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3. Forces

We begin our story as we find Lucy, Lenny, Lisa and Louie in Gym Class. Today, the students are allowed to pick their own Flag Football teams. The popular choice: guys vs. girls. The game is surprisingly close, with the guys ahead by one touchdown. Lisa and Lucy are laboring with their blocking assignments as Louie is constantly getting to their quarterback. "Geez, we're getting beat off the line by Louie! " screams Lucy. "Come into the huddle quick, I've got an idea, says Lisa. What's happening is that you are not exerting enough force on Louie to keep him on the line." "Oh gosh, that's right, I remember ; forces in Science. A force is a push or pull! He's pushing harder than I am. The force is unbalanced! exclaims Lucy. Another play goes by as Louie bowls forward over poor Lucy. " Better believe it's unbalanced ! " shouts Lucy, as she shakes the dirt off her gym clothes. "Had enough? I'm lean and mean today." boasts Louie. "OK, Lucy, lets work together." says Lisa. "At the snap, lets combine our force and push Louie back at the same time. This will change the direction of the force in our favor, making Louie move backward away from our quarterback." The two girls follow through and their team begins to march down the field toward the goal line. Suddenly, Louie's clothes are dirty, he's huffing and puffing approaching the huddle. Lenny pushes him shouting: "You are such a whimp!!!!" "No I'm not! " cries Louie. " I can't overcome the force of the two girls!!! Did even a part of that pea brain of yours pay attention in Science yesterday?" "Uhhhh", says Lenny. Sternly, Louie pulls Lenny into the huddle and says. "You and I have to block Lisa and Lucy to balance our force against theirs, then we all stay in the same place. Nobody goes anywhere. Hopefully, somebody else on the team will get to their quarterback. Hear that guys!" Both teams approach the line of scrimmage. The ball is snapped. Lucy, Lisa, Lenny and Louie become frozen in a block. The other boys rush the girls quarterback, but much to their surprise she fakes the pass. She hands the ball off and into the end zone flies the running back. "Touchdown!!!" screams Lisa and Lucy. Then, the coaches whistle blows to end class. The game ends and the net force of both teams in a tie.