Fifth Grade Partners with Kindergarten Students Explore Fundamentals of Physics

Fifth grade students had the opportunity to serve as leaders on campus by setting up and running “Force Exploration Stations” in kindergarten science class today. Kindergarten students learned about how the forces of pushes and pulls can make objects speed up, slow down, or change direction.

Students participated in water bottle bowling, explored how wind pushes objects by blowing through straws to push cotton balls, and pulled objects back and forth using a homemade pulley system. They also experimented with different tools to move objects and put marbles and toy cars on a ramp to knock down blocks.

“Fifth grade and kindergarten students were equally excited about this opportunity,” said Brooks Gallagher, fourth and fifth grade math and kindergarten science instructor. “It was rewarding to watch kindergarten students apply what they have been learning in class to real life scenarios. As an added bonus, the stations served as a fun refresher before fifth grade students begin their own science unit about force.”