15 November 2017
Each year, Science Oxford visit to spend a day with Year 6 looking at forces. Ian started things off with a fun talk about gravity, friction, air resistance and magnetism and how engineers work with forces to build bridges for instance. There were many demonstrations involving willing volunteers including being pulled along on a skateboard and a tug of war, trying to break an egg, and standing on a bridge which holds itself up.
The next task was the egg drop challenge. After a short introduction, the boys were given a limited pack of resources to design a contraption to protect a real egg from breaking when dropped from the fire escape. Around half the teams succeeded in bringing their eggs to the ground without cracking. Good cushioning and effective parachutes were key to success!
In the afternoon it was all K'NEX. Each team got a box full of rods, connectors and wheels to build cars to which they fitted different propulsion systems – electric and clockwork motors and rubber bands. They had various challenges to complete including stopping in a marked square, and the longest distance in 10 seconds.
The boys thoroughly enjoyed the day, which was educational and huge fun. Thanks to Ian and Science Oxford for bringing the force to Abingdon Prep!
