SCHOOL: Magellan Charter

GRADE LEVEL: 3rd

PROGRAM: Motion Commotion

INSTRUCTOR: Heather Fisher

Scientist Heather’s Experience:

On Wednesday the third graders at Magellan Charter School were pulled into our force and motion program, Motion Commotion! It was the first time we have had the privilege of visiting Magellan Charter School and I could tell how excited the staff, parents, and students were as soon as I walked in the door!

We started off talking all about the very first physicist, Issac Newton, and how he discovered gravity over 300 years ago. We also went over Newton’s 3 laws of motion, what they mean, and how we see them in action every day. We got a close look at gravity and Newton’s 3rd law (my personal favorite to experiment with!) as we tried to catch falling checkers and shot different kinds of rockets all over the room!

Since we were studying how objects move on Earth, it also seemed important to take a close look at friction! We tested how different surfaces have different amounts of friction and discovered that when there is more friction it gets much harder to move an object and it does not move as fast! We also saw that friction produces heat, and used that fact to draw some colorful designs on special heat sensitive paper. Each student even got to make his/her own friction tube, where they could move a marble through a tube of sand just using what they had learned about friction. I’m curious whether their parents and siblings figured out the trick or if the newest third grade physicists still have them stumped!

I had such a fun day at Magellan Charter, and I hope to be back soon!