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Red Flags
When rolling different items down ramps, be
aware of choking hazards with young children.
Questions to Ask
What direction do the drops go? Why do you think so? Can you make
the drop roll down faster or slower? How could you do that?
How could you make the water flow uphill?
Science Connection
Inclined planes or ramps are sloping surfaces. When things move,
it is because of a force. Forces are pushes and pulls that make
things move. With ramps, the force is gravity.
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Why
To explore the characteristics of one of the simple machines—the
inclined plane
What You Need
Plastic cups or clean yogurt containers
Water
Food coloring or paint
Drinking straw or eyedropper
Cookie sheet or other box-type plastic container
White paper
Scissors
What to Do
Pour water in the cups and have the children color it. Ask them
to cover only the bottom of the pan or container with the paper.
Place one end of the pan on a stack of books to create a ramp.
Then using a straw or eyedropper, place drops of colored water
on the top of the paper. What happens?
Vocabulary
Forces: The pushes and pulls that make things move.
Inclined plane: A flat surface that has a high end and a low end
Ramp: The common name for an inclined plane
Try This
: Cover the cookie sheet with flour. Then drop some colored water
onto this surface. What happens? How does this exploration compare
to the one on the paper-covered cookie sheet? What happens to
the drop of water? Why?
You might want to continue to vary the surface of the cookie sheet
by placing sandpaper or tissue paper on it. How do these materials
affect the travel of the droplets of water?
What other household materials could you use?
Using paper tubes from toilet paper or paper towels and tape,
create your own ramps. What do you think will happen if you place
a ball inside your ramp? What items do the children want to put
inside. What happens?
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