We are learning a lot about forces.
We know that inertia keeps objects where they are. They don't like to move unless they are forced to.
We know that gravity pulls objects to the ground.
Today we learned that friction (or rubbing) is what slows objects down when they are moving.
Today we did some scientific investigations. We looked to see if objects will move if you put them on the top of a sloping ramp.
Here are some things we discovered today: The colour of the car makes no difference to its speed; big cars travel further and faster on a ramp than small cars; heavier objects will usually travel faster and further than lighter objects; objects that have the same shape don't travel at the same speed or go the same distance down the ramp; smooth objects slide better on the ramp; the higher the ramp is, the faster and further objects will travel.
We used our measuring metre stick to accurately measure how far the objects travelled from the bottom of the ramp (to practise our measuring and also to be very fair in our comparisons).
We learned a lot today about forces, friction and ramps!
We love working like scientists:- predicting, observing, testing, recording, analysing. Being scientists is a great way of getting all our senses working at once!