Forces

UNIT 6 

Transdisciplinary Theme: 

How the world works

Central Idea: 

Forces act upon the natural world in different ways causing reactions.

In this Unit of Inquiry we are going to investigate:

How are objects affected by different forces.

Why do things move?

What happens when you use force?

Children will investigate the causes of force.

We started our investigation by friction.

We used a few tools and a lot of observation to come 
to conclusions.

Friction

First, we got a basket and attached an elastic to it.

Then, we kept on adding objects to observe how friction would change as it got heavier...

1. floor and basket are smooth.

Few objects were added.

As we pulled the elastic did not stretch.

 Friction was very little.

2. We added a little object.

As we pulled, the elastic stretched very little.

It was easy, so friction was still little.

3. We added a big heavy object. 

As we pulled the elastic stretched a lot before it moved and it moved 

little by little. Friction increased.

4. Conclusion.

As it gets heavier the friction increases and makes the moving more difficult.

We are scientists!

We did not stop there.

Our next investigation was on Gravity.

Gravity

What is Gravity?

Why don't we fall off the Earth as it is round?

Some children came up with interesting hypothesis:

"It is because we don´t know how to fly."

"It´s because we stick to Earth."

After watching a Magical School Bus educational video, 

we came to the conclusion that:

Because of gravity, Earth works like a big magnet! 

That is why we don´t fall off even if we are 

"hanging" on its sides.

Amazing!!!!!

Look at us registering our findings.

PYP 3 Omega

PYP 3 Beta

Some of PYP 3 Sigma questions related to forces:

Why did the basket roll faster with the pencils under it?

What would happen if we put cotton wool?

What is friction?

Can we fill the basket with building blocks?

PYP 3 groups have been working hard and exploring their questions and wonders.

Assembly:

In Jardim Europa, the last Assembly of our school year was outdoors and about wonders. 

There are so many wonders we have in our minds... 

Mrs. Caselli read us a book about so many wonders we might have about balloons. The book is called "Where do balloons go?" by Jamie Lee Curtis. 

That was intriguing and children from the whole Early Years 

uttered their different wonders.

"Why do waves move the way they do?"

"How do birds fly?"

"How can a big and heavy airplane fly up in the air?"

Amongst other wonders...

 Some children were invited to let the balloons go representing our inquiries.

After all those wonders and our discussion in class about Gravity we were intrigued why the balloon goes up in the air if Gravity should push it down...

We discussed that Helium Gas is one of the things

that defy Gravity...

We got an air balloon to test how long it would be able to defy gravity and after lunch it was already starting to go down...

Even though Pinheiros' last Assembly was about Arts, the children in PYP 3 Beta have been wondering about 

many things... take a look at their WONDER display:

Some of the wonders are:

"I wonder what is gravity?"

"I wonder why Brazil is so big?"

"I wonder why the sky is blue?"

"I wonder how are rockets designed?"

"I wonder where the colour of the pencils comes from?"

Keep tuned for more investigations!