spin magazine was all about force and motion and how the Olympic athletes use forces to compete in their different events. We learned that an object begins in a position and that different forces like a push or a pull can change these positions. We learned that hockey players use push to propel the puck into the goal and that athletes also use gravity to compete in their various sports. 

We also learned that we use many of these forces when we're enjoying winter fun. Children pull each other on sleds and then push themselves down the hill. 

To help the children understand how forces work, we did a little experiment where they were putting different types of force on objects and observing what happened. 

The children started by predicting whether or not they thought each different type of force would put each object in motion. The different forces they used were blowing on the object, pushing the object with a pencil, pushing the object with two hands, and raising the end of a clipboard to make an inclined plane. 

Next, they tried out each different force on each object, recording if their prediction was correct. If it was correct, they gave themselves a check. I made sure to explain to them that we shouldn't change any predictions--many times scientists think one thing will happen and another thing happens and that is just way for them to investigate even more. I don't want them to think of these predictions as "wrong answers", but as opportunities to try something else out and see what works. 

After each group had a chance to try out each object, we had a class discussion about what we learned. I asked the children if anything had surprised them. Many of them were surprised that they could move some of the objects by blowing on them. We also discussed what some of the objects that were the easiest to move had in common. The tennis ball and the car moved almost every time with ease. The children decided that this was because both the ball and the wheels were round. We also discussed what happened if they pushed a little harder or a little less and they realized that the greater the force, the farther/faster an object will move.

See! They are already thinking like scientists!