Duration: 10 minutes
SPIRIT Skills:
- problem-solving;
- curiosity, sense of wonder and openness;
Brief Description:
Students will experience certain principles of gravity.
- The students explore and reflect on this (through the teacher’s guiding questions).
- How high can you jump? Try jumping “high.” Can you jump higher?
- Who can stay in the air?
- Can you fall down more slowly after jumping?
- Let your head hang down. What do you feel?
- (optional: give someone a backpack with a weight inside → how does that feel?)
Essence / conclusion:
We are always pulled towards the ground. We cannot stay in the air. There is an invisible force that pulls everything to the ground. This is gravity
How does this develop particular SPIRIT skills
The teacher’s challenge— to stay “longer” in the air—They wonder when they try to stay in the air that they always fall back to the ground. They experience this with their own bodies. In particular, it helps them realize that it is not possible to stay ‘longer’ in the air.
What do we want to achieve regarding SPIRIT skill development (student understanding and/or behaviour)?
Children learn to think critically about gravity by experimenting with their own bodies, for example by jumping, trying to fly or dropping objects. They experience what works and what doesn’t, ask themselves questions and look for explanations. You can see problem-solving thinking in:
- Trying out different ways to jump higher or stay in the air longer
- Comparing their own experiences with those of others (‘Why can you jump further?’)
- Searching for solutions (‘What if I take a run-up before jumping? Why am I not flying now?’)
- Adjusting their approach after feedback or failed attempts
Their behaviour shows curiosity, experimentation and a search for explanations. Their results demonstrate a growing understanding of what gravity does and why some solutions work and others do not.
Academic/Curriculum Objective connection
Science: gravity
In the translation it must be adapted! They are the national curriculum!
Materials and tools needed for implementation
Own body.
Preparation notes
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Guided Questions
- Who can jump the highest?
- Who can stay in the air the longest?
- Why can’t we stay in the air for long?
- Is there a force that pushes us to the ground?
- Is it everywhere? Where is it and where isn’t it?
Stage Debriefing Questions (Optional)
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Tips and Tricks for dealing with stage challenges
Important misconception to avoid:
- Do not say: we are pulled “down”, because then you get the problem of “people in Australia” standing “upside down” without falling off the Earth.
- Instead, say: we are pulled toward the ground / toward the Earth.