Balance & Motion
Investigation 1
Part 2
Triangle and Arch
Students balance tagboard geometric shapes in a variety of ways on the end of a craft stick, again using clothespins as counterweights. They try to find as many ways as possible to establish stable positions so that a push on the object will make it wobble but not fall.
3. Lesson set up and Management
Properties of Substances: Use properties to sort natural and manufactured materials and objects, for example: size, weight, shape, color, texture, and hardness. (PC01 1.1.1)
A stable position is one that is steady; the object is not falling over.
The place on which an object balances is called the balance point.
The counterweights should be placed lower than the balance point.
3. Lesson set up and Management
Materials:
Per student:
1 Tagboard Triangle
1 Tagboard Arch
2 Clothespins
1 Craft Stick
1 Student Sheet #2
Masking Tape
Student Management:
Allow students plenty of time to explore with the shapes BEFORE giving them Student Sheet #2.
Encourage students to find different ways to get the shapes to balance.
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Teachers may want to prepackage the shapes into group quantities.
Have students explore the shapes in cooperative groups until they have discovered that the counterweights need to be below the balance point. Students are then ready to do Student Sheet #2 individually.
Writing Support:
Have students draw in their science notebooks all the ways they were able to get their shapes to balance. Also, have students answer the question “How can counterweights help us balance other shapes?” under their illustrations.
Reading Support:
Read Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully (see the Literature Link).