Let’s say you have a treehouse and you want your dog to join you there. Your dog can't climb the ladder and you can’t hoist him up in a pulley. How could you get him up? Simple machines to the rescue again. This time an inclined...

Let’s say you have a tree house. You need to lift a large bag of snacks up to the tree house. How could you do it? Several simple machines might come in handy. You could make a simple pulley with a rope strung over a branch to lift the bag. But if you didn’t have a rope, you could use a...

Let's say you have a brick and a piece of Styrofoam that are exactly the same size. Which one weighs more? Chances are, you said the brick weighs more but do you know why? It's all about density. Fun Facts The density of an object is determined by two things: the mass...

Sir Isaac Newton, born in 1643, was one of the greatest scientists and mathematicians that ever lived. He was curious about the world and the universe and his discoveries paved the way for modern science and math. He developed the Three Laws of Motion, which explain how forces work to move...

What goes up must come down, but have you ever wondered why? The answer is gravity. Gravity is an invisible force that pulls one object toward another. Anything that has mass – including humans – has gravity. The more mass an object has, the stronger its gravitational pull. We can’t...

Let’s say you needed to lift something very heavy. How could you do it? Sure, you could ask a friend to help – or maybe even two or three friends. But what if the object was REALLY heavy? You might need some extra power, right? Simple machines increase force and

Have you ever watched a milkweed seed, a bit of cottonwood fluff, or a feather float through the air? We know that gravity is always present, pulling any object that goes up back down. Why do these objects seem to take a long time to reach the ground though? It’s not because they’re light,...

Think about the waves in the ocean. They seem to roll forward. Sometimes the waves are wide and slow. At other times, the waves seem close together and they move quickly. Light moves in waves too. Some of the waves seem to move slowly with wider spaces between them. Others move more quickly with...

Think about all the ways you can make heat. Put a log on a fire and it burns, creating heat. Run around the playground and your body gets warm. Turn up the thermostat on the furnace and warm air flows from the vents. Or, rub your hands together and you'll notice heat. Fun...