Science Taster Morning for Year 5 Grace Dieu pupils

On Thursday 17^th May 2018, twenty one Year 5 Grace Dieu Manor School pupils and their teachers, Mrs Norris and Mr Markham, were welcomed to Ratcliffe College to spend the morning in the Science Department in a series of exciting and thought provoking workshops related to the topic of Forces.  The day began with a trio of demonstrations, led by Mr Chorley. The children observed how a push from the air can speed things up, how a magnetic force can slow things down, and how air pressure, or more specifically the lack of air pressure, can change the shape of an object. After being wowed at the sight of magically expanding shaving foam and air-powered unravelling toilet roll, the children were then ready to start the first of their two science workshops!

The first of these workshops focused on an investigation into how the shape of an object can affect the time it takes for the object 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 had to mould out of Playdoh varied from simple balls, to streamlined tear drop shapes, to even more inventive star and octopus shapes!

In the second activity, the pupils were tasked with designing and building an air powered rocket that could fly as far as possible, just using the force from compressed air. The children were again given the chance to showcase their creativity and attention to detail, whilst using the scientific knowledge that they had gained from the first marble drop activity.  The rockets were given some fantastic names by the children – we had Nebula, Falcon, Fireblaster, Unicorn Power, Birdy the Bird and Savage Cabbage, to name but a few. Well done to all the children, and especially Charlotte, whose aptly named rocket The Shooting Star soared through the air to reach a very impressive distance of 22.5 metres, just 2.5 metres short of the Year 5 record.

Congratulations to the children who were a credit to Grace Dieu throughout the morning. Their impeccable behaviour and manners was much appreciated.  Thank you for making the morning so much fun.

Mr Chorley
Head of Science