Kids love to play with pinwheels. Whether you buy one at the store or make your own (pinwheel making tutorial), add a little Physics to the fun!
1. Use a string and ruler to measure the outside distance around the outside of the pinwheel.
2. Mark one spot on the pinwheel in some way. Use color, a piece of tape, etc. Just make sure the mark is very visible, even when the pinwheel is spinning.
3. Have your child practice watching the pinwheel in motion and counting each time the pinwheel makes a complete revolution. (When the mark on the pinwheel goes all the way around and returns to the same spot.) Move on to practicing counting exactly 10 revolutions. When your child has this down, move on to step 4.
4. Use a stop watch to measure the time it takes for the pinwheel to make 10 revolutions. Repeat 5 times, then average the 5 trials to get the “average time” for 10 revolutions.
5. Divide the average time by 10 to get the time for 1 revolution.
6. Calculate the speed at which the outside of the pinwheel was spinning by dividing the distance around the outside of the pinwheel (step 1) by the average time for 1 revolution (step 5). Your child has just calculated the rotational speed of the pinwheel!
To extend, repeat using different sources of “wind” to move the pinwheel at different speeds. Add a weather component by repeating on consecutive days to compare the wind strength. Older children may find it interesting to compare the actual wind speed (use a local weather app) to the speed of the pinwheel rotation. Look for patterns and mathematical relationships between the two.
