Our first creation was a top. We built tops out of green straws, small yellow disks, and large red disks. We discovered that our tops were more balanced and spun longer when we used the center holes and not the side holes. We also learned that heavier tops spin longer and that the weight has to be low on the green shaft.
Then we used store-bought tops that had markers on their shafts! We spun the tops on a large piece of paper and observed what motion the tops made as it spun. We realized that spinning is moving in a circular motion!
Yesterday we made new spinning objects. We made zoomers! A zoomer used a long piece of string and one of our large red disks. By putting our thumbs into the looped string, we could make our zoomers spin - and keep spinning! We then made more zoomers using cardboard disks and took them home to keep practicing our zooming!
We found the zoomers much more frustrating than the tops - but we know that as scientists, things will be frustrating sometimes! With some practice at home, hopefully we'll all be zooming soon.
Talk to your child about the motion of spinning. What spins in our world? Why does it spin? What does the spinning motion look like? Reinforcing the idea that these science concepts are always all around us is a great way to make sure your child understands why we're learning what we're learning. Science class these past few days has sure looked like a lot of fun, but we certainly are learning a lot too!
