Graham Phillips's blog

Projectile Motion

 

Have you ever wondered how an archer is able to aim their arrows “just right” in order to hit a target several (even hundreds) of meters away? Or, why soccer players kick the ball differently based on how far away they are from the goal? Both of these cases are examples of projectile motion- explained in detail by Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century A.D.

 

you think of "science," what words or pictures come up in your mind?  Write or draw you answer in the space below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever heard or used the expression, "red hot"?  You've probably heard (perhaps in art class) that colors on the left end of the visible light spectrum (red, orange, yellow) referred to as warm colors, while those on the right side of the visible light spectrum (green, blue, violet) referred to as cool colors.  But, do our observations in the world of science match our observations in the world of everyday living? 

Begin by writing down at least five things that you use every day that are or would be hot to the touch.  What color are they?

 

The color of temperature 

 Have you ever heard or used the expression, "red hot"?  You've probably heard (perhaps in art class) that colors on the left end of the visible light spectrum (red, orange, yellow) referred to as warm colors, while those on the right side of the visible light spectrum (green, blue, violet) referred to as cool colors.  But, do our observations in the world of science match our observations in the world of everyday living? 

Begin by writing down at least five things that you use every day that are or would be hot to the touch.  What color are they?

 

When you think of "science," what words or pictures come up in your mind?  Write or draw you answer in the space below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the beginning of the institute on Monday, we have talked about science as a process of getting things "less wrong".  While I applaud that way of thinking about science, I voiced a concern in an earlier response to the first or second session (don't remember which) that this might be a difficult concept for students in Grades 5 and 6 to grasp, as they are just beginning to make inferences and draw logical conclusions. 

What I would like to look at, then, are interactive, web and real-time based games that help the students think about "getting things less wrong" and working with science as a process of revising and editing their stories about the world around them. 

http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=kids%5Cindex.html

http://www.chem4kids.com/

http://library.thinkquest.org/J001539/

http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryforkids/Chemistry_for_Kids.htm

http://www.surfnetkids.com/chemistry.htm

http://www.uky.edu/Projects/Chemcomics/

 

 

Hey folks...I'm Graham Phillips, a 5th/6th grade science teacher from The Baldwin School right here in Bryn Mawr, PA.  I teach chemistry/physics, primarily, and have taught up to 8th grade in Science and up to 12th grade in Mathematics. 

 As you can see from my picture, I love to travel.  Can you guess where this was taken?  I also love singing and dancing (I probably would have become an actor if my head wasn't turned on so tight!)