Discover Forces
Forces are part of everything we do. Because of them you are able to stand on the ground (gravity) without falling over (friction) and hold up a piece of paper to read (pull).
Some common forces are: air, gravity, magnets, pulls, pushes, friction.
When you have a go at the different
activities in the discovery zone have a think about which forces they use to work.
faster route video header
Faster Route
Hold the two balls at the top of the slopes, and let them go at the same time. Which one gets to the bottom first?
Gravity pulls both the balls straight down, but the slopes get in the way, steering the balls across the board.
The longest slope is the fastest. The steep start means the ball is able to feel more of a gravitational pull, giving it a greater speed. This allows the ball to cover a greater distance faster.
Have you been on a water slide before? What would your water slide need to look
like to be really fast?
When using the activities in the discovery zone remember to:
- Predict: What do you think will happen?
- Experiment: Test the activity
- Conclude: What did happen?
- Investigate: How could you change the experiment to get a different outcome?