Roll, Slide, Bounce, Spin

Lab Brief #15

🎯 Your mission

Predict it first. Then prove yourself right (or wrong).

⚡ The twist

The opposite of what you expect is often what happens.

What you'll learn

Things roll, slide, bounce, or spin depending on their shape and the forces acting on them.

Key words

gravity
A force that pulls things down toward the Earth.
friction
A force that slows things down when two surfaces rub together.

Make a hypothesis first

Predict: what happens if you double the force?

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Get ready

🧰 What you need

ramps

⚠️ Safety first

Small parts and balloon fragments are a choking hazard — keep them away from young children.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Look at the new words. Can you say each one?

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Make a ramp from a book. Roll a marble down from different heights. Measure how far it rolls.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Watch carefully. What happens?

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Draw and write about what you learned.

Question 1 of 3

Which shape rolls best?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

A flat book pushed across a table will usually:

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

Which object bounces well?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🔥 A bolt of lightning is 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: Throw It Up, Gravity Wins All lessons

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: This is why airplanes can fly and why rockets reach space.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): This week, find one thing in your house that turns one kind of energy into another.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “Show me something at home that uses this kind of energy.”

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