Upper School students create a Physics Carnival for the Middle School

Physics Carnival

Inspired by Newton’s Laws of Motion, 9th grade students created a carnival of physics-based games for Middle School students. All the games were controlled by the ideas of force, changing mass, and how objects react to the force of another object.

Students watching a game be played

For the assignment, each student needed to create (1) a carnival game using Newton’s Laws, (2) a rules posters about how to play each game, and (3) a brochure that explained the science behind their game. Some students adapted existing carnival games while others started completely from scratch.

Students playing a carnival game

Ideas included:

  • A new take on the traditional tug ‘o’ war where pulling too hard on the rope would knock over a pillar.
  • A game where the objective was to throw a ball into a cup – going against the wind made by a fan.
  • A game where you had to slam down on a lever to hit a ball into a cup.
  • A game where you slid two boxes together and used that impact to get a smaller box into different squares for points.

Students playing a game

Middle School students attended the Physics Carnival during snack and advisory time, and it gave the students a preview of the work they will be doing in the Upper School.

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