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THE PHYSICAL EDITION

Squash and Spring

Vince makes a bed for his toy duck. He squashes and bends a sponge, presses a hollow in clay, and notices which shapes return and which stay. The grown-up guide connects his choices to elastic behaviour and lasting shape changes.

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Explore the science

Choosing materialsPages 1–2

Vince brings his toy duck to the board and touches the sponge beside the clay. Touching and pressing can help us notice how a material yields. Softness alone does not tell us whether a changed shape will stay.

Ask together: What could Vince use to make Duck’s bed?

Recovery after compressionPages 3–4

Vince presses the sponge against the board. With his pressing hand above it, the sponge is thicker again. The selected resilient foam changes shape under a push and returns towards its earlier shape after release. Different foams can recover differently.

Ask together: What changes when Vince lifts his pressing hand?

Recovery after bendingPages 5–6

Vince bends the sponge into a curve, then sets it down with his hands away. It opens out again. Bending changes the shape in another way. This sponge does not keep the curved shape when the bending forces are removed.

Ask together: What happens to the curve when Vince lets go?

Changing clay by pressingPages 7–8

Vince brings his fingers to the soft clay and presses a hollow while the sponge waits beside it. The clay also yields under a push. The next spread invites a comparison after the pressing fingers leave.

Ask together: Where is the clay’s shape changing?

Retained deformationPages 9–10

Vince lifts his hands. The hollow remains in the clay while the sponge rests nearby. Soft modelling clay can keep a changed shape without turning hard. This lasting change is called plastic deformation; plastic here describes the change, not the material’s name.

Ask together: What stays the same when Vince moves his hands away?

Reshaping a retained formPages 11–12

Vince presses the low clay sides outward, then places Duck inside the wider hollow. The sponge waits beside it. Keeping a shape does not mean the clay cannot change again. Further pressing widens the hollow so Vince can try Duck inside.

Ask together: What has changed around Duck?

Using different material behavioursPages 13–14

Vince places the sponge in the clay hollow, then settles Duck on the cushion. The shaped clay supplies low sides and the foam supplies a yielding cushion. A light toy need not leave a large dent, and neither material is best for every job.

Ask together: What job does each material do?

Sources and evidence

  1. Forces at the hands and supporting board can change shape through compression; opposing hand contacts can bend a flexible sponge.

    Institute of Physics: Stretching and compressing materials

    Shape changes depend on the material and where forces act. The story shows successive moments, not measured forces or an equal-force comparison.

  2. The selected resilient foam sponge can recover towards its earlier shape after gentle compression or bending and release.

    OpenStax College Physics2e 5.3 Elasticity: Stress and Strain

    Polyurethane Foam Association: Foam Performance

    The story uses resilient foam. Some foams recover slowly, lose shape or tear; no exact recovery time or limitless elasticity is promised.

  3. Soft non-hardening modelling clay can retain a pressed hollow after release and can be reshaped by further pressing.

    Institute of Physics: Stretching and compressing materials

    Crayola: Modeling Clay, Natural Colors

    The story uses soft non-hardening modelling clay. A retained hollow does not mean the clay has hardened or can never change again; composition and temperature affect its response.

  4. Material choice can combine a retained clay shape and a yielding foam cushion for a light toy.

    Polyurethane Foam Association: Foam Performance

    Crayola: Modeling Clay, Natural Colors

    This is a small toy bed. A light duck may barely compress its cushion; neither material is best for every purpose.

  5. Foam firmness/recovery and clay stiffness vary, so an optional comparison should follow the actual materials rather than assume all behave alike.

    Polyurethane Foam Association: Foam Performance

    Crayola: Modeling Clay, Natural Colors

    Use what your own materials show. Choose materials suitable for the child with a grown-up, press gently, avoid mouths and tearing pieces off, and follow age and handling guidance. Watching is welcome.

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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