Air Resistance – Parachutes

This week, Crew Hamill have continued their expedition lessons by focusing on another force – air resistance. We looked at what air resistance is – a type of friction between air and another material – and looked at the impact this had on objects when they fell to the ground. We tested it out by dropping two pieces of paper (one flat and one screwed into a ball) and discussed which one would fall to the ground first. We then discussed why this might have happened. Together, we predicted the ball of paper would fall fastest as it was more dense and had a smaller surface area. We were then introduced to our mission from the National Space Station:

Using our design brief, we worked in pairs to design and create a parachute that could be tested for air resistance. We worked in mini crews to create these and then came together as a whole crew to test them out. We began by ordering the parachutes from biggest to smallest in order to test whether our prediction (that larger parachutes will take longer to fall to the floor as there will be more air resistance) was correct. We found that we were correct – the larger the canopy on the parachute, the longer it took to fall to the ground. However, there was one anomaly with a parachute that had been made with a thicker canopy and this effected the results slightly.

We loved conducting a fair test to investigate! Raza made an excellent scientist by being our constant variable and being the only one to drop each of the parachutes!

Friction experiment

Today we experimented with friction! We used a range of materials (wood, tea-towel, silk and a cushion) to test out the question, ‘How does the texture of a surface affect the amount of friction?’ We used a ramp and a car and covered the ramp with different textures. We found out that the rougher the surface, the more friction. The smoother the surface, the less friction.

May the forces be with you

During our case study 2 learning, we have been learning all about gravity and friction.

We first of all watched a video introducing gravity, and we also read an informational text about Sir Issac Newton – the scientist who created the gravity law. We were then given the task to use newton metres to measure the weight and mass of objects in class.

Once our learning was secure, we moved onto delving deeper into friction. In order to do, this we carried out a class investigation, we made a hypothesis: the smoother the surface the less friction so the object will move quicker. We concluded this was in fact correct and we were shocked to realise the affects of friction on our world.

What are the effects of friction?

To begin part one of our lesson on friction, we recapped some of our prior knowledge and looked at the scientific vocabulary that we needed for the lesson. We then looked at what friction is and watched a video that detailed what life would be like without friction. Once we’d had some more knowledge of friction, we began part two of our lesson which focused on an investigation in which we looked at the effects of friction on a toy car. Before we began our investigation, we discussed as a crew what we thought might happen and came up with a crew hypothesis. We then conducted the experiment to see if our hypothesis would be correct. We used a wooden ramp and 4 different materials to test how far the car would travel on the different surfaces. We were happy to conclude that our hypothesis was correct! We found out that a rougher surface would produce more friction, meaning the car would travel a shorter distance and that with a smoother surface it would travel further as there is less friction.

Using newton metres to measure classroom equipment

We have now began our Case Study 2 – physics! We first of all, we watched a video introducing gravity, and we also read an informational text about Sir Issac Newton – the scientist who created the gravity law. We were then given the task to use newton metres to measure the weight of objects in class. We really loved this practical activity to kick start our physics.

We each created a table to recorded our findings:

What is gravity and how does it work?

This week, we kick started Case Study 2, physics, by looking at the force of gravity. We discussed what a force was and identified that most of the crew already knew that gravity was the reason why we ‘stick to the floor’ and do not float. We then built up our background knowledge by watching a few videos that provided more information on gravity. Each time we watched a new video, we added extra information to our chotting sheet, changing colour each time. We then read a text on Isaac Newton, the scientist that discovered gravity when an apple fell down from a tree, and added even more information.

Once we had our background knowledge secure, we looked at Newton Metres which are used to measure the effect of gravity on an object. We had a go at measuring objects from around the classroom which we really enjoyed. We then worked in mini crews to use what we knew about gravity to create marble runs! We knew that gravity would bring the marble down to the floor so came up with some creative ways of making the marble move.

How Does Movement Affect Our World?

Last week, we applied all what we had learnt in physics to help partly answer our guiding question and reflect on the case study. Great understanding was shown as well as beautiful books that look Y6 standard!

After completing our science touchdown, we needed to consolidate some gaps in our learning so in challenge crew this morning we completed a Kahoot quiz. We worked together in submarine mode to consolidate learning and repeatedly answered questions to ensure our knowledge stuck. Great effort Crew Mcloughlin!

Oreo-ver the moon

In expedition, we focused on the phases of the moon. We discussed what the moon looks like and how sometimes it can look different; it is always a spherical shape but doesn’t always appear this shape in the sky. More importantly we delved deeper to find out why…

It turns out that we can only see the moon thanks to the biggest light source of them all – the sun!

We looked at the names of the eight moon phases and then the children had an INCREDIBLE time creating the moon phases using OREOS! It was great seeing children working together, delicately picking apart the biscuits in order to accurately show the eight phases of the moon.

If only every science lesson involved Oreos…

Case Study 1 Reflection

Yesterday, Crew Hamill completed a Padlet in which each child added their own statements to each section, detailing the information they could remember from everything we have learned during our first science case study. Miss Hamill was impressed with just how much we’d remembered!