We wound a card on a rubberband several times and then let go. It spun rapidly in circles as it unwound itself.
We made a pendulum and watched as our paper super hero swing back and forth.
We used a slingshot as a marshmallow catapult.
We made an egg carton ramp and sent marbles down it. We observed how they increased in speed as they headed toward the bottom.
We made a pinwheel and made it spin by blowing on it.
We placed a nickel and a penny next to each other. Then we flicked a penny toward the nickel. When the penny hit the nickel, the force caused the other penny to move forward.
We dropped a ping pong ball into a tub. It bounced almost as high as the level where we had dropped it from. Then we dropped the ball onto a bed. It barely bounced.
We set up several dominoes and then pushed them over.
We did some experiments from a Dangerous Book for Boys kit including a generator and an eletromagnet.
For our final experiments of the year, we set off a water rocket and an air rocket.
First we did the Water Rocket. It turned out to be totally, surprisingly awesome.
Then we did the Green (air) Rocket. It turned out to be very anti-climactic, especially after how amazing the water rocket was.
So, we abandoned the air rocket and launched the water rocket a few more times.
It was a pretty great end to our year of physics study!
Awesome ideas! I love it.