Gravity and Friction

These few weeks we have been exploring the ideas of gravity and friction.  Both of these ideas help us understand movement and force.  

Starting with the ideas of friction, we thought of many examples of why things slow down.  We took our investigation to the hallway to test out different surfaces.  Which surface caused our toy cars to slow down?  What surfaces were harder for the car to travel on?  We later took to the skies!  We all agreed that wind is a force.  But can that force cause friction?  We swung parachutes, walked into the wind, and pulled plastic bags.  

The next idea we talked about was gravity.  How do things fall?  We talked a bit about the "why" as well, but watching things fall was definitely a lot more fun.  Using a ball of yarn, string, tissue, paper, and a paper helicopter we got to witness the path they took on the way to the ground.

We then took ramps to apply what we knew about friction and gravity.  What ramp height made the car move and go the fastest?  We came to the conclusion that the answer was "high."

Below is our schema showing what we have learned so far.  

1.  Friction happens when things rub together.

2.  Friction slows down moving things.

3.  Friction can make things hot.

4.  Gravity is a force that makes things fall toward earth.

5.  Things stay still until a force happens.

Here's a side note:  Super cool videos related to gravity?  Try "how to wash your hands in space" or "no gravity music video" (safe for kindergarten)

White Pines

Some of your children may have been mentioning a fictional place we pretend to be in at school called White Pines.  We started a game we play each week where we practice civics, government, and economics. This is a pretend place where each child is a citizen.  Each day they go to work in a pillow factory.  This is how they make their money. 

Once they get paid, they have the option to save their money or spend it.  The stores open for the day.  Each child takes a turn purchasing the things they want or need, with the understanding that at the end of each "day" they have to eat their food and drink their water.  Each time a child comes to the store, I remind them that they should take care of their needs first.  "Make sure you have food and water!" 















Next we look at our options.  Do you want to buy a house?  There are two options.  The larger house is more expensive, but it is more to clean.  Those children who bought the smaller houses have more free time.  

How about a car?  The smaller one costs less money, but breaks down more easily and will have to get repairs done.

How about some things to keep busy?  Owning a television in White Pines is fun because you can turn on the television and channel surf (which is basically us acting out having a good time and laughing at the cartoons) or watch the news (where they hear all about the happenings in their city).  A robot is fun to take out and pretend with.  A few weeks ago the kids ran into a problem because some of the robots exploded!  Those unfortunate robots had to get "thrown out" because they were broken.  Sometimes toys break...

The children keep their treasures and organize them, play with them, and show each other what they've collected.  At the end of each "day" they have to eat and drink so they turn in a food and a water.  If they don't have a food or a water....it's not good news!

Each week there are new adventures in White Pines and the children absolutely love participating.  Those kids who tuned into the news this week heard Mayor Williams report that Farmer John's dog is going to have puppies soon.  They should be ready to adopt in a week or two!

"...when you hold out your hands like Star Wars."

This past week I brought out an empty poster board to show the children.  I then put up some headers and asked if anyone knew what the words were.  

Our Schema

Force and Motion

Our Learning

Misconceptions

I explained to the children that we were going to start a new science topic.  The poster board was going to help us organize our thinking.  That's what the word schema was all about.  I started asking the children what they knew about force and motion.  I wrote each idea on a post-it note and placed it on the board.  Those post-its showed what the children knew on the first day.  I explained to the children that as we explored these ideas and learned new things, we would put them under the header "New Learning."  

I can say that after our first meeting, the children showed me that they had a lot of prior knowledge!  

"Force is if someone wants something and they snatch it away from you."

"Force means a thing is floating up and then it goes toward you."

"Force means you're strong, like you're pulling something heavy away from the ground."

"Motion means you or other things are moving."

"Motion means you can see it happen."

"If something is moving, you can't see it.  It's a blur."

Our poster is in the meeting time area so we can reference it as time goes on.  We haven't added anything officially yet, but we will as soon as we all agree on some new learning.  Right now we are thinking of how things can move and what can start something moving or stop it.