Fascinating Forces in Class 4
Class 4 has been learning about a huge variety of things so far this term in IPC. We’ve designed and conducted several experiments to investigate Fascinating Forces, our current unit. We built a Toy Car Friction Test using recycled materials from home. Then students built a Parachute (also from recycled materials) to test air resistance, in order to get an egg safely to the ground from different heights. Our parachutes will be on display in the hallway outside our classroom, come check them out! Finally, we tested water resistance and buoyancy with two experiments. One involved dropping different clay shapes, with the same mass, in a large graduated cylinder to see how long they took to sink and calculate their volume using water displacement. The larger shapes sank slower, as they had more water resistance that pushed them up against the gravitational pull. Next week, we will complete the final test of buoyancy using the same size/weight aluminum foil to build the strongest boat. We will test the load capacity using wooden blocks.
Students really dove in head first to discover these amazing natural forces that we encounter every day. They were curious and thoughtful, too. Well done, Class 4!