In science, we are learning about forces. We began by exploring what we already knew and were able to name forces such as gravity, friction and air resistance. After discussing the effects of different forces we learnt how to annotate force diagrams and identify whether the forces were balanced or unbalanced.
Next, we focussed on gravity, weight and mass; we were surprised to learn that weight is actually a force so it is measured in Newtons. We researched Sir Isacc Newton who first discovered gravity. After this, we learnt how to measure forces using Newton meters. We used these to find the weight of objects around the classroom and we discovered that, on Earth, 1 Newton equals about 100g.
We particularly enjoyed using the Newton meters to explore the friction of different surfaces. We used a shoe or trainer and tried pulling it along different surfaces using the Newton meter. The results varied between groups but many of us found that the greatest force was needed to pull the shoe across the grass. Others of us were surprised that the carpet required less force than the smooth hall floor – we decided that this was because to sole of some shoes gripped the hall floor better than the carpet.
