☰ Year plan · Science

Changing direction

Week 9 · Unit 2 · 2.4 · 3 lessons
2

Steer it where you want

Workbook 2: Topic 2.4, pp. 26–28
GoalDecide which way to push or kick a moving ball so that it changes direction towards a target.
New words
target · the place you want something to go toaim · to point a push or a kick at a targetsideways · to the left or the right
Explanation

To make a moving thing go where you want, you must push or pull it the right way. A push from behind makes it go faster. A push from the front slows it down. A push from the side makes it turn. A pull can turn things too. If you pull a dog’s lead to the left, the dog turns left. Before you push or pull, look at which way the thing is moving and where you want it to go. Then aim your force.

Push on a moving ballWhat happens
from behindit goes faster
from the frontit goes slower
from the sideit turns
Worked examples
table seen from above
Amir plays straw football on a table. The ping-pong ball is rolling past the goal. He blows on its side, and the ball turns into the goal.
pull
Ana’s dog is walking straight ahead. Ana pulls the lead to the left, and the dog turns left.
If the ball is already going straight into the goal, you do not need to push it sideways at all.
Class activity

Straw football (with an adult): make a small goal from a cardboard box lying on its side at one end of a table. Roll a ping-pong ball or a scrunched paper ball across the table, past the goal. Blow on it through a straw to turn it into the goal. Which side of the ball did you blow on? Try again from the other side.

Practice
1
The ball is rolling along the bottom of the table. The goal is at the top. Which side of the ball should you blow on: the bottom side or the top side?
table seen from above
2
A ball rolls straight towards you. You push it from the front. What happens?
3
What will happen to a rolling ball if you push it from behind, in the same direction?
4
Which way will this puppy turn?
pull