- craft sticks
- flat ramps (cardboard, foam core, wood)
- flexible hoses from sump pumps or shop vacs cut into 4- to 6-foot lengths
- small balls or large marbles that will fit through the tubes
- tape (optional)
- tubes of different lengths and diameters (packing tubes, paper towel tubes, etc.)
- farther
- steep
- track
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Language/L.PK.MA.6: Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, listening to books read aloud, activities, and play.
MA Draft Standards:
Physical Sciences/Motion and Stability; Forces and Interaction/PS2.A: Plan and carry out investigations of the behaviors of moving things.
Physical Sciences/Motion and Stability; Forces and Interaction /PS2.B: Using evidence, discuss ideas about what is making something move the way it does and how some movements can be controlled. [Cause and Effect, Stability and Change]
Head Start Outcomes:
Logic and Reasoning/Reasoning and Problem Solving: Recognizes cause and effect relationships.
Science Knowledge/Scientific Skills and Method: Uses senses and tools, including technology, to gather information, investigate materials, and observe processes and relationships.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Language 2: Participate actively in discussions, listen to the ideas of others, and ask and answer relevant questions.
Explore Together (indoors): Rolling Around
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: An object placed on an inclined plane will roll, slide or stay put; Objects that slide are more likely to move on steeper inclines, and both rolling and sliding objects move faster down steeper inclines
ELA Focus Skills: Listening and Speaking, Vocabulary
Select an area (indoors or outdoors) where children can build tube tracks. Let children choose what materials they would like to use to build their trackways. Then have them choose what size marble/ball they will use. (large or small) Have children work in groups or pairs to choose materials.
- Tell children you are going to present them with a challenge, say, Your challenge is to use the materials to build a large trackway, but one where the marble travels the entire length of the trackway.
Allow children to freely explore the materials and construct their trackways. Observe children as they work and give help as needed.
- Encourage children to observe the results of their actions and offer suggestions for other things they might try. For example, ask questions such as, How do you think you could change the shape of the trackway to make the ball travel farther? What do you notice about what happens when you make the trackway steeper?
- Take pictures to document children’s work.
- Have paper and drawing materials available so children can draw pictures of their trackways.
Reflect and Share
After children have had plenty of time to explore the materials, call the group together. Share the photos you took and invite children to share their drawings when they discuss their observations. Prompt the discussion with questions such as,
- How did the objects/marbles move differently when you made the trackway steeper?
- Did one object work better than another in your trackway? Which one? Why do you think that is?
English Language Learners: Point to each of the materials for the activity. Say the word for each item clearly and describe its use. Have children repeat the words and descriptions after you.