Etz Chaim Jewish Primary School

Forces

On the 4th February 2019 Year 5 were approached with a mission to help retrieve vital information from a fallen satellite. The children were told that they had been selected to be a remote team of forces experts to help find a way to retrieve the information by to undertaking investigations and offering advice. Throughout the day, the children learnt about gravity, resistance, air resistance, force of push, balanced and unbalanced forces and applied it to retrieving the information from the fallen satellite.

To understand air resistance, the children investigated the benefits of using a parachute to land safely from a large height. The children investigated if the length of the string affected how quickly the descent would be. In order to do this, the class created parachutes with different length string and dropped them from the same height, the children timed the descent and explained the scientific reasoning behind the results

The children also learnt about the benefits of using pulleys and leavers through active demonstrations in class and were able to discuss the benefits of them when removing large weights to clear a path.

The day was a fun and interactive way of tackling different concepts about forces. By engaging the children’s interests by giving the learning a purpose the children had fun whilst also securing the objectives.  

To confirm and consolidate this learning, Year 5 also created balloon buggies which were fuelled by air. The children created these buggies and discussed the sciences and forces acting on them. The children loved their science learning this term and have a secure understanding on forces