Energy & Forces - Forces & their effects - Forces - G7
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EF-B3.1

PIPS2_Energy & Forces  (access to videos - probably only suitable if you have Broadband or a great deal of patience!) - Part 2 - Angus and Pat (video 17MB) (video 25 Mb)

1. It might be useful to tie in this work with a maths lesson on shape. Allow the children to make various shapes - cones, cubes etc. first, then ask them to put them all together and make a castle.
2. This is one of those things which we do automatically without ever thinking how we do it. To stop a ball rolling we push against it, to stop a runaway skateboard we would probably catch the end and pull against it. Each time we stop something like this we are able, without thinking about it, to use just enough force to stop it without sending it off in the opposite direction.
Rollin' along

This could be done as a class or gym activity where the class are seated in a circle and have to roll a tennis ball across the circle to someone else. At first the children must think about rolling it to the person they name. That person must think about how they stop the ball then they in turn name another person and roll it to them. Remind the children that this is not a race and the roll must be very controlled and the ball must not leave the floor. Now ask the children to roll it to someone as slowly as they can. After a few goes, ask them to roll it more quickly. The children should be able to explain that to make the ball roll faster they need to push harder and to make it go more slowly they need to push less hard.
3. Some of the factors which the children could explore are raising the height of the slope and starting the cars from different positions on the slope.

Guide them to suggest measuring the distance it travels with a line of cubes or with pieces of wool. How can they make sure that the car gets the same amount of ‘push’ each time? Perhaps they could swing a weight on a string to hit it or roll it down a slope. Try to steer their ideas in the right direction without actually telling them how to do the test. Worksheet B13a (G) and B13B (G) can be used for their results.
It can be hard to find a good car to use on a slope. Look for one which is heavy enough not to turn over when it runs off the slope. A solid wood van-type vehicle with free running but not steerable wheels works quite well and can be bought in shops which specialise in infant toys.