Hi! This is Maisy, one of Nancy’s curious science cats reporting again. I just had to tell you a funny science story about my curious counterpart, sister Daisy.
Nancy was working like crazy with some friends on a new science lesson. She kept talking about something called inclined planes. Now we thought they meant planes that fly, so we kept waiting for the paper airplanes to chase. Then we figured out “inclined plane” is just a fancy word for a ramp.
Nancy and her cool friends were having all kinds of fun rolling stuff down those inclined planes. They had toy cars rolling down ramps made out of game boards. You would have thought it was NASCAR races hearing those ladies cheer as their cars went down the ramp. Daisy and I peeked out while we hid under the table. We were really purr-plexed when Nancy got out the saltshaker and salted the inclined plane. They kept talking about something called friction. Not sure what that is but I sure didn’t think that ramp would be very tasty even with salt on it.
Anyway, Nancy and her friends must have got tired playing with their cars because they went upstairs. Daisy and I decided to take a closer look at the inclined planes and cars.
I had trouble keeping my car on the ramp.
Daisy tried salting the cars, but she didn’t think they tasted good salted or plain.
It was time for us to put Nancy’s lesson to use. Daisy said, “Maisy, let’s find and count all the inclined planes in Nancy’s house.” I said, “Let’s go. I bet I can find more than you!” And off we went.
Daisy ran to the bathtub and meowed, “One!” She then slid down the slanted end into the tub.
I ran to the bookshelf because I remembered seeing some books sitting at an angle. “One! Two! Three! Yes!” Daisy was miffed that I had thought of the bookshelf before she did.
Next, Daisy headed to the living room and meowed loudly, “Look, Maisy, the recliner—it has a sloped flat side. That makes two!”
I spotted the desk with the slanted top. I jumped up on the desk and slid down the inclined plane. But don’t tell Nancy. She doesn’t like us up on the furniture. “Yes, yes, that’s four for me. Maisy is winning.” I rubbed up against Daisy, arched my back and puffed up my tail. She really didn’t like that at all.
We were getting tired and all the lights were out so we decided to take a little break. I was ahead of Daisy on the count of inclined planes but I knew she had figured out something and wasn’t telling me.
The next morning I woke up and headed for breakfast. Daisy wasn’t anywhere to be found. Nancy started to get worried and asked everyone to start looking for Daisy. We looked and looked but no Daisy. Then Nancy looked in one of the upstairs bedrooms and saw the window open. “Oh no, she didn’t crawl out the window did she?”
Next thing I know, Nancy and her friends ran outside, looked up and there was Daisy, on the very top of the house.
She was counting “Three, four, five, six, seven, and eight. Wow! Maisy, you wouldn’t believe all the inclined planes I can see from up here on the roof.”
Here’s the photo Nancy took of Daisy. How many inclined planes do you see? Remember, an inclined plane is a ramp or slanted surface.
Daisy is ahead now, but I’m not quitting. Can you help me find more inclined planes?
Mountains in Alaska
Bridge over Indian Creek near Noel, Missouri
Sedgwick County Museum, Wichita, KS
Antenna near Joplin, Missouri
Road in northwest Arkansas
If you see an inclined plane, take a photo and send it to us. Be sure to tell us where it’s located.
We’ll post it here for other blooming scientists to see.
Until next time, have a purr-fectly wonderful time wandering about and wondering about science.
Maisy
