February 15, 2023 | Kate Streelman
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.