MATERIALS NEEDED:
- a piece of stiff cardboard
- book, about one inch thick
- masking tape
- pencil
- a piece of modeling clay
- small toy car
- 12 inch piece of 1/4-inch ribbon
STEPS TO FOLLOW:
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Discuss with the children Newton's First Law of Motion and how it
applies to every moving object, whether on the ground or in the sky.
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Then take the piece of cardboard and place one end of it on the edge
of the book.
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Tape the other end of the cardboard to a table.
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Tape the pencil to the table about two toy-car lengths from the taped
end of the cardboard.
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Make a clay figure shaped like a snowman.
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Flatten the bottom of the clay figure and gently rest it on the hood
of the toy car. Do not press the clay onto the car.
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Position the car and clay figure at the raised end of the cardboard.
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Release the car and watch it roll down the cardboard and collide into
the pencil. The car will stop, but the clay figure will sail through the
air.
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Use the ribbon to tie the clay figure to the car. Then repeat steps
7 and 8. The clay figure will stay on the car. The toy car will reach a
faster speed if the cardboard is raised higher. If the clay figure is
not secured to the car with the ribbon, the figure will fly farther
through the air. Raise the cardboard by placing a second book on top of
the first one. Repeat the experiment, noticing how far way from the
pencil the figure lands if it is not secured with the ribbon.
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Discuss with the children how Newton's First Law applies to this
experiment.
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As an extension activity have the children think about what happens
when they ride in a car themselves. When riding in a car, you, like the
clay figure, are moving at the same speed as the car. That is why it is
so important to wear your seat belt in case the car has to stop abruptly.
You don't want to keep moving when the car is stopped.
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