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In Mr. Quigley’s kindergarten class, students have been exploring the principles of forces and motion.
To introduce the topic, students worked in pairs to identify various objects in the classroom that could be pushed or pulled. Each student then selected an object and demonstrated to the class whether it could be pushed, pulled, or both.
For their first experiment, students divided into groups of boys and girls to undertake a ramp challenge aimed at discovering which team could make a ball roll the farthest. The rules were modified each round: pushing the ball down the ramp, letting it fall without pushing, changing the height of the ramp, and adding guides to assist its roll.
On Day 2, Mr. Quigley introduced his class to 3D printing. After explaining how 3D printers operate, students researched a model to download and print, settling on a rubber band-powered car. Anticipation grew as they watched each part being printed over several hours.
The second experiment involved racing these 3D-printed cars to determine if pushing or pulling yielded faster results. Students took turns in pairs; one would push the car while their partner pulled it using an attached string. They discovered that either method could be faster depending on how much force was applied during each turn.
