Grade Level: Elementary and Middle School
Objective: To "see" the effects of friction through a series of hands-on experiment
Experiment 1:
1-Take two pieces of paper
2-Crumple up one of the pieces of paper
3-Stand on a chair and drop both pieces
4-Which falls fastest? Why?
1-Take two large paperback books (100+ pages)
2-Interlace the pages from both books together
3-Continue to lace the pages together until they're all combined
4-Try to pull the books apart. What happens? Why?
Experiment 3:
1-Fill a water bottle with rice
2-Stick a chopstick in the rice, pull it out. How easy is it?
3-Tap the water bottle, till the rice settles. Then add more rice.
4-Stick the chopstick into the rice again. Try to pull it out. What happens? Why?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs00jJugLnXhhwQCNGPmwIUxW1v_QnTqltJr57MR61-8j_Mis8lFnBPnq51nCVhnGt6QKlwcxXD0fRyiN-axIdJ319LMmehV0_w-yAelVoBF1AyTCZ4ESRx8lTxfuA_szphtwT2V8Pn-k/s280/IMG_0135.JPG) |
Lacing book pages together |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1cFhFb5p0DzLyPjsaeL2xY5DkraOmid4FByzXCT70lmxEOxZOgQbYV2DqLgguKzkPQSWkl2Wsa2M0OWPCrGioHXxsDH8HuKjSbNY3AAPEHj7HMYMdfFaRZQwjLm5GsY-Y6GhZn_uJ36A/s280/IMG_0143.JPG) |
Preparing experiments |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSG86bOYuf9VnROewYJeiH1BFhoqjlar2u7VsOe_G8RewGUuhc6utCwoT4qnHe7LPpt8LtheXSMTxPhloXQRMPjsLWycWokkJonEve9a8Ug1WqNiEJWHcVdydvVFwZMVEvF8d64OJtetU/s280/IMG_0145.JPG) |
Holding a water bottle up by a chopstick |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjmQ2MvnRDuFK35OjBWHDf9aX84yeGFoV7HokQHrd5176Ymj2PWcEvVlFSqaF3d-WocCn1UJu2RVvAntJKGhFwsF00xezERrNFJ-o79zZpANoasT3m9QkyVhswxnUbrAgykKigudFGSAw/s280/IMG_0159.JPG) |
We also experimented with this toy car, sending it down the ramp with different levels of friction |