What's On In STEM

In STEM lessons, students have been learning all about FORCES! We have experimented with different forces, push and pull, and how these forces influence how objects move. We have discovered that some objects roll, some slide and some bounce! We have explored factors that influence movement. Some factors matter, and some don’t! The shape or material of an object will change how it moves, but the colour doesn’t make a difference.

Last week we learned about how we can use forces to change the shape of an object. We learned that we can push, pull, stretch or twist objects to change their shape, but we need a counter force, otherwise the object will just move, but it’s shape will stay the same. We predicted and tested how these different forces can change the shape of play-dough, by pushing, pulling, stretching, twisting and bending it. We also learned about the difference between elastic (where something returns to its original shape when the force is no longer applied) and plastic (where something retains it’s deformed shape even when the force is removed).