Breaking Down Science compares the methods of breakdancers and scientists, highlighting the importance of curiosity in both fields. The performance uses breakdancing moves and science demonstrations to excite students about science. It explores scientific concepts like the scientific method, friction, conservation of angular momentum, Newton's laws of motion, Bernoulli's principle, rotational inertia, and center of gravity through breakdancing techniques and props like a hovercraft and large spinning wheel. The performance aims to harness the fascination of breakdancing to engage students with the scientific process.

3. Introduction
Breaking Down Science makes a comparison between the methods of
breakdancers and scientists. It highlights the importance of inquisitive-
ness and curiosity in both of these endeavors. The show utilizes both a
variety of breakdancing moves and captivating science demonstrations
to excite students about science.
The Scientific Process
The Scientific Process involves identifying a problem, forming a hypoth-
esis, doing experiments, collecting and analyzing data, forming a conclu-
sion and sharing your work with other scientists.
Breakdancers do something very similar to this when they are trying to
create a new move. They identify the type of move they would like to
work on, for example, a variation of the windmill. Perhaps they hypoth-
esize that they could do the windmill with no hands. They then begin
to experiment with how this might be done. They practice the windmill
over and over, each time trying to figure out how they can achieve their
goal. They learn from their experiments and they change their technique
until they can repeat the new move over and over. Then they give it a
name and finally, they show it to their friends.

4. Experiments with Friction
One of the principles that is going to be discussed is friction. Friction is
the resistance that occurs when one surface rubs against another. Break-
dancers need to reduce friction in order to accomplish some of their
moves, such as the backspin or the windmill. They often bring a smooth
surface to perform on such as linoleum or cardboard. Everyone can expe-
rience friction by doing a simple experiment. Push your hands together
and rub them back and forth. Your hands will start to get hot. That is be-
cause friction causes heat. Sometimes you need friction. If there was
no friction, you would not be able to stop your bicycle or walk without
falling down.

5. Learn how to do the Backspin
It can be fun to learn a breakdancing move and you can start with a basic
move called the backspin.
Start by sitting on the floor with one leg bent in front of you and one be-
hind.
Kick the leg that is behind you out to the side with a lot of force. As you
kick your leg, lie down onto your back and pull both your arms and your
legs in tightly, hugging them to your chest.
The force of your kick will start you spinning. When you lie down and pull
your arms and legs in, you will spin faster. You will feel a force trying to
pull you over to one side; resist this by pressing down into the floor with
your back. Remember, the harder you kick your leg, the faster you will
spin!
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6. The Science of the Backspin
Now that you know how to do the backspin, we are going to take a look
at the science involved.
When you kick your leg, you are using it as a lever to make your body
spin.
A lever is a simple machine. This introduces the principle of Conserva-
tion of Angular Momentum.
When you pull your arms and legs in, you experience Conservation of
Angular Momentum. That means you speed up. You have probably seen
this when an ice skater pulls in their arms when they are spinning on the
ice. Experience it for yourself by sitting in a spinning chair with your arms
and legs extended.
Have someone spin you and then pull your arms and legs in. When you
do this, you will spin faster!

7. Newton's Laws
Sir Isaac Newton was a famous scientist who made a lot of important con-
tributions to our understanding of the world.
He formulated his Universal Law of Gravitation while sitting under an ap-
ple tree watching an apple fall to the ground. This law explains that the
force that pulls things down on earth is the same force that causes the
moon to rotate around the earth and the planets to rotate around the
sun.
Newton also discovered three Laws of Motion. These laws describe how
things move. His first law says that ‘a body at rest will stay at rest and
a body in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside
force.’
We have all experienced this law of motion. A ball on the ground does
not move until we kick it. What are the forces that cause it to stop mov-
ing? We know that gravity pulls things to the ground and friction slows
things down, so these are the forces that cause the ball to stop. If we
kicked a ball in outer space where there is not much gravity or friction, it
would keep going forever.
Another one of Newton's Laws says that 'every action has an equal and
opposite reaction'. This can be hard to experience on earth because the
forces of friction and gravity make it hard to feel. If you threw a ball in
space, the ball would actually throw you as well. It would move in one di-
rection and you would move in the other. In the show we use a hovercraft
that floats on a cushion of air to demonstrate this in front of an audience.
You can also feel it by sitting in a chair on wheels, close to a wall; if you
push against the wall, the wall pushes back and your chair moves back-
ward.

8. Air pressure
The hovercraft floats because a blower forces a cushion of air under it
until there is enough air to support the weight of the hovercraft and the
person riding it. This is called Bernoulli’s Principle. We also make a beach
ball float in mid-air using the same principle. At home you can make a
ping-pong ball float by using a hair dryer.

9. Hypothesis
What is a hypothesis? A hypothesis is an educated guess based on some
knowledge or idea that you have. A hypothesis is used in science to an-
swer questions that we do not know the answer to yet. A scientist will
form a hypothesis based on what is known about a problem and then
will design experiments to test the hypothesis. If the experiments prove
a hypothesis to be true, the scientist will share it with other scientists
and they will also test it to confirm that it is true. If the experiments prove
the hypothesis to be wrong, it is discarded and the scientist will try to
come up with a new hypothesis.
Rotational Inertia
The way things spin has been an important area of study in science. It is
also important for breakdancers because many of their moves require
spinning. Using the spinning top to demonstrate, the heavier top will have
more Rotational Inertia and therefore will spin longer. Rotational Iner-
tia is a principle that is not just determined by weight, but the placement
of the weight is also a factor. The further the weight is from the center,
the more Rotational Inertia a spinning object will have. We demonstrate
this by spinning a top that is light and a heavy top that has its weight dis-
tributed around the outside of the circle. The lighter top does not spin as
long as the heavy top. This is why breakdancers keep their legs spread as
wide as possible in the windmill because it distributes the weight of their
bodies towards the outside of the spin, increasing their Rotational Iner-
tia. We also demonstrate this principle with a six foot metal wheel that
has so much Rotational Inertia that a person can actually spin inside it
like a top.

11. Wave motion
Many things move in waves such as water, sound, and light. Soundwaves
move through the air. When someone speaks, the movement of their
mouth causes the air to vibrate. This vibration then moves through the air
in the form of a wave to your ear where it causes your eardrum to vibrate
allowing you to hear. We demonstrate this by holding the ends of a rope
and flipping it to create a wave. If you flip the rope once, only one wave
travels across it. If you keep moving the rope, waves move continuously
across it.
You can make small waves by giving the rope little shakes or big ones by
moving your arm in big motions. The size of a wave is called its ampli-
tude. Frequency describes how close together the waves can travel.
Waves can also travel through your body. Breakdancers have a move
called the wave, in which a pulse of energy travels from their fingertips
through their arm, to their shoulders, down one leg, up the other and out
through their second arm. See if you can make waves move through your
body!

13. Balance
The last science principle we look at is Center-of-gravity. In order for
something to balance, its Center-of-Gravity must be supported. Center-
of-gravity is the point in an object or a person around which all the parts
balance. Breakdancers do a number of different balances called freezes. If
you are observant, you will notice that no matter what shape they are in,
they are always supporting their Center-of-Gravity.
Try standing against a wall with your heels touching it. Now try to lean
forward and touch you toes without falling over. You can not do it! Your
feet no longer support your Center-of-Gravity as you lean forward, so
you fall over. If you lean forward when you are not against a wall, your
hips move backwards slightly in order to keep your Center-of-Gravity
over your feet.

14. FREEZE!

15. Breaking Down Science harnesses the fascination and
excitement of breakdancing to hook students on the scientific
method. This interactive performance uncovers the hidden world of
science in the twists, spins and flips of the breakdancer and the use of
fun props like gigantic tops, a hover-craft, and a six-foot Circus Wheel.
A Special Thank You To The Volunteers:
Keily Ros
Sekou Hamer
Gideon Parker
for more info please contact info@everettri.org or call (401) 831-9479