Slide Experiment

Kindergarten students are tuning in to the ways things move.  Last week, we did the “hokey pokey” dance together as a class and realized that we can move our bodies in and out and all around!  We brainstormed a list of objects we could move at school and at home.  Then we looked at our list and asked the question… “can these things move on their own?”  We realized that something has to happen first to make the objects move.  Things can be dropped, lifted, pushed, pulled, dragged, kicked, bumped, rolled, bounced, and more! We studied the list for opposite actions (pick up, put down… push, pull… lift, drop) and practiced moving things around the classroom.  Working with a partner, students completed a picture sort to decide which objects needed to be pushed, pulled, or both.  Students worked together to come up with definitions for these actions.  It was a challenge to define push and pull without using the words or motions, but eventually we came up with:  A push is getting something to move away from you.  A pull is getting something to move toward you.

Image result for give it a push give it a pullWe then compared our own definitions to those given in a nonfiction text, Give it a Push, Give it a Pull by Jennifer Boothroyd.

  • A push moves something away from the force.
  • A pull moves something closer to the force.

 

This week, we wanted to get a better understanding of how force affects motion, so we headed to the playground.  Using the scientific method, we came up with the following question: “How does force affect speed on the slide?”  We designed our experiment to include three levels of force:

  1. No push (wiggle your body until gravity pulls you down)
  2. Self push (use your arms to get started)
  3. Partner push (a partner pushes you to get started)

We then hypothesized which push would result in the most speed.  Students used tally marks to cast their votes.  The majority of the class hypothesized that the Partner Push would result in the most speed and would have the most force.

After completing the experiment, we used the data to make the following conclusions.

  • Less force means that the object will move more slowly.
  • More force means that the object will move more quickly.
  • Partner push moved the fastest, and had the most force applied.
  • No push moved the slowest, and had the least force applied.

We applied these concepts to other objects and ideas.  If I throw a ball with a small amount of force, will it move quickly or slowly?  Will it go very far or not?  What if I use more force?  If the object is bigger, does it require more force to move it??

Tomorrow, we will continue exploring force and how it affects motion by experimenting with ramps and rolling objects in our classroom.  Which objects roll faster? What incline produces the fastest motion?  Do different surfaces affect the speed of an object’s motion?  As we continue studying forces and motion, we will define and explore the concepts of friction, forces, gravity, and speed.

The Summit Preparatory School is a fully accredited, non-religious, private school offering a full-time seated independent education for students in Springfield, Ozark, Nixa, Rogersville, and the greater Southwest Missouri area. Our preparatory school setting offers an enriching early childhood, elementary, middle school, and high school curriculum in a supportive environment. We have state of the art facilities, highly-qualified teachers and staff, and a large range of educational programming. Interested in enrolling your child? Learn more about our admissions process.

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