As a follow-up to an after school science session she had attended, Claire Thomas from Wowk Elementary emailed me and asked if I would be able to come to her class to work with her and her grades 1&2 students around developing an inquiry project about force and motion that they could share at their school’s science fair.

The students had been learning about force and motion and had been provided with Keva blocks and marbles to enrich their investigations. When I visited, I asked the students to share what they knew about force and motion and then what they were still curious about…what they were wondering about. These questions were recorded by their teacher and the students were asked to choose a question that they could investigate.

The students worked together in groups of two or three to investigate their question using the Keva blocks and balls and marbles and after about an hour of planning, designing, testing, making adjustments, testing, etc., the students were asked to document their findings using pictures, numbers and words.

Here is a link to a short video compilation of the students’ investigations:

Wowk Grades 1&2 Investigating Force and Motion

This week, Wowk held a K-7 science fair, with each class having displays celebrating their science learning. I was able to pop by and visit the grade 1 & 2 students and see their displays. They were so proud to share their updated projects!

A few students called me over to see specifically how they had made their designs better. One group said, “we finally got it to work!” – love the persistence shown, such an important disposition for scientists!

~Janice