Discovery Museum Visit

We are fortunate that the Middleton PTO provided our entire Kindergarten with a visit from the Discovery Museum to support and enhance our students' learning and understanding of force and motion.
The children loved working with Susan yesterday morning.  As we reflected at the end of the day about the special science program, many students said she was "nice", "kind" and would assist them if they made a mistake or needed help.  The students and teachers loved how hands-on and engaging the activities and workshop was.  The hour went by fast!
Susan did an amazing job introducing a new concept and science vocabulary word(s), sparking their curiosity, and then letting the children go off in small groups to explore.
Susan began the workshop by asking students to think about what things move, how they move, change direction and/or speed, and how they stop.
The students were excited to get to explore with an array of toys!  They explored applying different strengths to pushes and pulls to make the toys move.

Next, Susan introduced the term collision and the idea of balanced/unbalanced forces and the transfer of energy with balls and ramps.  
In the video below, students learned that the pumpkin gains energy when it collides with something that has more energy (the ball).

The children were so excited for this station!

After, we regrouped and discussed friction and what objects may create friction.  The children were each given a smooth sock and a sock with grips on the bottom and were instructed to place each on their hand and to rub the floor and to note what they observed.

To wrap up the workshop, a special activity was planned.  Children had the opportunity to be engineers and build a prototype of a toy that moves or has a moving part.  They were allowed to use a variety of materials.  I loved their creativity!


The Discovery Museum in Acton, MA sounds like an amazing place to visit!  Find out more information at http://www.discoverymuseums.org.
Thank you, PTO, for bringing us this amazing program!