Funny Forces

Invent incredible Simple Machines helps you push, pull, and play your way to understanding force. Experiment with air pressure, discover simple machines in everyday items, and design your own incredible invention! In this physics curriculum kit, your young engineer will explore balanced and unbalanced forces with air pressure, learn about potential and kinetic energy, make simple machines, and create an exciting invention.

This Accelerate level kit includes a full-color student workbook and a detailed teacher guide, with step-by-step instructions for both hands-on and reading-based activities designed to engage students in forces, motion, and the engineering process. Both teacher and student will be able to open the box and start within minutes, and the kit will provide over 14 hours of engaging learning.

In this kit, the student will engage in these hands-on engaging activities:

1. Using only the power of air, try to keep a ball in the air.
2. Find out how different forces affect the motion of an object.
3. Explore how balanced and unbalanced forces can move other objects.
4. Discover simple machines in everyday life that help us complete tasks more easily.
5. Find some inspiration to create an incredible invention that completes a simple task.

Your student is ready for this kit when:

• They have learned about forces in terms of push and pull.
• They are curious about how things move.
• They are interested in building, designing, or inventing things.

Use the Funny Forces kit to answer questions such as:

• How do balanced and unbalanced forces affect the motion of objects?
• Can I predict the motion of objects?
• Does gravity affect all objects the same?
• What is a simple machine?
• Who or what is Rube Goldberg?

Our Funny Forces kit is a part of the Science Unlocked Accelerate series and is recommended for grades 3-7. Prior to completing Funny Forces, we recommend the prerequisite kit Blast Off!

Interested in learning more? Check out our Student Workbook Sample and Teacher Guide Sample!

This kit contains:

• 2 Skewers
• 100 Beads
• 2 Craft Tubes
• 2 Dominoes
• 1 Foam Ball
• 1 Fulcrum
• 1 Funnel
• 1 Masking Tape
• 2 Film Canisters
• 2 Ping-pong Balls
• 1 Rubber Ball
• 3 Rubber Bands
• 1 Ruler
• 4 Straws
• String
• 1 Wood Ball

You will also need:

• Hole punch
• Faucet with Running Water
• Pencil
• Markers
• Scissors

• Learning outcome: Push, pull, and play your way to understanding force. Experiment with air pressure, discover simple machines in everyday items, and design your own incredible invention.
• NGSS science standards alignment

• 3-PS2-1 Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.
• 3-PS2-2 Make observations and/or measurements of an objects motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.
• 5-PS2-1 Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.