Cohort 2 Issue #4 – By Katie, Libby, & Madeline

ADDICTED TO SCIENCE Who was Galileo Galilei?

Born: February 15th, 1564, Pisa Died: January 8th, 1642, Arcetri

At the beginning of last class we began discussing a very important scientists named Galileo Galilei. He made a very significant discovery that changed the way we view mass in proportion to weight. Galileo theorized that objects of the same material but different masses would fall at the same speed. He found that his theory was true, objects fall at the same time due to gravitational pull. This was contradictory to Aristotle’s theory of gravity, which states that objects fall at a speed relative to their mass. It was rumored that Galileo testing this theory by dropping two objects of the same material off of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, however experiment has never been proven to have actually happened. Galileo was an incredible discoverer and truly changed the way we view science in the modern world.

“In questions of science the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.”

On Tuesday we discussed many different ideas and opinions inquiry. Our cohort split up into groups and took time outside to review it’s meaning, but what is the real definition of inquiry?

Inquiry – (noun) 1. a seeking or request for truth, information, or knowledge. 2. an investigation, as into an incident

Inquiry

Interesting Facts

• Seriously considered going into the priesthood at an early age

• He was an accomplished Lutenist • Fathered three children out of

wedlock • Enrolled at the University of Pisa

with a medical degree • Also studied Disegno, a term

encompassing fine art • Galileo’s work was banned from

being reprinted by the church. This ban was removed in 1718

• Galileo was a groundbreaking astronomer, physicist,

mathematician, philosopher and inventor. Among his inventions

were telescopes, a compass and a thermometer.

• In 1610 Galileo spotted four objects surrounding Jupiter that acted

unlike stars. These objects turned out to be Jupiter’s four moons: Lo, Callisto, Europa and Ganymede

• Galileo’s ideas and theories were very controversial at the time

Cohort 2 Issue #4 – By Katie, Libby, & Madeline

2

Joe shocked and amazed us on Wednesday when he put together an ordinary fork and spoon, and balanced them on a jar of water using only a toothpick and a match. The class was stunned by this balancing act as well as the countless others demonstrated including, Circus Sam, Earnest the Balancing Bear, and the Bottle Balancer. We discussed what it could be that was holding these objects so perfectly in place, and were given the chance to test out our predictions

by re-creating Joe’s “Well Balanced Meal” lesson. This activity teaches students the concepts of balance, center of mass, and center of gravity. Many groups attempted and succeeded with the lesson, shocked that they were able to actually get the fork and spoon to balance! The class came back together and found out that these balancing acts were possible by a simple equation: m¹ L¹ = m² L².

A Well Balanced Meal

To strengthen our knowledge of balance and center of mass, Joe gave us each a butterfly to cut out and decorate. To make our butterfly balance on the tip of our finger, we added pennies to the ends of the butterflies’ wings to make the weight even on each side. For younger students, this lesson could be taught to introduce the main concepts of balance and center of mass. It could also be given to older students, without the penny spots, as an assessment to see if they can figure out how to make the butterfly balance. Students could be given a variety of objects to use, and could work to figure out what materials worked best, and where to place those materials on their butterfly.

Balancing Butterflies