My students had a GREAT time working with gravity. We used gravity to propel a ball from our tables onto a target. During the two weeks we changed the rules around a little bit, mainly to make it harder and more fun. We used Contraption blocks, yard sticks, the containers, and chairs in order to get our ping-pong balls high enough for gravity to carry them to our target.
There were some pretty innovative ideas on how to get the ball to do what we wanted. Some used ramps made out of blocks while others tried to aim the ball using the yard sticks.We watched a few videos about gravity. The best one was Bill Nye simply throwing things off of a building.... It was suggested that we do something similar. I like that idea, but somehow will have to come up with a way onto the roof and also a bunch of stuff to drop. Bill dropped a container of sour milk....that splatted pretty good!
As an added bonus, some second graders performed and EGG DROP challenge in their classroom and brought them in so I could see their designs. SUPER COOL!
