Summer SAVY, Session 2 Day 3, Forces of Nature (3rd – 4th)
Today was an eventful day in Forces of Nature as our young scientists grappled with the fascinating world of physics! We spent the day exploring different forces, including gravity, friction, and applied forces. Through an analogy-creation activity, students were challenged to compare types of forces to everyday experiences or objects. Some abstract analogies that our students came up with included the following:
- Applied force is like sending a text message because you are pushing a message digitally.
- The buoyant force is like blowing bubbles because bubbles push upwards toward the air.
- Being a frictional force would feel vibrational, exciting, and warm.
- Being an air resistance force would feel tiring yet powerful.
In addition to learning about types of forces, our students dove into Newton’s Laws of Motion. They discovered how certain laws govern the movement of objects and were interested in seeing examples of these principles in action as we discussed different forces in our SAVY classroom.
The day’s highlight was using the engineering design process to create and test sail designs. Students were tasked with building sails to harness the wind from a fan to move a small “boat” on a track in our classroom. Students learned that size, shape, and stiffness are all essential properties of a successful sail. Their enthusiasm was contagious, and they displayed remarkable creativity and problem-solving skills! Watching them cheer for each other’s successes and learn from their failures was heartwarming. Tomorrow, we will apply what we learned to design and build a windmill!
Sincerely,
Ms. Jahn