Finishing Forces with a Field Trip and Fun

 As part of our inquiry unit on forces we went on a field trip to Bando Science Museum in search of simple machines and forces at work. We found all kind of pulleys, wheels and axles, inclined planes, and levers. We also found many forces making things work; gravity pulling on rollercoasters, planes that use lift to make them fly, air resistance and air pressure to make things float, and a powerful magnet that pulled many iron balls together using magnetism. 

We ended our PE unit on rolling, gliding and sliding by having one last round of Mario Kart inspired races on the roller boards. 

To demonstrate their understanding of simple machines, the students created posters to explain and compare two of the simple machines. Working with a partner they drew pictures and gave examples of where we can find simple machines today.

To have a fun finish to the end of the unit the students created Rube Goldberg machines (ピタゴロスイッチ) - also known as chain reaction machines which make use of several simple machines and forces to do some kind of job or work. They have been working in small groups and have been very focused on their creations. We couldn’t quite get them finished on Friday so the groups will have one last chance to finish them up on Monday!

Scooters Scoot and Boats Float

 This was the fifth week of our unit on forces and we continued inquiring into the ways that forces work and how we use forces to make things work.

In PE we used forces to explore how to navigate our scooter boards around a Mario Kart inspired track. On Tuesday, we worked on some running and throwing activities to help build up stamina for Sports Day. Then on Wednesday, most of the students brought in their own scooters to experience other ways of using different muscles to roll around. 

During math, we have continued with data handling as we work with survey data and tally charts. The students wrote their own questions about new equipment for a park and then surveyed their classmates to find out their preferences.

In unit, we briefly covered a few forces such as buoyancy, air resistance and lift before moving on to how simple machines can be used to help us use less force to get a job done. We read about the six types of simple machines: lever, inclined plane, wedge, screw, wheel & axle, and pulley. We also did some sorting on Seesaw of different types of everyday objects that are examples of simple machines.

Our big event of the week was making pet bottle sailboats out of recycled materials. Three volunteers from the PET de Yacht Club who have reached out to us in the past came to school on Thursday to help the Grade 1 and 2 students make model sailboats that could really sail into the wind! It was a nice connection to our unit on forces and a lot of hard work and fun as we had the chance to sail the boats in the river next to the school.