Forces Frenzy

Air Resistance

Last week we took a greater look at what air resistance is and the children worked very hard to gain a better understanding of this type of friction.  Click on the link below to watch the video we watched as a hook to the week.

Once we had an understanding of air resistance the children were given a challenge to complete.  the NHM Recovery Team need to set off to help those tragically effected by Hurricane Mathew in Haiti. Unfortunately the areas they need to reach are extremely remote and they only way to get to them is by air and then to parachute down.  Caerau have been asked to investigate the best parachute, focusing on the size of the surface area.  As a class the children decided on the following question to investigate and answer:

DOES THE SIZE OF A PARACHUTE AFFECT HOW SAFELY YOU LAND?

DOES THE SURFACE AREA OF A PARACHUTE AFFECT THE TIME TAKEN TO DESCEND?

Take a look at the children in action.  I was very impressed with their understanding and the team effort put in to create their parachutes which they will use to complete the enquiry tomorrow: