Super Hero Forces Posters

More fun with forces! Playing off our love of superheroes, students were encouraged to create a superhero who's superpower could be described using our new knowledge of forces. Students needed to include features of a poster as well as facts about their superhero using science vocabulary.

Making Clay Float!

The tigers have been eagerly exploring forces. During this lab, we were trying to understand buoyancy and balanced forces. Students were given a piece of tinfoil and were asked to make it float, and carry a load.

 

We learned that keeping the structure balanced was key. We also learned that it was important to have edges.

We then had to take a piece of clay that does not float, and make it float!

This proved to be very challenging.

Real scientists record their observations!

Exploring Forces

It's been a busy week and these Wild Tigers have been busy scientists. We began our forces unit by exploring what pushes and pulls are. We explored how things move by either being pushed or pulled, and that more force is needed to push and pull an object that is heavy. Students brainstormed and acted out how they would move a heavy object like a car, by pushing with a large group, pulling and pushing with a large group, or my personal favourite, by calling a tow truck.

We then looked at pictures of familiar actions/objects and decided whether or not the object was being pushed or pulled. Some of the actions included water skiing, throwing a football, raking, mowing the lawn, bowling, flying a kite, skating etc. We sorted by push and pull.

Then we explored science centres.

Centre 1: Will It Bend?

In this centre, students inspected a variety of objects and determined whether or not they thought they could bend them. They recorded their observations, then experimented by attempting to bend the objects.

Centre 2: Will It Float?

In this centre students made predictions about which objects would sink and which would float. After recording their predictions, they conducted the experiment by dropping the objects into a bucket of water. Students recorded the results. They talked about the invisible force of buoyancy that was pushing on the objects that floated.

Centre 3: Using Pushes and Pulls

In this centre, students used pushes and pulls to create a plasticine snail. Students learned that they could manipulate a material and change it's shape by using muscular force and a combination of pushing and pulling.

Centre 4: Magnetism

In this centre, students learned that some forces can push and pull such as the forces conducted by magnets. Students learned that magnets have north and south poles, and experimented with pushing the north and south poles together. Students experimented with magnets that attracted and magnets that repelled, and learned how an invisible force can make objects move.

Next week we will explore balanced forces and buoyancy, gravity and friction!