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physics.md

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Physics

  • Introduction to gravity, force, mass, and inertia:
    • Watch Bill Nye the Science Guy, Season 1, episode 6 ('Gravity') together (available on Netflix).
      • Talk about how the earth spins around the Sun, while spinning at the same time, and pushes everything down towards it center.
      • Ask them to jump, and then ask "why did you come back down when you jumped up?"
      • Tie understanding gravity into talking about orbit, and how the planets all spin around the Sun because of its gravitational pull.
    • 'Soccer Ball Physics': When kicking a soccer ball together, talk about how everything has mass. And how force affects things with mass like the soccer ball (the force from our legs kicking it).
      • Gravity: Then throw the soccer ball in the air, and ask: "why does the ball come right back down to me after I throw it up in the air?"
      • Inertia: Then talk about how the ball is doing nothing until I kick it. It's just going to keep doing nothing... and nothing... and nothing... until something does something to it! Then ask, "Why doesn't the ball just keep going after I kick it?" Ask if they can see that the grass slows it down until it stops. "Why? Inertia! It might just keep on going into space if it didn't have stuff affecting it like gravity and inertia!"
    • 'Bouncy Ball Physics': Reinforce 'Soccer Ball Physics' with a bouncy ball when playing inside.
    • 'Gear Train Physics': With a set of Gear Magnets, talk about how the force of the first gear transfers to each one you add on, affecting the speed of each one differently depending on their size and shape.