Physics 1.3: PreK/K & Lower Elementary
Hello LE and PreK/K Parents,
Another great day! Your students are doing so well with remembering and understanding concepts.
We did a tug of war, a magic trick, had a race and played with LEGOS! Our concepts this week were balanced and unbalanced forces, inertia and Newton's first law of motion. Most of the time, when things are moving, one of the forces is winning so the forces are unbalanced. For motion to happen, an unbalanced force needs to act. Newton noticed that objects stay at rest or keep going unless a different, stronger force wins. I didn't actually connect friction as a force that slows things down and ends up winning- so feel free to mention that fact!
Homework this week is to make a ramp and test objects going down with and without "seatbelts". In cars, when you apply the brakes, you are causing the vehicle to stop. You are not applying force to the objects in the car- they keep moving. If you are going fast enough and stop quickly enough, bodies could go through the windshield! (Yes, class was a bit gruesome....). Newton's first law is definitely why seatbelts are helpful! I was so impressed that Elinor understood that that also meant that if you are riding a horse and it stops quickly, you'll fall off. Such good science brains!
Thanks for sharing your kids with me! They are fantastic :)
-Liesl
Songs and Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okCCGxWs_L8
This song is hilarious. You should show your kids the original “What Does a Fox Say” video (quite clean).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGnbiBvyl2w
Great song!