Flippers and Friction

The Ichthyosaurus was a marine reptile that roamed the prehistoric seas. These massive creatures ranged from seven to thirty feet, and used their massive dorsal fin and powerful flippers to navigate. To introduce the concept of friction and its relationship to speed in the water, we swam with our very own flippers! We initiated this activity by placing our hands into some water to make waves. We then placed Ziploc bags onto our hands, and did the same thing. We followed this with a discussion of the differences between the two. Our conversation consisted of questions such as “What made bigger waves, when we had bags on our hands or when we didn’t?” and “Why do you think the bags made bigger waves?”. This activity facilitated several developmental areas, including deduction, cause and effect, and cooperative learning.ImageImageImageImageImageImage

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