Bananas

The 5-6th graders did a lab today that involved Hot Wheel cars cruising down a wood rap to smash bananas at the bottom. We were testing potential and kinetic energy's association with weight and height. My kids had fun experimenting how much smashing they could do by increasing the angle of the board ramp... the answer is a lot. 

The cars didn't roll very straight (could be the cars or could be the boards are a little warped), so there were some bananas that didn't end up smashed. Joe must've been able to smell them (bananas are his favorite), so he impatiently hovered around his food bowl waiting for us to give him some. After the lab, we did, and he immediately chowed down. 

Some of the banana chunks were in pieces, and in his haste to scarf his treat, some got stuck on his nose. He tried shaking it off with mixed results. Then he used his front claw to knock it off. That worked after about five tries. Such a cutie. The bananas were gone in less than five minutes.

In other exciting news, one of the cotton seeds sprouted! It was a surprise in the middle of the day. This morning the container was plain brown dirt. This afternoon during the lab, a yellowish green sprout had popped up. It was surprisingly tall! We were all a bit shocked to see something appear so quickly. Hopefully more will come soon!