As part of the “Super scientists” topic this half term, year five have been learning about the different steps that need to be taken to plan, carry out and evaluate a real science experiment .
The children were tasked with investigating friction, one of the main forces that operates in our daily lives. They were taught about the steps needed to plan a fair investigation and then allowed to design and carry out their own experiments.
As you can see, the scientists chose to test a variety of surfaces around the school to achieve a varied set of results. They used accurate methods to measure the distance that an object slide and conducted the experiment several times at each location in order to be able to gain an average.
They will then choose a suitable method of presenting their results and carry out an evaluation of the experiment and ultimately, conclude which surface had the most friction. Very valuable skills for future science lessons in secondary school!
