Our study of force and motion began with some playful time with ramps and marbles set out in our construction area. Students had time during our choice time and small group time to experiment with the ramps and figure out how to balance, connect and stabilise them to allow marbles to move. We noticed how the slopes of the ramps forced the marble to move and roll. We also noticed that we could push the marbles along the ramps to make them move if there was no slope. Next, we noticed that some type of force needs to make an object move. We explored some objects and used a force to make them move. We spun, swept, rolled, wiped, dabbed, shook and clicked. All these motions could be classified as a push, pull, or both! Next, we needed to experience pushes and pulls in more depth and fully synthesize the meaning of these terms. First, we participated in an investigation to push small objects across our notebooks by blowing them with a straw. We discovered that heavier objects took more blows or pushes to travel across the paper. Lighter objects or round objects took only a few pushes! Our next investigations gave us more experience with pulls. We pulled bags across string tied between two chairs, which made a pulley. When we pulled harder or with more force, the bag moved more quickly. When we pulled slowly or more gently, the bag moved more slowly. It was fun to hide different objects in the bag and surprise our classmates waiting at the other end of the line. Additionally, we investigated the amount of force it takes to pull baskets with varying amounts of weight inside across the room. The baskets with less weight required less force and were easier to pull more quickly across the room. We determined that none of the baskets were hard to pull, but we definitely had to use more force and strength to move the basket with the most weight inside. After we had synethized our knowledge of pushing and pulling, we had to use our new knowledge to design a machine to move a marble across the room as quickly as possible! We worked in small groups and made a quick plan for our devices. Next, we got the materials we needed and tested them out. Check out our prototypes! Many of us chose to build ramps that allowed gravity to push the marble across the room, but some of us designed a device to pull the marble across the room! There was repeated testing of our prototypes and we had to make many adjustments to our simple machines to successfully get the marbles across the room. We are excited to discuss and share our creations by video with the class next week!
Teacher Kyla and Teacher Kathleen
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