Category : Year 5/6

This week in Year 5 Science, we investigated friction and learned how it can slow objects down and create heat. We planned and carried out an investigation to find the best material for a teddy bear zip wire, testing ribbon, wool and rope and timing how long it took the teddy to travel down. We wanted to find a material that created enough friction to stop the teddy from whizzing down too quickly, but not so much that it got stuck. Our results led us to think about how rough and smooth surfaces, as well as the amount of surface area in contact, can affect friction and the speed of an object.

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This afternoon we learned that a force is a push or a pull.

We did a range of experiments and practical activities to show that unsupported objects fall downwards due to gravity.​ We looked at our hair when we do a handstand, watched paint run down a sheet of paper and threw objects in the air to watch them fall. We realised that Gravity is an invisible force that makes unsupported objects fall towards Earth. Throughout history, people have tried to explain this force. Galileo realised that gravity causes objects of the same shape, but different mass to fall at the same speed.​ Although some of us predicted that heavier objects would fall faster, we proved Galileo right by dropping 2 identical Glue sticks – one full and one empty – at the same time. They both hit the ground at the same time. We also learned about Isaac Newton who realised that Earth must have a force towards its centre that pulls things straight down. He is the person that named it “Gravity”.