Science
Forces
As part of exploring friction, the children tried sliding! They first did it with shoes on and found it to be very difficult. They then did it again but with their shoes off, and found the smoother socks allowed them to slide more. We concluded this was due to less friction.




We then looked at contact forces. Exploring water resistance, the children their own boats with streamline and reduced friction in mind, and then created their ideas using card and tape. We experimented which boat designs were the best by timing how long they took to cross a short distance. The children considered the sharp pointy front and the smooth base to reduce friction.
We then looked at air resistance and how surface area might affect this. We created parachutes of different sizes and timed their descents. We found the parachutes with a smaller surface area fell quicker, as less contact, and therefore friction, was taking place.











