#  >> K-12 >> Kindergarten

Gravity Lessons for Kindergarten

The force that keeps everyone and everything glued to the earth is called gravity. According to PBS's Stephen Hawking's Universe, Issac Newton, who lived from 1642 to 1727, was the first to describe gravity when he observed an apple falling from a tree, but he also guessed correctly that the same force kept the planets in their orbits around the sun. Teach gravity lessons to kindergartners with hands-on activities where they can experience the force of gravity.
  1. Race

    • Demonstrate a gravity race with different objects to see which items fall faster to the ground. Hold a penny and a key in your hand, and open your hand to let them drop at the same time. Ask the kindergartners to listen for the winner. Try other objects, such as a button, pin, eraser and pencil. The lesson should show the children that most gravity races are a tie no matter the weight, unless the object can be blown with the wind, such as a feather or a tissue.

    Forces

    • Learn about weight by dropping different objects onto a student's hands. Drop a bar of soap 1 foot above a child's hand, and then drop a sponge from the same distance. The child's hand stopped each item from falling, but she felt the pull from gravity. The pull is the object's weight, and different items hit the ground harder than others due to their weight. Test other objects, such as a brush, notepad and piece of paper.

    Center of Gravity

    • Students will understand the concept of the center of gravity with a demonstration using a meter stick and a clump of play dough. Support the stick with two fingers at either end with the play dough weight somewhere on the stick. Slowly slide the fingers closer together until they meet. The fingers should meet at the center of gravity or the weight will fall over. Change the position of the weight and try the experiment again.

    Planets

    • Introduce basic concepts of how gravity keeps all of the planets in their orbit around the sun. Tape a string onto a tennis ball, where the ball represents a planet, and the string represents gravity. Loop the end of the string and place it over your finger. Roll the ball away while the string is attached to your finger. As it rolls away, it should start a circular path around you, like the planets traveling around the sun.

Learnify Hub © www.0685.com All Rights Reserved