Gravity rediscovered

Brandon Twp.-The Brandon Fletcher Intermediate fifth-grade students have their feet firmly planted on the ground’and now they know why.
Students from the classes of fifth-grade teachersTami Rousseu, Heather Sirianni and Kim Coffey combined to study the works of Isaac Newton, who discovered the law of universal gravitation. To prove Newton’s laws, the teaching trio worked with their students to design experiments that explain the laws of inertia, action and reaction.
‘It’s a matter of hands-on and seeing,? said Rousseu. ‘It’s also a lesson in team work for the kids.?
So on June 2, the students divided into groups and–using empty paper towel rolls, string, cardboard and lots of tape–attempted to explain the English physicist’s 400-year-old ideas.
‘I may be an engineer,? said fifth- grader Hanna Nesterowich. ‘Newton’s theories make sense to me now.?
Nesterowich explained with the simple roll of a marble how gravity accomplishes a variety of tasks.
‘This is better than just reading about Newton in books,? said Nesterowich. ‘It actually makes sense to us.?