Sunday, February 7, 2016

2nd Grade Balances!

Oh the things we can balance! 2nd grade has continued to balance a multitude of objects.  They tried to balance a triangle and an arch in almost a dozen different ways! We discovered that in order for the shape to balance, the counterweight from the clothespins needs to be near or lower than the balancing point!




Next we created our own shapes and made predictions about where the counterweight need to be for the shape to balance!  






Then came the biggest balance of all!  Balancing a pencil on its tip! First we balanced a paper pencil....






...then we tried to balance a real pencil on its tip using only clothespins and wire.    






It took almost the whole period, but eventually we figured it out!


The culminating investigation was creating a mobile that balances!










If you get a chance, stop by the Whitney Museum to see Alexander Calder's mobiles!


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