Magnets and Movement at FCCC – L.C.V.I

The curiosity of toddlers in making things move is endless. There are so many things that can be moved but we were mainly interested in the speed! We made different height ramps out of blocks to push toys down. We would watch to see which toys went the fastest and the farthest. For this experience we used cars, balls, a foam block and wooden pieces! The cars won most of the time. We noticed that the small cars went farther than the large cars and the ball went faster than the block. We also figured out that not all toys would roll down like the cars did. Some toys would slide down or not move at all. We wondered why? A child decided to help a wood piece that stopped sliding down the ramp by pushing it using her hands. She commented, “Go down!” By using many different resources we were able to explore movement and speed. 

Magnets can make things move too! Using them has been an exciting interest as well. We have used magnets to move paperclips inside a water bottle and on a cookie sheet. 

Did you know a magnets strength will increase in colder temperatures? It makes magnesium slightly stronger. I think we might have a new experiment with magnets around the corner.