Forces and Motion

Gravity is the force that all Grade 1s are familiar with. They do understand that it is a force that pulls everything towards the ground. This week, we explored what a force is and what other types of forces are there through experiments and videos we watched. The first experiment they did was on Air resistance. They compared the movement of two sheets of paper when they dropped them to the floor, one flat sheet and one crumpled paper, and the paper on top of a book. These are their findings: the two flat sheets of paper reached the floor almost at the same time; the flat sheet of paper reached the floor slower than the crumpled paper; and the paper on top of the book stayed on top of the book when they dropped both the book and the paper to the floor.

The second experiment was on Buoyancy. During the pre-experiment, they gave a good guess about objects that will sink or float on to the water. After guessing, they dropped the following objects - paper clip, coin, dried leaf, plastic straw and toothpick - to the water.

The third experiment was on Magnetism. The Grade 1s were all given magnets. They were asked to find out which objects stick on to the magnets and which ones don't.

The last experiment was on Friction. The Grade 1s explored where the the toy truck will roll the slowest: on a baking paper, on an aluminum foil, a bubble wrap or a rubber mat?

It was a fun week indeed, and curiosity is ignited. Next we will explore further the different kinds of forces and then connect them to the simple and complex machines we commonly use daily.