Plumtree Pupils Ready for Takeoff at Ratcliffe Science Taster Day!

Last Monday, 14 Plumtree Primary School pupils were welcomed to Ratcliffe College to spend the day with the Science Department in a series of exciting workshops related to the topic of forces. The day began with a trio of demonstrations, observing how a push from the air can speed things up, how a magnetic force can slow things down, and how air pressure can change the shape of an object. After being wowed at the sight of magically expanding shaving foam, levitating ping pong balls and air-powered unravelling toilet roll, the children were then ready to start the first of their two science workshops!

The first workshop investigated how the shape of an object affects the time it takes to fall through a liquid. The pupils dropped marbles covered in Playdoh into different liquids and recorded how long the marbles took to fall, depending on both the shape of the surrounding Playdoh and the thickness of the liquid. The shapes the children moulded from Playdoh varied from simple balls, to streamlined teardrops, to even more inventive deep-sea diver and flower shapes!

In the second workshop, pupils to design and build an air powered rocket that could fly as far as possible, just using the force from compressed air. The children were given the chance to showcase their creativity and scientific knowledge that they had gained from the first marble drop activity. The rockets were given some fantastic names by the children. We had Bob the Destroyer, The Bald Eagle 2000, Inferno and Love Rocket to name just a few!

The winning rocket was the Lillly rocket, equaling the Rocket Competition furthest distance record of 26 metres! Overall the day was fantastic, and it’s great workshops like these can be held Ratcliffe College, allowing us to develop connections with other local schools and their children and the wider community, as well as nurturing connections if the little ones and their love of Science! The children were a credit to Plumtree School throughout, thank you for making the day so much fun.

If you would like to know more about Ratcliffe’s Science department, check out our Science subjects on the page below. Or better still, why not see for yourself and book a private visit to take a look at our campus?

Subjects Private Visit