JDaniel has been working on a Coin Collecting Merit Badge for Scouts. A large bowl of coins was collected for him to sort through to find what he needed for the requirements. I thought it would be fun to do something else with the coins. After a little online searching, I came across Frugal Fun for Boys and Girl’s penny spinners. We tried making them and found that I had trouble gripping the pennies in the spinning top to spin them. We decided to try some of the other coins in the coin bowl to see if they would be easier to grip and thus easier to spin. It was so much fun. I thought you might want to try it too.
Creating the Spinning Tops
Gathering Supplies
The following supplies are needed for the spinning top STEM challenge.
- Small Paper Plates
- Variety of Coins (Penny, Nickel, Dime, Quarter, Half Dollar, Dollar)
- Magic Markers
- Scissors
Decorating the Spinning Top
The tops can be decorated any way your children would like. Here are some design ideas:
- Spirals
- Pie Shaped Colored Sections
- Stripes
- Polka Dots
- Waves of Colors
If you would prefer to have your children color in a design on a pre-made spinner template, you can down this set of Templates for Coin Spinners.
They will work best printed out onto card stock.
Building the Spinning Top
The paper plate will need to be loosely folded in half. Then a small vertical slit will need to be cut into the center of the plate. (The slit can be made bigger when you test out larger coins.)
Next, place a penny in the slit. It will be the first coin you test. Coins can be placed in the spinner one at a time or they can each go in a spinner of their own.
Going Over the Spinning Top Recording Sheet
When you have downloaded the Comparing Coin Spinners Recording Sheet you can open it up with Acrobat Reader. It has several places on the data chart on the sheet to fill in. There is an area to record each type of coin you are testing. Then there is a place to record how long the spinning top was able to spin. Next, there is a place to record how easy or difficult it was to spin each version of the top. Finally, there is an area to record your conclusions and insights.
Testing the Coins in the Top
First, you need to print out a copy of the Comparing Coin Spinners Recording Sheet.
Second, you need to find a way to time the length of your spins. You can use a stopwatch, a clock with a second hand, or a timer app on your cell phone.
Third, you will spin your top with each type of coin. After each spin, you will record the length of time it has spun.
Fourth, you will record how easy or difficult it was to spin each version of the top.
Fifth, you will write down that you concluded or learned while spinning the tops. Below you will find some questions you can answer in your conclusion.
Conclusion Questions
- What made one top easier to spin than another?
- What helped one version of the top spin longer?
- Was there something that made one coin better to use than another?
Here are some more STEM activities:
