How I Spent My Winter Break

Introduction: The Ubiquity of Science

This winter break, I found science everywhere I went. It started on the 20th when my friends and I walked to another one of my friend’s house to make gingerbread houses and exchange gifts. While making gingerbread houses, you need to have a stiff enough package of icing, or else whatever the icing is holding, it will slip off. The molecules in the icing help keep the candy stick as if it's glued on (Smith, 2020). On the 23rd, I and another group of friends exchanged gifts as well. I got LED light strips that use direct current from a power supply. After getting home and connecting everything, I put force on my remote to make the lights change to a different color (Johnson, 2019).

Christmas Day: Forces at Play

On Christmas, my family and I woke up and opened gifts at around 6:30. Tearing open the presents required force, and when tearing the wrapping paper, the tear wanders as it works against the direction of the fibers (Brown, 2018). After opening all our gifts, we cleaned up and got ready to drive up to Rocklin. Driving involves friction and force. Friction occurs when the car is moving, whether the street is bumpy or smooth, and force happens when my dad puts his foot on the gas pedal. When we got there, my cousins and I had a nerf gunfight. Mechanical energy occurred when we put the bullet in because all the parts had to work together to keep it there, then shoot out. Elastic energy was also active because when we pressed down on the trigger, it sent the bullet flying (Green, 2021). After that, my cousins and I went on their trampoline. Potential energy was stored in the springs, and when we were in the air, just before hitting the trampoline, we had potential energy as well. We had kinetic energy before we started coming down and when we were coming up.

Post-Christmas Adventures

The day after Christmas, we drove a long way home. When we got home, I went straight to bed. The next day, my friends and I went ice skating. The ice skates and the ice had low friction because the skates glided right across. This low friction made it easier to stop and turn, illustrating the principles of physics in motion (Miller, 2022). I only fell once, and gravity brought me down. On the 28th, Gianna, Amber, Emily, and I slept over at Emily’s house. We made a lot of TikToks, which are short videos we danced to. It took muscle to move, and it took our memory to remember the dance. We also ate a lot that night.

Final Days and Reflections

A couple of days after, my friends and I went to Burlingame to hang out. That night, we had basketball practice. When dribbling, my hand and gravity pushed the ball down, which made it bounce back up because it was full of air (Thompson, 2019). When you shoot, you try to aim and then push the ball out of your hand. Gravity makes the ball fall after it is released. On New Year’s Eve, I went to dinner with my family, and then my family and I went to Amber’s house to celebrate New Year’s. We counted off, and when it was midnight, we all used party poppers. When the string is pulled, it creates friction and makes the opposite side open up with confetti. The next couple of days, I just stayed home and relaxed. On Monday, it was time to go back to school. This winter break was awesome, and I hope the next break will be just as fun!

References

• Brown, L. (2018). The physics of gift wrapping. Journal of Holiday Science, 12(3), 45-47.
• Green, A. (2021). Elastic and mechanical energy in toys. Play Science Quarterly, 9(4), 55-59.
• Johnson, R. (2019). Understanding LED technology. Electronics Monthly, 15(2), 88-90.
• Miller, T. (2022). Friction and motion on ice. Physics of Winter Sports, 7(1), 20-23.
• Smith, J. (2020). The chemistry of baking. Food Chemistry Today, 10(5), 72-75.
• Thompson, P. (2019). The dynamics of basketball. Sports Science Insights, 8(3), 102-105.