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THE PHYSICAL EDITION

Rolling and Stopping

Follow Vince and one little ball from the cottage path to the grass, down a small hill and home again. Notice when his hands touch the ball, when they leave it, and what changes as it rolls and stops.

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Explore the science

Starting to rollPages 1–2

Vince crouches beside a resting ball, then touches it with his hand to give it a push. Contact with his hand starts the ball moving. The next spread shows what happens when his hand leaves.

Ask together: What changes when Vince’s hand touches the ball?

Moving after the pushPages 3–4

Vince lifts his hand away. A gap stays between his hand and the ball as it rolls farther along the path. The hand’s push ends when contact ends, but the ball can keep rolling. Resistance from the real path gradually slows it; a push is not fuel that gets used up.

Ask together: What can you see between Vince’s hand and the rolling ball?

Contact that slows the ballPages 5–6

The ball rolls from the path into grass, where blades touch its lower surface. Vince finds it stopped, with his hands clear. The ball, grass and ground bend or squash, and small collisions take energy from the rolling. How much it slows depends on the ball and surface; these pictures do not show a measured comparison.

Ask together: What is touching the ball now?

Carrying the ballPages 7–8

Vince lifts the ball out of the grass and carries it toward the nearby hill. He retrieves the same ball and takes it to a new place before letting it go again. This connects the stop in the grass with the next rolling scene.

Ask together: How is the ball moving with Vince now?

Gravity and a slopePages 9–10

Vince holds the ball in place on a firm downward slope, then lifts his hand away as it rolls downhill. Earth’s gravity pulls on the ball throughout the journey. On this suitable slope, gravity can make the released ball roll without a hand push. The sloping ground supports and guides it.

Ask together: What is different about the path here?

Slowing and stoppingPages 11–12

Vince waits near the foot of the hill with his hands ready, then meets and cradles the incoming ball. His hands slow and stop the ball through contact. The ball is caught gently at ground level.

Ask together: What changes when his hands meet the ball?

Starting in a new directionPages 13–14

Vince holds the caught ball while facing home, then gives it a fresh push toward the blue door. The ball is stopped before the new push. Vince’s touch sets it off toward home; the ball does not steer itself there.

Ask together: Where does Vince send the ball this time?

Back at homePages 15–16

Inside the cottage, Vince puts the ball on the rug and sits beside it. The rolling journey ends with the ball resting beside Vince. Next comes a quiet moment with his notebook.

Ask together: What tells you that Vince and the ball are home?

Sources and evidence

  1. A hand pushing a resting ball can set it rolling.

    NGSS: K. Forces and Interactions: Pushes and Pulls
    PS2.A and PS2.B: contacting objects can change motion, including starting an object. First-party curriculum framing, not a measurement of this prop.

    The ball is a single ordinary soft play ball on a firm, approximately level path; push near its middle. No claim about an exact push strength or speed.

  2. After the hand leaves, the ball can keep rolling without a continuing hand push.

    NASA Glenn: Newton’s Laws of Motion
    First Law, opening paragraph: unchanged velocity when the net external force is zero. This distinguishes continuing motion from continuing propulsion.

    The illustrated ball is not force-free: gravity, support and resistance still act. It is slowing on the real path; the book does not claim constant speed or perpetual rolling. A push is not fuel stored inside the ball.

  3. Contact with the ground and grass resists this ball’s rolling and brings it to rest.

    B. N. J. Persson (2010), Rolling friction for hard cylinder and sphere on viscoelastic solid
    Introduction, paragraph on Greenwood and Tabor: deformation of rubber loses some elastic energy. Theory section, equations (4)–(6): rolling resistance is linked to energy dissipation. Abstract explicitly limits the model to a rigid ball on a flat viscoelastic solid.

    Application to grass is a qualitative mechanical inference, not an experiment reported in this paper. The picture shows a light ball gently rolling into dense grass, bending blades and stopping; there is no measured stopping distance or comparative trial. Grass, soil and ball deform, and small collisions contribute. Ideal static friction in pure rolling is not itself a universal explanation of energy loss.

  4. On a suitable downward slope, a released ball can start rolling without a hand push because gravity acts on it.

    NASA Space Place: What Is Gravity?
    Opening definition and “What else does gravity do?”: Earth attracts objects toward its centre; the pull is present before release as well as afterward.

    NGSS: K. Forces and Interactions: Pushes and Pulls
    K-PS2-2 clarification examples include a ramp that increases an object’s speed; PS2.A describes motion changes. Starting from rest on this slope additionally applies gravity and contact mechanics, rather than reproducing a measured NGSS experiment.

    Gravity is downward, not a force pointing along the path. The sloping support constrains motion; sufficient downhill component overcomes resistance. A firm gentle slope is pictured, not deep grass. Gravity also acts on the earlier level path. No universal statement that every ball rolls on every slope.

  5. Vince’s hands can slow and stop the incoming rolling ball by contact.

    NGSS: K. Forces and Interactions: Pushes and Pulls
    K-PS2-1 clarification includes stopping a rolling ball; PS2.A/B describe motion changes during contact.

    A slow soft ball is caught at ground level; hands yield slightly. No instantaneous stop, force magnitude, rebound or stopping-time claim.

  6. Vince can send the ball toward home with another push after turning to face that way.

    NGSS: K. Forces and Interactions: Pushes and Pulls
    PS2.A: pushes have directions and can change an object’s motion.

    The ball is caught and stationary before this new push. The book does not imply that a ball follows a curved path by itself or that Vince’s gaze steers it. Direction is observed, not quantitatively compared.

Water and Wind

Water and Wind, pages 1–2: Wind moves the pinwheel.

Spread 1 / 12

Wind tickles my cheek. Round goes my pinwheel.

Explore the science

Wind & forcesPages 1–2

Wind moves the pinwheel. Wind is moving air. Vince feels it on his cheek and sees it push the pinwheel's angled blades.

Ask together: What tells you that the air is moving?

Currents & eddiesPages 3–4

Water passes the rock. A leaf circles behind it. Most water passes the rock; some circles back in an eddy. Laminar flow is orderly; turbulence is irregular, mixing motion. A swirl alone cannot distinguish them.

Ask together: How does the leaf move compared with the water passing the rock?

Waves & energyPages 5–6

Waves spread from the stream. The duck bobs. The falling stream makes waves that carry energy outward and make the toys bob. The stream's current also carries toys along. Bobbing and drifting are different motions.

Ask together: What moves up and down? What moves along the pond?

BuoyancyPages 7–8

A duck floats. A pebble sinks. Water pushes upward on both objects. This buoyancy balances the duck's weight, but not the pebble's. The pebble's splash makes the rings on the next spread.

Ask together: Where is each object compared with the surface?

When waves meetPages 9–10

Two wave patterns approach one another. When gentle waves overlap, their heights add, briefly raising or lowering the surface. This interference does not erase the waves; they continue through one another.

Ask together: What might happen where the two patterns meet?

Surface tensionPages 11–12

Tiny dents appear beneath the strider’s legs. Surface tension helps support the strider where its water-repellent legs dent the water. The duck floats mainly by displacing water.

Ask together: What do you notice where its legs meet the water?

Suction & pressurePages 13–14

The duck bubbles, fills and squirts. Squeeze underwater: air bubbles out. Release with the opening submerged: the elastic duck springs back, lowering pressure inside. The surrounding water pressure pushes water in. Squeeze above water: water exits through that same opening.

Ask together: What changes when Vince squeezes and then lets go?

Lift & gravityPages 15–16

A paper plane glides forward and down. The throw starts the plane moving. Airflow around its wings produces lift and turns air downward. Gravity pulls down; drag resists motion. In still air, the plane glides forward and gradually descends.

Ask together: Where might the plane go next?

ViscosityPages 17–18

Milk runs. Honey stretches into a thread. Honey's greater viscosity means greater resistance to flow. It makes a slow thread while milk runs readily. Temperature and pouring method also matter; this snack is an observation, not a controlled test.

Ask together: How do the milk and honey move differently?

Draining & swirlingPages 19–20

Foam curves inward toward the drain. Gravity drives water through the drain. Existing turning motion can become a curved inward flow, traced by foam. Here water travels to the outlet, unlike waves crossing the pond. Not every drain swirls.

Ask together: Can you follow the foam toward the drain?

Scientific observationPages 21–22

Vince sketches what he noticed. Vince records something he noticed. Drawings, marks or words let him return to an observation. He does not need all the answers.

Ask together: Which earlier picture matches one of his drawings?

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