Friday, March 11, 2011

Do Snowmen Have to Be Round to Be Stable?

Testing a Child's Theory

A child asked a question, "Why are all snowmen round?"
"Because that's how they stand straight," answered a classmate.
"What happens if we make him a different shape," asked the teacher.
"He will fall!"

And so the teacher took the children outside and challenged them to make three snowmen, only one could be round.  The children found various shaped pails in the storage room and decided they would use the pails to form the snowmen parts. The conversation was interesting as the children navigated the pieces to form the snowmen.

Not only did they use a shape other than the traditional round balls, one of the snowmen had more than three balls.

In conclusion the theory changed.

"Snowmen don't have to be round. The pieces have to stay on top of each other!"

A fantastic exercise in stability.




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