Lake County Gazette

In Mr. Quigley’s kindergarten class, students have been exploring the concepts of forces and motion through interactive experiments.

To introduce the topic, students worked in pairs to identify various objects in the classroom that could be pushed or pulled. Each student then demonstrated to the class whether their chosen object could be pushed, pulled, or both.

For their first experiment, students divided into groups of boys and girls to tackle a ramp challenge aimed at discovering which team could make a ball roll the farthest. The rules were modified each round: pushing the ball down the ramp, letting it fall without pushing, changing the height of the ramp, and adding guides to assist its roll.

On Day 2, attention turned to learning about 3D printing. Mr. Quigley explained how 3D printers operate as students researched models to download and print. They decided on creating a rubber band-powered car. Anticipation built as they watched each part being printed over several hours.

The second experiment involved racing these 3D-printed cars to determine if pushing or pulling yielded faster results. Students took turns in pairs racing cars in the hallway; one would push while their partner pulled using an attached string. The experiment revealed that either method could be faster depending on how much force was applied.