Educators' Guide: Hands-On/Mini-Activity: Feel the Stretch

Activites Index | Glossary Educator Support

Tension A stretching force that pulls on a material.

Illustration: hands linking at fingers, and pulling.

Have pairs of kids link fingers as shown and lean away from each other. Ask them to describe how their arms feel. (stretched or pulled apart) Elevator cables and the cables of suspension bridges are examples of parts of structures that are in tension.

Try the Forces Lab.