What Happens When a Spinning Skater Pulls Her Arms In?
Open for the projector Present it step by step
Classroom mode
A question for the whole room
One story to open. A room full of ideas to test.
Ready in three steps
- Open the story.Read and try the first pages together.
- Pause for a prediction.At the story’s question, read its choices aloud. Invite a vote and ask, “What makes you think that?”
- Run it. Watch. Wonder.Choose the class’s prediction, run the experiment, and compare what happened with your guesses.
Different guesses are welcome. The experiment gives everyone something to rethink.
Something to put on paper
A one-page prediction and observation sheet. No answers included.
After the experiment: discussion notes
Talk about what happened
- If the spin-amount stays the same, why does the spin get faster?
- What would happen to a figure skater spinning on a planet with no ice friction at all?
- Can you think of a spinning object that slows itself down by spreading out?
Where it shows up in real life
- Figure skaters pulling into a tight spin during a routine
- Divers tucking into a ball to flip faster before entering the water
- Gymnasts pulling arms and legs in during aerial twists
- Pulsars — collapsed stars spinning incredibly fast because they shrank from a giant star into a tiny dense ball
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