ELEMENTARY Challenge 4: CRASH

Sir Isaac Newton, one of the most famous physicists and scientists of all time, came up with three different laws that describe motion. This activity will focus on the second law, the law of conservation of energy.

Supplies/Suministros:

2 posts (like 2 paper towel holders, lamps, chairs)
string
2 paper clips
2 objects that are circular (like 2 bobbers, ball, marble)
Tape
10 objects that can be used as pins (plastic bottles, boxes, etc)
1 ball or object that you can roll

Let's Learn About: Newton’s first law of motion

The first law teaches us about motion and inertia. Inertia is the concept that objects do not want to change their motion; they want to stay at rest if they are still and keep moving if they are in motion.

Have you ever been riding your bike and stopped really fast? Did you keep moving forward even though your bike stopped? That’s inertia! Your body wanted to continue moving forward like you were a few seconds before. This is what Newton describes in his first law of motion. If an object is at rest it will stay at rest or if an object is moving in a straight line it will continue moving in a straight line unless it is acted upon by an outside force.

Learn more about Sir Isaac Newton

Let's Learn about: Newton’s second law of motion

Newton describes force in his second law of motion. A force is mass (how much matter is in an object) multiplied by acceleration (change in speed and direction of an object).

Force is when different objects come together in a way that causes one to change its motion. It creates something like a push or a pull motion. It is a vector because it has magnitude, or size, and direction!

Have you ever kicked a ball and it went flying? That’s because you applied a force to the ball with your foot.

Activity: Conservation of Energy

Supplies:

2 posts (like 2 paper towel holders, lamps, chairs)
String or fishing wire
2 paper clips
2 bobbers
Tape

Let's Learn About: Newton's Third Law

Do you remember what we learned about force? Force is when different objects come together in a way that causes one to change its motion. The third law teaches us about how two objects exert force on each other when they come into contact.

Newton’s third law tells us that when two objects touch or hit, they exert an equal and opposite force on each other. For example, if you bounce a ball against the ground, it bounces back up right? That is because not only does the ball exert a force on the ground, but the ground exerts an equal and opposite force on the ball which sends it back up into your hands.

STEM Challenge: Let's Bowl

As an activity, bowling is a good way to talk about all of Newton's laws while being active. We recommend that you set up your bowling pins and lane where there is a lot of space: outside, in a hallway, somewhere where you won't break something if your ball is thrown and not rolled.

Law 1: Object at rest stay at rest, an object in motion will stay in motion

Set up your bowling pins. You can use empty cans or plastic bottles, boxes, or legos, blocks, or anything that can be knocked over easily. Do not use anything that can break like glass. Make sure to set up roughly 10 pins.

Law 2: Acceleration

Roll your bowling ball towards the pins.

Law 3: For every action there is an opposite reaction

3. Try to knock down the pins!

- How many pins did you knock down?
- How many tries did it take to knock down all ten pins?

Ready to earn your Newton badge?

For this challenge, you can upload a picture of your bowling pins when they are set up and when you have knocked them down.

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