Last Thursday, I gave each team of students a scale, a bag of steel washers, and two doughnut magnets. I asked - How would you test the force between two magnets? Our kids quickly figured out a method to test the force. By dropping in washers on one side of the scale, they could see how many washers it took to pull apart two magnets. This lead to a discussion about reliable and accurate results. We decided to keep as many factors the same as possible - how we set up the materials, how we put in the washers, and how we dropped them in. We then extended our experiment by increasing the space between the magnets. Would our results be different? Would the force be stronger or weaker? I love this experience - it teaches kids how to design an experiment, to collaborate with each other, and record and analyze data.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Breaking the Force
Breaking the force
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