Video Writing Prompt: No Friction

Disclaimer: If you’re a science teacher, you won’t want to read this post, or watch the video…..honestly, you’ll cringe. In the following video, I directly imply that ice has no friction. There, I’ve said it, and I’m not happy about it, but it’s done.

Now, for everyone else; I had an ice day! Huzzah! I took to my driveway this morning to enjoy the sheet of ice that had covered the entire drive, and road, and most of the town. It was a “low friction” wonderland, and I captured my antics on camera to share with others. As I was sliding, waving like an idiot to my neighbors who surely thought I was attempting to injure myself, I thought about creating a video story problem; I hemmed and hawed about the incredibly low coefficient of friction that allowed me to glide shuffle down the driveway, and how someone might calculate it, but that didn’t seem exciting enough. I wanted to ask questions about the angle of the driveway, and my acceleration, but again, it felt a bit forced.

So I created a simple video writing prompt instead; imagine a world in which there is no friction. Create a short story, video, or perhaps even challenge your students on a class blog, where students can publish their thoughts and share with others. Jason Osborn got me thinking about video story prompts as he’s been exploring the Write About site with his students, and I’ve always looked for a way to turn the video story problem concept into something a bit more universal. Video writing prompts aren’t anything new, as a quick Google search proves, and I’m more than willing to be “late to the party,” because it’s a heck of a fun party to be at!

P.S. Apparently, the video writing prompt party is one I’ve already visited at least once….I completely forgot!