“I seem to have been only like a boy… finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered.” --Isaac Newton
One of the most enduring stories in modern scientific history was told by Isaac Newton. Dining with a friend, he recounted that the origin of his curiosity about the concept of gravity came while sitting beneath an apple tree outside of his family’s home, where he observed an apple falling to the ground from a branch above. It’s a simple story that at first seems unworthy of the endurance it has seen. But it’s beauty lies in the fact that the foundations of the modern scientific age in which we live were laid in such a mundane, unexpected observation of a simple moment in nature. That falling apple unraveled a series of observations, experiments, and thought that gave us calculus, laws of motion, and the first theory of universal gravitation.
Middle school students recently completed a series of lessons and labs that introduced them to Newton’s many important discoveries. Students began their inquiry by experimenting with force and speed through rolling a golf ball down a ramp placed at varying angles and using a stopwatch to time its race to the finish line.
In doing so, they identified independent and dependent variables, then graphed their results to find a positive correlation.
Friction is a force that we encounter each day, but rarely consider as an important element of our movement and safety. Students were invited to consider the importance of friction in our everyday lives by simulating what a shoe designer might consider as they determine the best size and shape of tread on different types of shoes.
Force springs were used to measure the shoes' starting/stopping/sideways friction in Newtons. With this information, students then determined what type of tread would be most effective for hiking, basketball, running, and other sport activities.
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day.” --Albert Einstein
Balloons were rocketing their way around the classrooms at Garden Lane on Thursday as students designed the most efficient method to carry cargo across a string bridge using only the force exerted from a deflating balloon.
Groups considered factors such as pressure, thrust, propulsion, friction, and air resistance, then made decisions regarding the materials that would optimize their speed and distance of travel.
Simple machines are the things we use to make our physical work easier. Students experimented with pulleys, levers, and inclined planes to prove that less force needs to be exerted on a mass when a simple machine can assist with the job.
Potential energy comes in many forms (elastic and gravitational are two examples), and this energy often gets converted to kinetic energy, the energy of motion. Provided with a scenario, student groups wrote and performed a short skit about potential and kinetic energy.
Ideas included a pinball machine made on a table, a diving board, an archer aiming for a target, and acting out a swing set and slide on a playground.
Their studies of force, motion, and energy culminated in the creation and demonstration of their own “Rube Goldberg” machines.
These constructions, named after the famous inventor, cartoonist, and engineer, are purposefully designed to perform a simple task in a complex manner.
Students demonstrated their expanding knowledge of physics by explaining how their machines demonstrated the laws of motion, potential energy, friction, acceleration, and more. Upper elementary students visited to see the machines in action.
“We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry.” --Maria Montessori