Balance While Spinning

Week of 5/12/14

Catie Stone & Charlene Hughes

            This week we used wooden beads that were different sizes and different shapes. Some were rounded, some were cylinders and others were square shaped. I was curious to see how the children would explore them on the lazy susan and how they will choose to use them.

            At first, the children would place a round bead in the center and then spin the lazy susan. The bead would fall off. They were very excited about this and began to add two then three beads at a time. When they would spin the lazy susan, some beads would fall off, others would not. Jad looked at me and said, “No fall!” I think he was confused as to why others would fall and some would not. Casey discovered that when he stacked the beads in the middle of the lazy susan that when it spun, it was still standing. Abby was most interested in the spinning motion of the lazy susan. Reed would spin it fast and Abby would stare at close and say, “Round and Round.”

            There are two strong interests in this investigation. One is how the beads react when the lazy susan is spun and the other is how the lazy susan moves and at what speed. I would like to use the light spheres next week and see how the children use them since they are all the same shape and size. How will they balance them when the lazy susan is spinning? Will the children discover new ways that they move?