After our story, I showed the kids what we would be making as junior scientists. First up, marshmallow shooters. I pre-cut the plastic cups bottoms off and doubled them for strength after a failed attempted stretching the balloon over the lip of just one. Next, cut the tip off a strong balloon and stretch it over the lip end of the cups. Tie a knot on the end of the balloon. Start with just one marshmallow and experiment shooting with more projectiles, aiming at targets, going for distance, etc. We did a Bozo bucket style contest. Have kids record their results. Lots of examples on Pinterest. Https://www.pinterest.com/explore/marshmallow-shooter/.
Straw rockets were next. Again, Pinterest is a great source for how-to's. Lastly, we did the screaming penny experiment found on Stevespanglerscience.com. (If you use a hex nut and a strong balloon, you have a great sound experiment.) We talked about the laws of motion, centrifical force, friction, and gravity.
There was more to do, but not enough time. I love to over plan! We had a word search with terms like gravity, force, push, pull, etc. We also had a (now take home) experiment making a paper helicopter weighted by a paper clip or two. We ended our session by trying out Hula Hoops and playing with a slinky. It was a fun day experimenting with force and motion.
No comments:
Post a Comment