The topic of motion and forces would be in my Top 10 list of topics in which students benefit from hands-on investigations, simulations, and videos. Students of any age (K–12 and even college) enjoy rolling, sliding, dropping, and flying things. It’s one thing to focus on mathematical formulas in physics (as my college physics courses did) but I might have learned more if I had the chance in earlier grades to manipulate and visualize the processes.
The articles in this issue have many suggestions for manipulations and visualizations. Although designed for younger students, the activities can certainly be used with older students who are unfamiliar with the topics or kicked up a notch or two for experienced students. Pushes and Pulls includes a probe you can use to assess students’ (mis)conceptions on the topic.
With all of the electronic pastimes available today, children are unfamiliar with some classic toys that illustrate motion and forces. Objects in Motion describes how spinning tops can engage students in conversations about movement. (Am I showing my age by remembering Slinky, yo-yos, and hula hoops as ways of experimenting with motion?)  [SciLinks: What Are Forces?]

Why don’t rolling objects reach the bottom of an incline at the same time? sounds like a question tailor-made for investigations with a few different kinds of balls and a desk chair that spins. Or the investigation that connects play and science in Let It Roll. How many ways are there to move? is another question worth discussing, using the 5E activity describe in this article. [SciLinks: Friction]
Becoming Science “Experi-mentors” describes a professional development project in which teachers worked together in learning communities to investigate moving objects. I’ve been involved in similar projects, and it is exciting to see teachers become more confident in their own inquiry skills and share their learning with their students. The project used simple materials and focused on developing a sense of collegial curiosity on the part of the teachers. [SciLinks: Forces and Motion]
Interdisciplinary activities can be used to make connections with the theme, too. The Art and Science of Notebooks ties into some of the ideas in this month’s Science Scope and its theme of Science and Art. Inquiry Science and Active Reading caught my eye, because reading in science has been a professional interest of mine since my grad school days. The authors describe how to use a modification of the cloze procedure in which students work in teams to develop and use skills in comprehension, inference, and interpretation of science text.
A Balancing Act contains activities for primary and upper elementary students on the topics of balance and center of gravity. The authors of May the Force Be With You describe a 5E lesson in which students make and use a simple tool to investigate net forces.  [SciLinks: Balanced and Unbalanced Forces]
The classrooms described in this issue appear to be busy places with engaged students. Isn’t it a shame that more students are not encouraged to explore their world through play?
And check out more Connections for this issue (October 2011). Even if the article does not quite fit with your lesson agenda, there are ideas for handouts, background information sheets, data sheets, rubrics, and other resources.