Friday 8th March

In science this week we talked about how when a ball is thrown or kicked into the air (a push through contact with a hand or foot) it will then be pulled back down to the ground by gravity (but nothing touched it). This made us ask the question ‘Are there any other ways that forces can act without contact?’

Each of us was then given a paperclip and a piece of stiff card to put it on. We then asked ‘How can you make the paperclip move without touching it?’

A few suggestions were made. ‘Yes, you could tilt the card it’s sitting on – gravity will make it slide downhill but is there any other way it could move without contact?’  Some children suggested blowing it along. ‘If you blow the paperclip along, is it a contact or non-contact force? Yes, it is a contact force because although you can’t see it, the moving air has to touch (make contact with) the paperclip.’

‘What would happen if we used a magnet?’ We investigated this question with everybody being given a magnet and we had to try to make our paperclip move without contact. After being given time to explore this, we learnt that magnets (like gravity) can act without contact.