- balls of various sizes and weights
- camera or cell phone with camera
- clipboard or chart paper and pencil
- objects to prop up ramps (books, blocks)
- objects to serve as obstacles (cardboard tubes, toy cars, blocks, pencils, etc.)
- ramps
- collide
- obstacle
- overturn
- ramp
- 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): Vary the Steepness
© 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; An object placed on an inclined plane will roll, slide, or stay put; The motion and speed of a rolling or sliding object is affected by the texture of the object and the texture of the surface on which it is rolling or sliding; When a rolling ball hits an obstacle, it will stop or slow down and its direction may change
ELA Focus Skills: Listening and Speaking, Vocabulary
Have children continue to explore the ramps they’ve built.
Ask children to think about what they need to do to the ramp to knock over a particular obstacle with a ball or other object. Have children use the same ramp, but vary the steepness of the ramp. Have them work together and ask questions to help them figure out how steep they need to make the ramp in order to knock down the obstacle.
As children work, encourage them to set up obstacles at the end of their ramps to help them explore varying the steepness of the ramp. Listen and engage ask questions to will help them expand their explorations, such as,
- What do you think might happen to the ball when it collides with the block?
- What do you think will happen to the block if you change the ramp’s steepness?
- How do you think you could you change the ramp to make the block move?
Reflect and Share
Talk about children’s explorations. Share photos you took and have children refer to them as they speak. Encourage the use of the words collide, obstacle, overturn, and steep in their descriptions. Prompt discussion by asking questions, such as,
- What happened to the obstacle when you made the ramp steeper?
- What happened when you made it less steep?
- How would you change the ramp if you wanted to knock down two obstacles?