Combining maths and science – two of our favourite subjects!

Room 21 have been busy this term learning about measurement.

Did you know that a millimetre (mm) is the smallest accurate form of measurement? Did you know that there are 10 mm in 1 centimetre (cm)? Did you know that there are 100 cm in 1 metre (m)?

We decided to combine our learning of measurement with science.

We have been making gliders.

First we looked at Miss Cornhill’s glider. We had to make a prototype (an exact replica) of hers. We took a straw, a piece of paper and some selotape. One loop had to be 14cm long and 1 cm wide, and the smaller loop needed to be 10cm long and 1cm wide.

Gzeal and Mykyll accurately measuring their paper loops

Once we had finished our gliders we had fun flying them in our classroom.

We asked the question “How far can my glider fly before gravity pulls it down?”

                           Azariah and Sione preparing to fly!

After experimenting with our prototype we could make changes to our glider. We could change one variable (one part of our glider) to see if that improved how far our gliders would fly.

Some of us decided to use a different paper for our loops, some added another loop or a weight and some of us added a tail to our gliders.

This time we ventured outside to test out our new and improved gliders. We worked in teams to take turns flying our gliders, and helping each other to get accurate measurements of the flight distance. 

“The first time I flew my improved glider, I noticed that the flight path had improved. I think this was because the wind could go under the tail and push it further” – Tyrhys.

“I flew my glider 10.85m. This was better than my first prototype. I think it flew this far because the wind caught it and pushed it further” – Senituli.

“I added a weight (a piece of blu tac) to the front of my glider. This improved my flight distance” – Azariah.

“The first time I flew my glider outside I was so excited. It flew further, all the way to the base line of the basketball court. I noticed that my glider flew further inside our classroom. That was interesting” – Serenity.