Forces and Motion

by John Graham, David Le Jars (Illustrator)

Forces and Motion explores gravity, friction, centrifugal force, and the underlying laws of physics that help machines work. Simple machines such as levers and pulleys, floating and sinking, springs, elastic, and flying machines are all investigated in fun, hands-on experiments that make it easy for anyone to become a rocket scientist!

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

See also:
John Graham*, Leadership, Memoirs
John Graham*, Children's Books
John Graham*, author Voidstalker series
John Graham, BBC audio serials
John Graham, 1776-1844
John Graham, 1813-1845
John Graham, 1822-1879
John Graham, Amazon and Kindle Help
John Graham, author Plantation Theory
John Graham, dating
John Graham, 1648–1689

Authors marked with an asterisk (*) are Goodreads authors.

Reviews

[Joseph Caputo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forces and Motion present a unique challenge for teachers. Physics is a mathematical science and lends itself very well to the Scientific Method. The opportunities to test and measure data are also plentiful. The problem is that elementary students are limited by their mathematical abilities, dexterity and vocabulary. Physics is reduced to action verbs like pushing and pulling, floating and sinking. The nuances of mass vs weight or acceleration vs. speed are easily lost.

The Forces and Motion installment of Hands-on Science works well with the concepts it has to work with and does a noble job with models and projects. They are not the most unique demonstrations, but they fit well with a parent and child combo or home-school environment. The illustrations are also notably helpful and nicely designed.

Classroom teachers who use this book will have to be more careful when applying the projects to a set-up of twenty-five kids and develop their own supplemental materials to put the demonstrations in context.