Year 6 Forces in Action
May 4, 2010 8:24 amYear 6 investigated how strong different shapes can be. Using two different types of cardboard, glue, tape and nets of open-ended cubes and triangular prisms, the students made, and sometimes decorated, the shapes. They then tested them to see how strong they were by piling books, which they had previously weighed, on pairs of the shapes until they collapsed. The triangular prisms when placed with one edge up, as in tent shapes, were extremely weak. When turned so that the open-end was up, they were much stronger. The open-ended cubes, when placed with the cardboard on the top were also weak, sometimes collapsing immediately when a book was placed on top of the pair. When turned so that the open-end was up, they were extremely strong. One pair of open-ended cubes held over 31 kilos of books. The students had to stop piling them on because after a while the stack was very unstable. Year 6 then had fun standing on a board held up by an assortment of cubes and triangular prisms, with a maximum of three students on the board. The class is now analyzing the results of their experiments. For more photos click here.
Earth Day was founded 40 years ago to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. It is now celebrated around the world. TIPS celebrated Earth Day 2010 by recalling that we are the guardians of the Earth. Houses formed clean-up teams to pick up trash around the school and a compost heap was inaugurated as an ongoing Year 1 project. Students were very excited about starting this project. Compost is a combination of decomposed plants and animal materials and other organic materials that are decomposed largely through aerobic decomposition into a rich black soil, which will be used in our beautiful gardens.
