Instruct the first student to try to pick up the chair and to record his/her results. Have the second student place a lightweight chair 15 cm in front of the feet of the first student. Next, instruct one student to stand with feet shoulder-width apart. This time, however, have them do so without leaning their back and shoulders forward. Ask, How easy was it to stand up? įollow by having students try again to stand up from a seated position in a chair. They should record the results on their data sheets. Ask, What do you do to keep yourself from falling when you trip over something? How about when you are standing in a moving train or bus? Tell students that they will be exploring their own centers of gravity in two different ways.įirst, have students in each group take turns standing up from a seated position in a chair. Follow by asking them to think about whether their center of gravity ever changes. The only way to achieve this when more weight is added is to move the balance point.Īsk students to think about whether maintaining their own balance is as simple as moving their fingers on the meter stick. They should repeat the experiment one more time with three weights on the meter stick.ĭirect students’ attention to their data sheets and ask, What happened to the balance point of the meter stick as more weight was added? What would have happened if you had not moved your finger to find a new balance point? Help students understand that, in order to stay balanced, the weight of each end of the meter stick had to be equal. Have students add another weight to the one already on the meter stick and repeat the process. Have them determine the new balance point of the meter stick as before and record it. ![]() Ask students to predict where the new balance point will be and to record their predictions. Next have students tape one weight on the 30-cm mark of the meter stick. Have the students in each team record the balance point for their meter stick. In other words, the balance point is the place where the weight on each side is equal and the object is balanced. ![]() Explain that the point where the fingers meet is the balance point for the stick. Have the student move his/her fingers slowly toward each other, keeping the stick balanced until the fingers meet. Instruct one student in each group to hold the meter stick horizontally by supporting it with one index finger at each end. Tell each Materials Manager to collect weights, masking tape and a meter stick for his or her group. Ask, Do you need muscles to keep your balance? Would your skeletal system alone be able to keep you upright in a moving vehicle? Explain to students that they will investigate balance and stability using different amounts of weight and meter sticks, and that they will be learning how living things use muscles and body position to maintain balance. Compare bodies of men women and children.Procedure and Extensions Part 1: Balance, Weight and StabilityĪsk students, Do you usually fall over when you are walking, riding a bicycle or standing on a bus? Why? Encourage students to think about how the body coordinates balance. Why is that? Observe men, women and children. Women and children tend to do far better than men do on this experiment. Ask the person holding the stool to maintain that position but stand up straight.Ask the person with their head on the wall to pick up the stool and hold it to their chest.The person facing the wall should lean forward until their head touches the wall while keeping their back straight.Place the stool or chair between the person and the wall.It doesn’t matter who goes first as long as everyone is paying attention to each person’s performance. Have one person stand facing about two feet in front of the wall.A wall that will support the weight of an adult.įollow the steps below to see how different each person’s center of gravity is.What You Will Needįor this science project, you will need the items listed below. Try this fun science experiment using gravity to see the differences between men, women and children. Children have different centers of gravity than adults. Men and women have different centers of gravity. However, if the center of gravity is thrown off balance then the object will either be supported or will topple! If the center of gravity is in balance, then so is the object. ![]() Simply put, the center of gravity is the determining factor in balance. Every person has a center of gravity as well.
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