Sammy and I were driving along the other day when I had to put on the brakes pretty hard. Her sippy cup, which had been resting in her lap, fell forward to the floor. In a curious voice she said, MY SIPPY CUP FELL ON THE FLOOR, so I told her that I put on the brakes to slow down the car, but since there was nothing to stop the cup, it kept moving forward. I told her that was called inertia.
Then we passed the mountain of mulch that we had climbed last week. It was shorter and wider than it had been before, after all of the climbing that had been done in the meantime. I pointed this out, explaining that no mulch had been removed, but that the mountain was shorter. I reminded her how the mulch rolled down to the bottom when she had climbed and slid on the mountain and told her that all that fallen mulch now made the mountain wider. There was the same amount of mulch, but now it was in a different shape.
She listened intently each time. It's exciting that she's old enough that I can start giving her these explanations!
I love that! The best part is when Allison or Ashley, taking a cue from my constant explanations or asking them why something happened, try to explain some phenomena based on the things they know. Even when they don't know enough to have the whole story straight it's great to see them reasoning out cause and effect and I love the discussions that follow.
ReplyDeleteAn object in motion remains in motion unless another force acts upon it.
ReplyDelete------Newton's first law of motion---
But then, I observed an instance which appeared to contradict this! I asked many physics teachers the reason why, and it took many years of casual inquiries before finally just taking the time to figure it out on my own. This is far beyond a "second science lesson", but, I urge you to try it for yourself (instead of just googling it) to experience, and think it through first hand.
What was it?
I was driving to a kid's birthday party with cake, present, and a helium ballon. The darn thing was floating around the car, getting in the way, so I tied it's string to the front passenger's seat, where it still floated, yet, out of direct view.
The curious part was this: When I hit the brakes, the balloon went opposite the "sippy-cup": it hit the headrest; and when accelerating hard: it hit the windshield.
I wouldn't suggest this lesson for younger kiddos, as we need them to experience, comprehend and trust their "sippy cup" version of the law. But, definitely a perplexing one for older kids, and it even boggled the adults I asked (mostly, they just didn't care).
It's worth the couple bucks if your supermarket has them.
Wait until it takes you 15 or more minutes to answer a series of "Why" questions. Maybe a recording will be funny to listen to and instructive, too.
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