Physics 2.4: Pre-K/K & Lower Elementary
Hello all!
Today was crammed with activity - and definitely a little chaotic :) There were a lot of activities and some of the kids were complaining they didn't get a fair number of turns. If that is your kiddo, I'm sorry! I was trying to be fair within the time constraints.
Today we focused on 2 more simple machines - the inclined plane and the screw. We started with a book about inclined planes and then jumped into some experiments to test out our knowledge. We set up an inclined plane (our whiteboard at an angle) and tested to see which car required more force to move up - a car on an inclined plane at a steep angle or one with an inclined plane at a shallow angle. This idea is pictured here - easy to set up and fun for the kids!
https://inventorsoftomorrow.com/2016/09/26/inclined-planes-2/
The LE group got it immediately but the younger group took a few tries. By the last time doing the experiment they were all answering correctly though, so that was great. Our LE group did a few more hands on things measuring the force required to lift vs. pull up a ramp and checking to see what is faster - a steep or shallow ramp.
Then we read a book on screws and talked about screws and what makes up a screw. Our experiment for this was an archimedes screw, which is a way to move water from a lower to a higher elevation. This is essentially what we did but even further simplified then that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PszGCm1PqSo
The homework for this week is some videos on these simple machines and then a sorting game (that came home with them in a ziploc bag). The sorting game might not work. The pictures are grainier than I thought they would be but basically they are pictures of simple machines (such as a bike for wheel and axle), and they would just make piles for each type of simple machine. I think the LE group should figure it out if they can make out the pictures, the PreKK group will probably need guidance.
Screw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdXIkrt6gP8&ab_channel=TheMoreYouKnow
Inclined plane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3COvm0TtxWg&ab_channel=SciShowKids
Bonus one including both:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00Kd--_vuHQ&ab_channel=ScienceWithSophie
Hope you all have a great week!
-Betsy