Exploring Force and Motion And Simple Machines

After making the ramp to get all of our food items for those experiencing homelessness down the stairs, the kids started showing an interest in ramps and how things roll. We grabbed onto this interest and set up some ways for them to explore these concepts further! We learned that force is either pushing or pulling. We also learned that nothing can move without some sort of force. But sometimes things moved without us pushing or pulling them, especially on a ramp or if we dropped it.  We discovered the force of gravity and enjoyed exploring through art! 

We created an incline plane so that gravity could pull marbles down through globs of paint! They noticed that sometimes the paint created resistance and slowed the marble down!

We let droppers push paint out onto paper and gravity pull the paint down the paper!





We created a collaborative art piece by using the forces of push and pull! Here they pushed and pulled the brushes across the canvas.





They pushed toy trucks across the canvas in paint and also made the canvas into an inclined plane so that gravity could pull the trucks down.





They pushed and pulled cardboard across some paint to create more marks. 



They also dipped yarn into paint and used forces of push and pull to flick the paint or drag it across the canvas.



Here is our collaborative art piece so far! We are taking a little break from it for now, but will definitely add more as the year goes on!





My amazing Student Teacher put together this display to show their Force and Motion art!

We made some salt dough to show how sculptures are also made using the forces of push and pull.









They created plans and then pushed and pulled the dough to create these sculptures!



They loved this so much that I brought out the clay. We have some very talented sculptors in our class!













As we started learning g about simple machines, we started out with ramps. Here they were challenged to create an inclined plane that would make the ball roll and stop at the end of the rope. Only two were able to do it!

I set out materials for them to try and create some Rube Goldberg machines. When creating these, they collaborated, worked as a team, problem solved over and over and over and showed persistence to get them to work! They really showed grit and did not give up, sometimes working multiple days to get them to work! 















We also explored levers, screws, wedges and pulleys. 









We also learned about pulleys and how they make lifting loads easier! In fact, we learned that simple machines make all of our work easier!



Marble runs were a favorite!





This inquiry into force and motion and simple machines let these kids practice and use so many skills that future employers will look for! They came up with creative, innovative ideas, used critical thinking skills, tested them out, dealt with frustration and handled it, collaborated with others, worked together (teamwork), problem solved, and dealt with disappointment appropriately if they couldn’t get it to work. These kids amazed me constantly as they used they skills and I look forward to seeing what else they will do with them!