Teacher Spotlight: Learning Physics Through Play

By Melissa Jellison, High School Science Teacher at Lisbon Regional School and WMSI Teacher Mentor

When you think of a high school Physics class you might imagine blackboards covered in formulas and students sitting at their desks with graphing calculators punching numbers to predict how far a weighted sled might travel if pushed down a hill. What you might not imagine is kids actually sledding and playing.

Learning through play is important at any age; high school included. Playing has a way of bringing concepts to life. The use of play in the classroom helps students to explore the world around them and naturally helps to develop creative problem solving and creativity. In my physics classroom, we utilize play a lot. While learning the relationship between distance, velocity, and time, before students plugged variables into calculators they designed sleds and we went sledding. Based on childhood memories, students built cardboard sleds. The available materials were cardboard, duct tape, and plastic sheeting. Students used the engineering design process to build their sleds. They had to set goals for their sled, advertise their design, and test their design. 

Through the testing of the sleds, they learned fundamental concepts of physics without opening the textbook. Building and working through the design and play process allowed students to ask questions and make observations without fear of “getting it wrong.” Play creates a safe zone for learning new content.