Year 5 Parachutes

Year 5s scientists have been learning about forces and how air resistance affects objects when they fall. They made parachutes following set materials and measurements and then investigated what happened when they changed one variable.  Some of the children chose to change the size of the parachute whilst others changed the material the parachute was made from. They dropped the parachute three times and timed how long it took to hit the ground.
Following their investigation, Year 5s established that the slower parachutes had a larger canopy because the air resistance acting upon them was greater. They also learnt that by measuring carefully, changing only one variable at a time and keeping all others the same, meant that the test was "fair" and accurate. The children said the experiment "was fun", they "were surprised how quickly the parachutes fell" and next time they would "make the parachute a lot bigger and make the material a lot heavier too".
Well done Year 5 - great investigating!