EVERYTHING HAS WEIGHT.
We have all seen a magnet. We have watched it pick up little pieces of iron and hold them tightly.
The great earth upon which we live acts like a It pulls everything toward itself. The pull or attraction of the earth is what makes things have weight.
A piece of iron is heavy. You can hardly lift it because the earth pulls it strongly. A piece of wood the same size as the iron is light. You can lift it easily because the earth does not pull it so strongly.
If you throw a ball into the air it falls quickly to the ground. A feather will fall, but not so quickly, because the air holds it up.
You tumble out of a tree and are hurt. It is the earth pulling you that makes you strike the ground so hard. The higher you are in the tree the more the fall will hurt.
How easy it is to run down hill. It is hard work to climb back up the hill. The earth is pulling you down the hill. If you stumble it may cause you to fall.
If it were not for the pull of the earth we could not go coasting. It you threw a ball in the air it would not come back to you.
The pull of the earth is helping to tear down the mountains. Did you ever think of that? At the foot of the cliffs there are great fragments of rocks which have fallen from above. If you climb the
cliff you will find many pieces of rock ready to fall. Push one with your foot. Down it goes tumbling and rolling to the bottom.
It is the pull of the earth that makes water run down hill. Look out of the window when it rains. The little streams of water are hurrying past. The earth is pulling them and they are trying to find the lowest place. . Perhaps they will have to run many miles before they can rest.
Here is a hollow in the ground. Some of the water has found it and formed a little pond. Take a spade and dig a ditch through the rim of dirt which holds the water. Away it goes through the ditch. The earth is pulling it and it cannot stay.
The earth pulls the balloon as it does everything else, but the balloon rises because it is lighter than the air. Ducks can swim upon the water because they are lighter than the water.
A stick floats upon the water because it is light, but a piece of lead drops to the bottom. It is heavier than the water and the earth pulls it down to the bottom.