Crafting Force and Motion into the Space Olympics

When my I received the assignment of partnering with John Dewey Elementary again this Spring, I was eager to get back there. Last year’s residencies were a lot of fun, and I was pleased the teachers were now requesting me, personally. It’s that time of year again . . . for first graders to learn about force and motion.

This year I’m working with all of the first grade classrooms. Six classes of 30 students will take on the same 5 session project over 5 weeks. I felt challenged to design a program that was exciting, but also possible to prep and deliver six times a week while also preparing for the following week’s sessions. What could we do?

In a small brainstorming session with our cohort of Artist-Educators, the idea came very quickly. We tossed a few ideas around about using the theme of space, as it’s a personal passion of mine. We then remembered the upcoming Olympic Games in Seoul and how most of the kids would be watching them at home. So why not combine those themes? I would create a Space Olympics program: each week(session) the students would participate in a new “event,” blending design, color, and force and motion. Every session was distinctly separate from the previous week. Students had creative license but had to follow directions and complete each task, then we would test their creations for our own olympic events.

We tested gravity with an astronaut drop, launched asteroids, designed balancing robots, launched ballon rockets, and even moved and danced during astronaut training, when we discussed how everything moves differently in space without gravity. The range of ideas and projects were amazing, and the kids had a blast. Though at times we hit a few hurdles, overall, I’d call the Space Olympics residency a success ,and definitely one to come back to when it’s time to teach force and motion again.