GoalPredict how different things will fall, test them, and say whether the prediction was right.
New words
predict · to say what you think will happen before you test itsway · to move from side to sideresult · what really happened in the test
Explanation
Things fall down to the ground. But do they all fall the same way? Before a test, we predict. Mia predicts that a feather will float down slowly and that a coin will drop fast. She holds them at the same height and lets go at the same time. The feather sways from side to side, so it keeps changing direction. The coin drops straight down and lands first. Mia’s predictions were right. The air pushes against the wide, light feather and slows it down. The small coin pushes through the air easily.
feather
coin
My prediction
slow
fast
Result
?
?
Worked examples
The feather sways left and right as it falls, so it changes direction many times.
The coin drops straight down and lands with a clink.
Next Mia drops a dry leaf. She predicts it will fall fast, but it twirls down slowly. Her prediction was wrong, and that is fine. Scientists learn from every result.
Class activity
Drop test (with an adult): collect three light, safe things, such as a feather, a dry leaf, a button and a paper cup. For each one, predict: will it fall straight or sway, fast or slowly? Stand on the floor, not on a chair, and drop two things at a time from the same height. Write your predictions and results in a table.
Practice
1
Which will fall straight down?
A, the button.
2
What does ‘predict’ mean?
To say what you think will happen before you test it.
3
Why must both things be dropped from the same height?
To make the test fair, so the only thing that changes is the thing we drop.
4
Ali predicted that a dry leaf would fall fast. It twirled down slowly. Was his prediction right?
No. What happened did not match his prediction. That is fine: he learned something.
