Science - Year 3

Plants – Block 3P

Artful Flowers, Fruits and Seeds

Session 5

Resource Pack

© Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users.We refer you to our warning, at the foot of the block overview, about links to other websites.

Name:

I can investigate a question by setting up a fair test

The Paper-copter Size Challenge

Question: Do big paper-copters stay in the air longer than small ones?

Our Prediction

To test this question we will

To make it fair we will keep these things the same

Our Results

Either use this table for noting your results or record them in your own way on another sheet

Type of paper-

copter

Our Findings

The paper-copter that stayed in the air longest was

Name:

I can investigate a question by setting up a fair test

The Paper-copter Weight Challenge

Question: Do heavy paper-copters stay in the air longer than light ones?

Our Prediction

To test this question we will

To make it fair we will keep these things the same

Our Results

Either use this table for noting your results or record them in your own way on another sheet

Type of paper-

copter

Our Findings

The Paper-copter that stayed in the air longest was

Name:

I can investigate a question by setting up a fair test

The Paper-copter Material Challenge

Question: Which type of paper or card makes the best flying Paper-copter?

Our Prediction

To test this question we will

To make it fair we will keep these things the same

Our Results

Either use this table for noting your results or record them in your own way on another sheet

Type of Paper-

copter

Our Findings

The paper-copter that stayed in the air longest was

Name:

I can investigate a question by setting up a fair test

The Paper-copter Shape Challenge

Question: Which shape of paper-copter will stay in the air longest?

Try adjusting the length of the rotor blades and the length of the stem

Our Prediction

To test this question we will

To make it fair we will keep these things the same

Our Results

Either use this table for noting your results or record them in your own way on another sheet

Type of paper-

copter

Our Findings

The paper-copter that stayed in the air longest was

Template for 2 paper-copters

Cut out one of the rectangles and then cut along the solid lines. Fold flap A towards you and flap B away from you along the dotted line. Fold flaps C and D behind the central “stem.” Finish your paper-copter by folding up a small section of the stem along the dash/ dot line

A B A B

C D C D

Session 5 Teachers’ Notes

Seed Dispersal

In this session children will return to the questions and the sorting labels they created in Session 4. Re-sorting the fruits will help to focus their attention on differences. The reason for the variation will begin to make sense when they learn about seed dispersal from the PowerPoint and film clip later in the session. This will help children begin to answer their own questions as they understand that each fruit is designed for its own particular type of seed dispersal.

Tasks

There are 4 suggested challenges on wind dispersal, all of them involving testing the flight of different paper spinners (paper-copters). Each challenge involves making a prediction, setting up a fair test and recording results. It is suggested that the children work in pairs on one of the challenges as this will generate discussion and give plenty of hands on investigative activity. The tasks, which are all explained to the children in the task PowerPoint, vary in difficulty so it may be better to allocate tasks (or a choice of 2 tasks) rather than allow total free choice.

Measurement

The tasks all involve answering a question about which type of spinner will be the best flier (the one that takes longest to fall). They could try to record the time taken to fall if you have a good supply of digital stopwatches, but because the differences may be very slight, this method may add an extra level of mathematical complexity. It is suggested that instead, the children drop pairs of spinners from the same height and make a direct comparison – one will be better than the other by staying in the air for longer. The children will then need to think how to test pairs so they can rank order their spinners’ flying performance.

1. Size Challenge (Easy) – This task requires children to make spinners of different sizes and find the best flier (the one that stays in the air longest). Provide templates of 5 different sizes for the children to test. 2 sizes are given in the session resources, use the reduce/enlarge function on your photocopier to generate 3 more sizes.

2. Weight Challenge (Easy) – This task requires children to investigate the effect of adding weight to the spinners using paperclips

3. Material Challenge (Med) – This task requires children to investigate the performance of spinners made from different paper (e.g. tissue paper, tracing paper, printer paper, cartridge paper and card). It is suggested that for each pair/group doing this challenge, you provide a cardboard printout of the standard (2 per sheet) template. Make 3 holes through the card in the places that correspond to the 3 black dots. The children can then cut their papers to the correct size using the cardboard template and make 3 pen marks through that correspond to the dots. These dots will show where the cuts need to be made. See below

4. Challenge (Hard) – This task requires the children to make their own adaptations to the template design to discover what effect these might have on flight (e.g. length of rotary blades, width of stem, amount folded over). It provides a lot more scope for free experimentation and if children go about it systematically they may make some interesting discoveries.

Plenary

If you have an outdoor area and it is a fine day, consider taking the children outside to demonstrate their best fliers. If you have enough of a breeze, the spinners will beautifully reinforce the concept of wind dispersal.

If your super-copter does not fly as well as some of the others it will be a great way to get the children thinking about interaction between the factors. This might well throw up some great discussion and possibly further questions that could be investigated at a future date.