Spin the Top!

Lab Brief #8

🎯 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

Spinning a top keeps it standing up. When it stops spinning, it falls over!

Key words · 1 of 2

stop
To end movement and stay still.
fall
To drop down toward the ground because of gravity.

Key words · 2 of 2

spin
To turn around and around in circles.

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

blocks

⚠️ Safety first

Have an adult check your set-up before you start, and tidy everything away afterwards.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Say the vocabulary words out loud. Can you repeat them?

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Build a tower with blocks. How tall can you make it before it falls?

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Use your eyes, ears, and hands to explore. What do you notice?

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Color a picture to show what happened.

Question 1 of 3

What keeps a top standing up?

Question 2 of 3

What happens when a top stops spinning?

Question 3 of 3

How do you start a top spinning?

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: Lift With a Lever All lessons

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

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✨ 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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