In our World Around Us 'A Day at the Circus' topic we have enjoyed learning about tight rope walkers, acrobats and aerial dancers and we have been amazed by the fantastic balancing skills shown amongst the performers.
We wanted to know more about the word 'balance' and how we can improve our balancing skills. In our WAU lesson this week we completed some Circus-Trick Science using marshmallows, bamboo skewers and toothpicks.
First, we tried to balance three marshmallows along one skewer and found that it was very important that one marshmallow was placed exactly in the middle of the skewer. We called this our 'Central Balance Point'.
Next, we added some toothpicks and two more marshmallows to make a rectangular structure. We looked at how this resembled our class pan balances and discussed how the weight was the same on each side. We found that it was easier to balance this structure than the first.
Finally, we enjoyed coming up with some of our own balancing structures!
