Lesson 28 of 84 · Forces

Experiment⭐ 30 XP⚡ Spark Lab

Rolling Downhill

🧪Lab Brief #28

Rolling Downhill.

🎯 Your mission

Set it up. Test it. Be amazed.

⚡ The twist

Energy never disappears — it just hides somewhere else.

🤯

Mind = Blown

🎢 You feel weightless on a roller coaster because you and the seat are falling at the same speed.

🔮

Make a hypothesis first

Before you start: which will move faster, and why?

What You'll Learn

A ball thrown in the air comes back down because gravity pulls it.

Key Words

move
still
push

Materials Needed

tape
ruler
cardboard

Safety First

Dispose of materials properly after the experiment.
Handle glass items carefully to avoid breakage.

Steps

Step 1 — Read

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

Step 2 — Do

Roll a ball down a ramp. Try making the ramp steeper. What happens?

Step 3 — Observe

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

Step 4 — Record

Color a picture to show what happened.

Check Your Understanding

Question 1

1 of 3

What makes a swing go?

How sure are you going to be?😐 maybe

🌍

Where you see this in real life

You use this every time you flip a light switch, ride a bike, or kick a ball.

🏆

Stretch Challenge

Try this in real life this week.

Time how long a small ball rolls down something, then change the slope and try again.

👨‍👩‍👧

For the dinner table

“Show me something at home that uses this kind of energy.”

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

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

🧲Share card

Share this experiment

Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.

🖨️

Checkout complete lesson on Forces for Kindergarten

Get the full Forces track as a printable PDF — all lessons, worksheets, and answer keys.

View in Shop

Done with science? Try something else

🎮Science Games 🔢Math 📖Flashcards 🖨️Print Worksheet 💻Coding 🛍️Shop 🎲I'm Bored