BALLOON-POWERED CARS

Part of our learning in Term 3 was based around the following activity sourced from sciencelearn.org.nz
 Activity idea

In this activity, students design and build a balloon-powered car to better understand the science ideas related to rocket propulsion. They use ideas of mass and force to work out ways to improve the distance travelled by their car.

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

·         design and build a balloon-powered car

·         describe how their car is designed to go as far as possible

·         use ideas of mass and forces (such as thrust, air resistance and wheel friction) to describe what might help their car travel further

·         explain what causes the balloon car to start moving, using ideas of action and reaction forces

·         explain that momentum keeps their balloon car moving once the balloon is no longer applying a force and that it will slow down because of the force of friction.

We trialed many times and failed, but with the attitude in Room 9 of 'don't give up!', we persevered and achieved some amazing results. 
Our cars wreaked of creativity, which just goes to show 'old fashioned fun' and a lot of human air can still be had in the 21st century classroom.
Here are some pics of our cars along the way and a short movie for you to see how it all came together on 'RACE DAY'.

          

          

          

          

          

          

     

Here is our RACE DAY movie.

MARBLE RUN

As part of our Science learning involving the Physical World, we explored marbles, not only because Mrs M is always loosing hers, but we wanted to create a functional marble run.

We brought in a range of recyclable material from home and used objects from our classroom too.

Firstly, we looked at a range of images and had to decide in groups if they were moving or not.

     

     

After much experimentation, we learned that the steeper the slope, the faster the marble will travel across the floor. The lower the slope (gradient), the slower the marble.

  

     

      

  

     

  

     

     

     

  

Then Room 5 (our buddy class) came in so we could measure the 'fun' factor with our smaller friends