2nd grade has moved from balance to motion. After watching the classic tops film by Charles and Ray Eames (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ-VFMymEiE) however, we quickly realized that objects that have motion still need balance!
The challenge was to design a top that spins long and design a top that spins fast using two different sized disks and one shaft.
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| A goodspinner! |
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| Does the weight need to be low for the top to spin? |
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| And it kept spinning on the floor! |
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| It can be hard to get the shaft through the disk sometimes. |
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| A contained spin. |
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| The finger technique for getting the top to spin. |
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| Under the table! |
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| Surprisingly, the top does spin on the rug. |
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| The hand technique for starting the top to spin. |
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Does the size of the disk change the way the top spins?
Does the size of the shaft change the way the top spins? |
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| 5 disks? Does it spin? |
Our next investigation was to look at spinning designs. Does the design change when it spins? What happens when you add color?
Our last investigation into making tops is experimenting with 3 different types of disks (cardboard, plastic lid and CD) while using 3 different types of shafts (crayon, pencil and marker). Most agreed that the plastic lid was too light to spin properly-there wasn't enough weight- and that the cardboard and CD made a good top especially with the marker.
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| A marker with the plastic lid. |
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| The marker and the CD left an amazing trail! |
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