In our Physical Science unit, Year 2 students have been learning about how a push or a pull affects how an object moves or changes shape. Last week, as a Year 2 cohort, we investigated these forces by making toy car launchers.

Students were asked to source materials for their launchers and were then required to follow a set of instructions to create the device.

Building on students’ Science Inquiry skills, they were asked to make predictions about the reliability of their launcher, the distance in which a pull force would move their car and the different surfaces that would best support movement.

When conducting their experiments, students understood the role of teamwork and overcoming challenges in order to meet a common goal.

At the end of the experiment, they made conclusions about the dominant force and how this impacted the way in which their car moved. Students found that the stronger the force, the further the car travelled and the smoother the surface, the less resistance there was.

We look forward to further continuing our investigations in the classroom and listening to the conversations had at home about how this concept has been applied to real world scenarios.

Haley Buckley - Head of Curriculum P - 2 (Mt Ridley)