This week the children have been learning all about gravity through doing some fun experiments, which they’ve all enjoyed. It’s been amazing to see their reactions and hearing some even say "wow". As one child said, “they’d been learning science this week”.
They have been learning that gravity is all around us, is invisible, and it keeps all the planets in orbit around the sun. They’ve learnt that gravity is vital in keeping our feet firmly on the ground, as without it, we’d all be floating off into space. They’ve learnt that what goes up must come down!
The first experiment we did was to show how to defy gravity by using magnets. The paperclip spun round and round and didn’t fall to the ground showing how the magnetic force of a magnet on an object is stronger than the pull of the Earth’s gravity.
The next experiment we did was an egg drop experiment, with the aim of showing how air resistance influences gravity. An egg dropped without anything to slow it down will fall fast and break; the parachute and balloon add air resistance, slowing the fall and stopping the egg from breaking.
The children were asked what would happen if an egg was thrown, would it go up or down, all said down. They were asked if they thought the egg would break when it landed on the ground, they all said yes. An egg (hard boiled) was then dropped onto the floor from a height, which broke the shell badly. Next an egg was placed into a basket attached to a parachute, and the children were asked if it would break as it landed. The children all said yes. It was then released; the egg did crack, but not as bad as the last one. Finally, an egg was put into a basket on a hot air balloon, the children were asked if they thought it would break, again, they said yes, it was released and the egg did break but again, not as bad as the first egg. Then we asked the children, if they all were released at the same time, which would reach the ground first, they thought the hot air balloon. In reality, the egg on its own landed first, followed by the hot air balloon and finally the parachute. The parachute has the biggest surface area, which gives it more air resistance and that’s why it was slower than the others.
The final experiment we did was fizzing planets, the aim was to introduce the concept of chemical reactions, in particular cause and effect. The children made the planets from mixing baking soda and water together, green and blue food colouring was added, and they were made into a planet shape. Then the children using pipettes added vinegar to the planet and watched the reaction. There was lots of fizzing, bubbles and the planet dissolved.
All the children loved this experiment and wanted to do it again and again, the children found it funny how it reacted when you added the vinegar, they loved the bubbles and the way it fizzed.
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