When the coin hit the floor, the children gasped in surprise during a science class at Japan Freinet, a free school in Toshima Ward, Tokyo. They were experimenting to see which would fall first — the coin or a piece of paper of the same size.
Ten children in grade school and junior high school had sat in a circle to predict the outcome.
"I think it will fall at the same time. I remember that Galileo conducted such an experiment," said one of the children. "The coin will fall first. The paper will flutter to the ground," said another.