When this group of kindergarteners arrived at the beginning of the school year, I noticed right away that many of them were interested in motion. In fact, ramps and marbles were such a big hit back in August that we put them away for a while because the kids' collaboration skills weren't yet strong enough to handle their level of interest. Over the past months I also noticed kids kept building things with wheels that moved really fast. Catapults made from our Lincoln Logs kept appearing as well. Right before winter break our sneaky gingerbread men ran away, so the kiddos came up with the idea of building traps to catch them. That's when I first noticed a real interest in pulleys too. Thus, our simple machines investigation was born. I had a feeling a simple machines investigation would be a productive and thought-provoking way to channel all their excitement and interest in movement!
