Year 3
With the theme being Time this year, year 3 looked at, 'Sailing Through Time'.
Not only involving our STEM subjects, we also looked a bit of history and how boats have changed through time.
Our goal by the end of the week was to make and evaluate a boat with a propeller.
Before we could even think about making our boats we looked at sustainable materials that were fit for purpose. Some of the questions we had to think about were, could it float? and could it hold weight? Through our observations we found plastic or wood would be the best materials to use. Plastic that we were recycling of course!
We then looked at forces, testing a range of materials to see their resistance in water.
We conducted an experiment to test gravity and buoyancy. What would happen with an orange in water with the peel on and then the peel removed. What do you think?
Using what we had learned it was now time to make our sailboats.
As you can see from the pictures, we explored wih different shaped and sized sails. Finally we added a keel - do you know what this is for?
Then, we explored the simple paddleboat. This was the next big change in History and came with the advent of steam.
Once they were finished we tested them to see whose could travel further. We had to experiment with the number of twists we put on our rudders before the pencils moved so much that it would not turn.