- balls (various sizes and weights)
- camera or cell phone with camera
- clipboard and pencil
- objects to prop up ramps (books, blocks)
- objects to serve as obstacles (cardboard tubes, toy cars, blocks, pencils, etc.)
- ramps
- collide
- incline
- obstacle
- ramp
- roll
- steep
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): Ramp Obstacles
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: Objects that slide are more likely to move on steeper inclines, and both rolling and sliding objects move faster down steeper inclines; When a rolling ball hits an obstacle, it will stop or slow down and its direction may change
ELA Focus Skills: Speaking and Listening, Vocabulary
Help children explore what happens when balls hit obstacles. Guide children to place a group of obstacles—such as paper tubes set upright (with objects balanced on top, if you wish), blocks, toy cars, or other balls—in front of the bottom of a ramp, in the pathway of a rolling ball.
Draw children’s attention to what happens to the different balls and obstacles when they collide. Suggest they try lighter and heavier balls to knock down the same obstacle, change the steepness of the incline, and/or move the obstacles different distances from the ramps.
Reflect and Share
Invite children to talk about their explorations. Share photos you took and have a ramp and other materials available so children can demonstrate as they speak. Encourage the use of words and phrases such as collide, obstacle, overturn, heavier, lighter, and change directions in their descriptions. Prompt discussion by asking questions, such as,
- What happened to the block tower when the lighter ball hit it? What about the heavier ball?
- What happened to the ball when it hit the tower?
- What ball worked best for knocking down obstacles? Why do you think so?
Social Emotional Tip: Asking children to express their own thoughts, ideas, and opinions supports self concept.
Adaptation: You might prefer to have each young child do the activity individually, with one-to-one supervision.