Cars down ramps

The children have been very interested in the movement of cars as they travel down ramps in the classroom.  We have found different ways to manipulate the ramps so they are at different heights and have different textures on the actual ramp.  We began to change the surface at the bottom of the ramp.  We wanted to see if the children made the connection between the bottom surface and the distance the cars traveled – looking to see how friction impacted the distance of the cars.

We used two ramps and changed the surfaces under each ramp.  Under the first ramp, we added a shiny, smooth mirror.  Under the second ramp, we added several thick carpet squares.  We knew the surfaces would elicit different responses from the cars as they reached the bottom so we were curious to see if the children noticed.

The children noticed immediately.  They could not right away verbalize what they saw but pointed, laughed, and smiled as their cars traveled down the ramp with the smooth mirror at the bottom. Later in the week, the children were using words like “fast” and “go” to describe their cars.  Responses from the ramp with the carpet included looks of confusion, and children pushing their cars down with more force to see if they could get their cars to go further.  It was interesting to see that some of the children connected force to distance right away while others took a little longer to figure out effective strategies.

We will be continuing this with the children, manipulating the ramps with different bottom surfaces again.  We want the children to continue drawing comparisons and contrasting the textures and how they relate to the distance the cars travel.

Rolling Cars in the Sand

Moving Cars in the Sandbox

In the classroom we have been working on the concept of motion and the various aspects of motions. The concept that I have been focusing on with the children is making motion visible to them. We have been exploring motion with cars by making the motions of the cars visible by using paint, crayons, and markers to track the motions. For this exploration we used cars in the sandbox. I placed the sand box on top of the table so the children would be able to stand around it as they explored the cars and the sand. I was curious to see if the children noticed what happened to the sand when the cars were moved through it.

The children were initially intrigued that the sand box was on the table and curious as to what they could do with it. The children first touched the sand with their hands and then began moving the cars around in the sand. I think the children were curious about the cars because they picked them up and looked at them before moving them around in the sand. I think that Max was curious about the tires because he picked up the car looking at and touching the tires of the car before placing it back in the sand. The children moved the cars in the sand at various speeds and directions. Adam moved his car all the way across the sand table and then back again. Ali moved the car he was using back and forth very quickly, using a small space in the sand box. I think that Adam was curious about how far he could move the car and I think Ali was more interested in the speed of his car. Lana and Ayeden pushed the cars in the sand without taking their hands off of the cars. I believe that they were interested in how they affect the movement of the car. Amir was curious about cause and effect because he pushed the car in the sand letting go.