STEAM in Action

Fourth and fifth graders have been diving into a new STEAM study this month: Simple Machines!  We began by researching Newton’s Laws of Motion and seeing them in action.

First Law of Motion: This is the law of inertia.  An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force.

Second Law of Motion: This is the law of force.  The acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the amount of force applied

Third Law of Motion: This is the law of action and reaction.  For every action (force) in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction.

We studied these through a variety of experiments!  You can see our third law experiment in photos below.  This is a balloon car.  The balloon releases air in one direction and the car moves in the opposite direction.

We also explored the first and second laws by creating a catapult!  Ask your child how they saw those laws in their experiment.  You can also see those photos below.