We have moved onto the second part of unit....motion! After watching the classic top video by Ray and Charles Eames https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ-VFMymEiE the 2nd graders designed a top that spun the fastest and one that spun the longest. Everyone gets two large red disks, 2 small yellow disks and one green shaft.
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It can be tricky to get the disks where
you want them on the shaft. |
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| The contest to see which top spins the fastest! |
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Techniques used to start the top
differ - fingers or palms. |
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We discovered that for the top to
spin, it needs to balance. |
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| How many disks make the best top? |
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| A good design! |
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Sometimes the shaft breaks, but then we get to test if the
length of the shaft makes a difference in the way the top spins. |
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| A winner! |
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The tops keep spinning even when they bump
into objects! |
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| Standing definitely makes it spin faster! |
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At the end of class, we drew our best designs and explained
why it worked better than other designs. |
2nd graders also investigated what happens to designs when they spin. Two designs were provided for each student to spin. There was also a blank design, so everyone could create their own spinning design.
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| Awesome spinning design! |
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The two designs totally looked different
when they were spinning. |
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| Trying to have the fastest spinning design. |
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| A new design. |
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| The above design spinning. |
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| It's hypnotizing. |
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| The design is too light to spin without a disk. |
