FORCES CIRCUS
“Roll up roll up”……..
• You are going to carry out a
lab to investigate the
forces in a circus. You will
carry out a number of
activities and investigate
which forces are involved
and what happens if they
are not balanced.
Title: Nature of Forces
Date: January 9
What is a Force?
Definition
Effect of forces
A push or a pull
Give energy for objects to: move, stop, change
direction
When forces are
combined:
Balanced
Unbalanced
Summary: Recite/Reflect/Review
In your notebook….
• Activity 1 title e.g. tug of war
• A sentence explaining the forces involved
in the activity.
• 2 stick diagrams using arrows to show the
direction of the force:
Forces balanced
Forces unbalanced
1) Tug of war
• Boys vs. girls
• Tallest half of class vs. shortest half class
• Equal random distribution of students
• What did you see with each set? Who had
the advantage? Why? How do you make it
balanced?
Plate spinning
• Spin the ball or a paper plate on the point
of your finger or a pencil. How long can
you do this for?
• What is it necessary for you to find in
order to do this?
• What is this force called?
Tight rope walking
• Walk over the beam or along a
straight line on the floor without falling
off. Time how long this takes.
• Repeat with a) your arms by your side, b)
arms held out for balance and c) carrying
a bag on one side.
• What do you notice? What effects the
balance most?
Hula hooping
• How many times can you spin
the hoop? What do you have to do to
make it spin well? What’s the most
number you can spin at one go? For how
long?
• What force is involved in the hoop
spinning? How do you balance it?
Title: Lab: Forces Circus
Plate Spinning
Date: Jan. 12-15, 2009
Spin the ball or a paper plate on the point of your
finger or a pencil. How long can you do this for?
Type/s of force/s
involved:
Diagram: (with labels)
1. How long can you
do the spinning?
2. What is necessary
for you to find in
order to do this
(spinning)?
Summary: Explain how the different forces affect “spinning”? What happens when the
forces are balanced?
Title: Lab: Forces Circus
“Tight rope”
walking
Type/s of force/s
involved:
Date: Jan. 12-15, 2009
Walk over the beam or along a straight line on the
floor without falling off. Time how long this takes.
Repeat with a) your arms by your side, b) arms held
out for balance and c) carrying a bag on the side.
Diagram: (with labels)
Summary: What did you observe? What affects the balance most? What happens
when the forces are balance?
Title: Lab: Forces Circus
“Hula hoop”
Date: Jan. 12-15, 2009
How many times can you spin the hoop? What do
you have to do to make it spin well? What’s the
most number you can spin at one go? For how
long?
Type/s of force/s
involved:
Diagram: (with labels)
Summary: Explain how the different forces affect “spinning”? What happens when the
forces are balance?
Conclusion
• In this lab you were
looking at balanced and
unbalanced forces.
• Write a paragraph
explaining what you
found out about ‘what a
force is’ and what
happens when they are
balanced and
unbalanced.