Whenever the topic of Leadership Education or home school comes up one of the main questions I hear is how to make sure kids get math and science. That is one thing I LOVE about The Spark Station. It is a wonderful tool to introduce math and science projects and information in fun ways without requiring children to do math and science.
Another thing that I LOVE about The Spark Station is that it doesn’t take tons of time to come up with great things to put into it to introduce science and math. You can have games and projects that can even introduce fairly complicated concepts to children as young as four and five.
Today I am going to present something that I happened to see on television the other day that gave me a “spark” of an idea for my Spark Station. I took that “spark” and I spent about thirty minutes on the computer. I found enough material about levers and simple machines to use in my Spark Station for weeks. I want you to see what I found and some of the thoughts that I had on how to use the information in your Spark Station. My desire is that you see how easily you can keep interesting and informative things in your Spark Station if you just get into the habit of watching for “sparks” of inspiration. In fact I found so much information in that short amount of time that I may need two or three blogs to present it all.
What I saw on television was a game which was explained to a group of children and then they made and played with it. The children were all about nine years old. With help younger children could also make and play the game. The game uses leverage. This is the scientific concept that would be taught.
If your child was four you would just make and play the game together. As you played you could mention the words lever and leverage and even name the applicable part as a fulcrum. If they are older then you would really talk about what makes the game work and give more interesting information about levers, leverage, etc. as they built and played. Refer to the blog on “Familiar conversations”. Rather than some type of lecture, you would just have a conversation while helping or watching them engage in this particular project.
Put materials in The Spark Station to make a game using a lever. Take a piece of PVC pipe (about 4-5” diameter) or other material for the fulcrum. Use a flat piece of wood 2 ½ to 3 feet long as the lever. Tape a paper bowl to one end of the lever. Use a tennis ball to launch on the lever.
Use three hula hoops on the grass each marked with a paper sign as to its point value. The point of the game is to launch the tennis ball with the lever so that it lands inside the hula hoop with the most point value. Your children can experiment moving the lever back and forth on the fulcrum until they find the length that will land the ball in the hoop of choice.
So this is what to put into The Spark Station:
A piece of PVC pipe or other item for the fulcrum
A flat board for the lever
Masking or duct tape to secure the bowl to the lever band point placards to the hula hoops
A paper owl
A tennis ball
3 hula hoops
Paper
Markers
The closer the fulcrum is to the object being moved, the easier it will be to move the object – that is, the closer the fulcrum is to the object being moved, the less force is required to move it.
If your children are old enough to read or are at an age where they want to know how something works then add to the above materials something from the internet explaining how a lever works or a book from the library.
Click here for a simple illustration of what makes the game work.
In the next blog I am going to show you some great illustrations that I found on the web and more ideas on how to extend this one idea into other learning experiences.
Possibly Related Posts:
- Inspiring Learning
- Family Philanthropy Project – How to Grow Your Family’s Heart by Jodie Palmer
- Science of making Ice cream with liquid nitrogen
- Fun activities for afterschooing and for homeschoolers
- HELP! Activities and games for small children
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Lucy
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.