Core Skills Analysis
Science
- Explored the concept of elasticity by creating bouncing balls, understanding how materials can deform and return to their original shape.
- Learned about material properties such as flexibility and resilience through hands-on experimentation.
- Observed cause and effect by testing how the balls bounce, making connections between the material's elasticity and the bounce height.
- Developed skills in following a scientific procedure and making careful observations during the experiment.
Tips
To deepen understanding of elasticity, encourage the child to experiment with making bouncing balls from different materials or recipes, comparing their bounce heights and textures. Discuss everyday examples of elasticity, such as rubber bands, trampoline mats, or sports balls, to connect the concept to real life. Introduce simple measurements, like timing how long each ball bounces or measuring the height of a bounce, to incorporate basic data collection and graphing skills. Additionally, explore the science behind energy transfer during bouncing to link elasticity with kinetic and potential energy in an age-appropriate way.
Book Recommendations
- Bounce: A Book About Elasticity by Shelby Bell: An engaging and simple introduction to elasticity and how bouncing works, perfect for young readers.
- The Everything Kids' Science Experiments Book by Tom Robinson: Offers easy science experiments including those about elasticity, providing step-by-step instructions for curious kids.
- How Do Balls Bounce? by Bobbie Kalman: Explains the science behind bouncing balls with colorful pictures and simple explanations tailored for children.
Learning Standards
- NGSS 3-5-ETS1-2: Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the design problem (creating bouncing balls as a solution-based experiment).
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.3: Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text (following the steps to make bouncing balls).
- NGSS 3-PS2-1: Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object (understanding forces involved during bouncing).
Try This Next
- Worksheet to record bounce height measurements with columns for different ball types and trial counts.
- Drawing task to sketch the bouncing balls at various points during a bounce to visualize elasticity and deformation.