After yesterday's experiments, we found out the motion of rolling is very similar to our motion of spinning. Both motions involve a circular movement. Rolling, however, happens when a round object is unbalanced, while spinning happens when an object is balanced. To make our spinners spin, we needed a flat surface like the table or the floor. To make our rollers roll we needed a surface that wasn't flat so that our rollers would be unbalanced. We first had to construct ramps!
We used our same red disks, yellow disks, and green straws to build rollers. We quickly discovered that using a wheel-and-axle to build a roller rather than just a wheel made it roll further and faster because it was more stable.
Today, we will be creating specific rollers --
-- A roller that turns right
-- A roller that turns left
-- A roller that turns completely around
-- A roller that rolls straight
-- A roller that rolls wobbly
It should be a lot of fun this afternoon as we experiment with the relationship between balance and motion!
And just a reminder -- We hope to see you for our FAMILY FRIDAY this Friday, December 9th at 8:45am!
