Pushes and Pulls: Turns, Curves, and Zigzags

The highlight of our day today was learning more about the meaning of push and pull. We learned that a push is when you move something AWAY from you and a pull is when you move something TOWARD you! We also got to explore how a push or pull can change an object's motion. They had a hands-on experience today on how a push or pull is needed to start, stop, or change the direction or speed of a moiving object. To do this activity they worked in groups of 4 and they got to experiment how to move their ball on a T shape, a curved shape and a zigzag. They recorded their observations with documenting the amount of times they needed to push the ball to trace the entire shape on the carpet. When we met as a group, they shared the curved shape was the hardest shape to get their ball to stay on because it didn't have any straight lines. It was hard to get the ball to curve on the line and needed a lot of pushes and direction adjustments so it stayed on the course.

Next, I asked them to meet with their group and choose 2 shapes to work with for this part of the lesson. I asked them to build something with materials in the classroom so that their ball could stay on the course with minimal pushes. The groups were so creative using wood blocks, magnatiles and books. These objects created a wall alongside the shape so the ball had something to glide against as it was pushed with their hand. I had them count how many times they needed to push the ball through the course when they have created walls. They came up with some amazing ideas! When we met at the end, we talked about how the walls gave the ball something to lean against where it could glide along the path. Therfore, when the path had walls, it needed a lot less pushes and direction changes. One group noticed that with starting the ball at the beginning of the curved shape with a curved magnatile wall, it only needed one push for it to go from the beginning to the end. They had so much fun being scientists today and getting a hands-on experience with pushes and pulls!