In science, Years Five and Six 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 Isaac 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 the sole of some shoes gripped the hall floor better than the carpet.
Next, we enjoyed planning a PPPOP investigation to test the effect of friction. We had fun using a ramp and a toy car – we measured how far the car travelled beyond the ramp on different surfaces. We learnt that the smoother the surface, the less the friction and therefore the car travelled further.
