Experiment #6 - Forces (frictional force)

Feeling hungry? Nope, not for eating!

*ADULT: Simple ingredients (pasta shapes, oil, chopsticks, bowls, tray) that you can find in your pantry. Please help to assemble this for your child.

*Step 1:

- Get your child to grip the pasta shapes with a pair of chopsticks.

- Get your child to think why he/she is able to grip the pasta shapes? (friction between the chopsticks and the pasta shapes)

*Step 2:

- Play a game and get your child to time his/her speed gripping the pasta shapes.

- His time taken was 53s.

*Step 3:

- Repeat the steps, this time, adding oil.

- His time taken was 1m03s.

*Step 4:

- Always do a review on each hands on, asking your child what he has seen or touched.

- Make your child do a simple concept map and draw comparisons between the 2 experiments.

*Suggested Guide:

- The pasta shapes without the oil was easier to grip as there was friction between the chopsticks and the pasta shapes. On the other hand, the pasta shapes with the oil added reduced the friction between the pasta shapes and the chopsticks, making it more difficult to grip.

*NOTE: answers may vary, according to how/what the question asks. In this case, my students are required to observe what happened when one of the variables (oil added to the pasta shapes) is changed.