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PSPKK12

Science Activities for Kids: Free Fall Experiment

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If you drop two objects, a light one and a heavy one, from the same height, which object will hit the ground first? If you are looking for science activities for kids try this free fall experiment with a heavy rock and a simple piece of paper and you may be rubbing your eyes in disbelief at what you see!

A child and an adult dropping items off a balcony during this free fall science experiment

Getting the Science Activities for Kids: Free Fall Experiment Ready

I was super excited to do this free fall experiment with my kids. I have read about it in textbooks, but I wanted to try it out for myself!

First, the kids hunted around outside until they found a good sized rock.

If you are looking great Science Activities for Kids try this Free Fall Science Experiment! Kids will love learning about gravity and air resistance.

Next, I pulled out a piece of printer paper and asked the kids which one would hit the ground first if we dropped them from our balcony outside. Not surprisingly, they agreed that the rock would crash to the ground long before the piece of paper.

It was time to test it for ourselves!

Free Fall Science Experiment

Our house has a balcony so we did this free fall experiment from there. Standing from the top of a play structure or any other safe height works just as well.

I instructed the kids to crumple up the piece of paper into the smallest, tightest ball they could.

If you are looking great Science Activities for Kids try this Free Fall Science Experiment! Kids will love learning about gravity and air resistance.

My son held the rock in one hand and the ball of paper in the other. Since the rock was so much bigger and heavier I think he wondered why we were trying this experiment out at all!

I stood at the bottom and watched while father and son stood on the balcony with the rock and the piece of paper. I made sure things were clear below. They counted, “One, two three, DROP!” and released the rock and the ball of paper at the same time.

If you are looking great Science Activities for Kids try this Free Fall Science Experiment! Kids will love learning about gravity and air resistance.

The kids were absolutely shocked to find that the rock and the ball of paper hit the ground at the same time!

They couldn’t believe it. We repeated this experiment over and over again to convince them that what they were seeing was real!

The Science Behind the Science Activities for Kids: Free Fall Experiment

All objects are pulled toward the earth by gravity. The acceleration of an object due to gravity is the same on everything, regardless of the object’s weight. This means that you could drop a piano and a marble from the same height at the same time and they would land on the ground at exactly the same moment!

How do you think this experiment would be different if you dropped a rock and a piece of paper that is NOT crumpled up? Why?

If you are looking great Science Activities for Kids try this Free Fall Science Experiment! Kids will love learning about gravity and air resistance.

What if you had two identical pieces of paper and you crumple one up into a ball and leave the other one flat? If they are dropped from the same height at the same time which one would land first? Why?

Squeezing the piece of paper into a tight ball decreases the effect of air resistance on the paper. Unless you are doing this experiment in a vacuum, a feather or a flat piece of paper will flutter slowly down to the ground due to air resistance. Try it out and see for yourself!

More Science Activities and Ideas

Walking Water Science for Kids

Science Notebook

Plants Unit

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Filed Under: Experiments Tagged With: First Grade, Kindergarten, Science

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Reader Interactions

4 Comments

  1. ogurawood

    March 19, 2018 at 5:13 am

    Thank you for this beautiful reminder!

    Reply to this comment
    • Jennifer

      April 2, 2018 at 9:53 am

      I’m so glad you like it!

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply to this comment

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    […] Free Fall from A Dab of Glue Will Do […]

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    December 12, 2022 at 10:42 am

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