LEAFLET: Playground Science

front:  outside, right

DID YOU KNOW THAT

YOU CAN LEARN PHYSICS

IN PLAYGROUNDS!

Start to learn about some basic science involved in

PLAYGROUND GAMES.

This leaflet looks at these questions:

What does gravity have to do with playgrounds?

Why do I see wood chips – or other soft material – on the ground?

How can I learn about potential energy and kinetic energy in a playground?

http://sportscience-kathy.blogspot.com

GATEWAY TO SCIENCE:

SPORTS AND GAMES

Quincy, Mass.

inside, left

RIDE THE SLIDE

When you decide to use the slide, you have a little WORK to do before you can enjoy the ride, right?

That WORK is you climbing up the stairs to the top of the slide.

You need to:

* Use your ENERGY to climb up

(while GRAVITY pulls you down).

* But then everything changes:

Now you can save your ENERGY

while the downward force of GRAVITY does your work –

and you just sit down and you enjoy the ride.

I call this the “Whee !” factor.

P.S. The same principle applies when sledding or coasting on snow.

inside, middle

WHY DO I SEE WOOD CHIPS OR OTHER SOFT MATERIAL UNDER THE EQUIPMENT?

Wood chips, rubber, or sand are some of the materials used to cushion kids from falls while in the playground. Falling on hard ground leads to injuries.

COLLISION

When we think of a collision, a car crash usually comes to mind.

But any time two things touch each other, there is a collision. It can be as mild as a fist bump – or as strong as something falling to the ground from a skyscraper!

You could think of collision as being on a scale from 1 to 10:

A mild collision is called an elastic collision – with a lot of “give.” A one!

The strongest collision is inelastic, or non-elastic, collision – no “give”! A ten!

Think of some collisions that you

have had; rate them from 1 to 10.

inside, right

RIDE THE SWING

or “Ride the Pendulum”!

That's right! A swing is a pendulum!

When the swing is raised and released, it will move freely back and forth due to the force of gravity on it. The swing continues moving back and forth without any extra outside help until friction (between the air and the swing and between the chains and the attachment points) slows it down and eventually stops it.*

* Swinging with a pendulum, by Science Buddies, Scientific American 2.23.12

When you give a friend some help, you use two forces: PULL and PUSH               * First you pull your friend back. This is potential energy -- it's the stored  energy of position.

* Then push. This is kinetic energy -- the energy of motion.

outside, left

Use this space for notes.

_______________

Sports and games are the gateway to science,

and YOU hold the key!

outside, center

The playground...

is just one of endless places to gain an understanding of physics and geometry. I hope this leaflet introduces you to seeing things you never saw before – or wondered about but just didn't know where to start.

Physics and geometry come into play in every activity and event going on around us.

Knowing how things work can add to your performance and to your fun. So give it a try. How?

• Start with the information here
• You may not understand everything in it right away, but for now, use what you do understand
• Do an online search of your own
• See what books or videos your library has
• Share them with friends, your class, your team, your scout troop
• Read my blog and tell others:
  sportscience-kathy.blogspot.com

Thank you! Kathy Hogan