What you need:
- String
- Plastic cups or pieces of an egg carton
- A thin piece of plastic (perhaps from a plastic bag?)
- Something to make holes (a hole puncher works, or maybe a parent can help with a knife)
- Things to race – coins, toys, etc.
Instructions:
- Ask a parent for help making four holes in your cup or egg carton
- Cut squares out of plastic bags (or something similar) to serve as your parachute. Think about the size of your cups when making the parachute – a larger cup will likely take longer to fall with a larger parachute!
- Make a hole in each corner of your parachute
- Take string to connect your cup to the parachute.
- Experiment with your parachute.
- Have a race (either by making two parachutes or by timing the fall) – which falls faster, a nickel or five pennies? Do two 2×2 legos take the same length of time as a 4×2 lego?
- Adjust the length of the strings attaching the parachute. Does it take longer to fall if it is longer or shorter?
- Adjust the size of the parachute. Does a larger parachute make the fall quicker?
- Adjust the length of the drop. If your sibling drops off the fourth stair, and you drop off the eighth, which one reaches the ground faster? Can you add weight to make them get to the ground at the same time?
Activity by the Upham Team