Tides

Have you ever built a sand castle on the beach? You've probably watched the water get closer and closer to your sand castle until you have to move back and start building again. Click on the picture below to find out why the water line slowly rises up and goes back down in the ocean.

CHALLENGE!

Challenge: Make the tallest free standing structure using only pasta sticks and gum drops!

We had 30 minutes to create a building, and we discussed why our structures kept falling down. Several students agreed that their buildings were too heavy, and couldn't stand by themselves. Other students said that they needed more gum drops. Some students said that gravity was pulling down our structure all the time, so we needed to create something that could stand by itself.

What do you think?

May the Force Be With You!

Today, we discussed different ways to make objects move or change speed. We moved our shoe boxes by pushing, pulling, and sliding it down an inclined plane, because gravity caused it to move. We also discussed why our boxes were harder to push up the slope when added rocks. We decided that we increased the friction in our boxes, which caused the shoe box to push down harder on our table. Friction causes things to slow down or makes things harder to move.

Here are some different examples of each force we explored today!

Pushing a basketball from your hands to make a basket.

Pulling coke tab open with your fingers

Skiing down a mountain because gravity is pulling you down.

Sliding into 2nd base and slowing down because of friction.

Watch this video about Forces on BRAINPOP. Start at 2:00.

Homework for Tuesday:
Find objects around your house that work, use, or can make these different forces. Write 3-5 examples down in your journal for each force (Pushing, Pulling, Gravity, and Friction).