Parachutes

As part of their science unit on forces, Year 5 have been investigating the effect of surface area on air resistance. The children made three parachutes of different sizes (30cm x 30cm, 20cm x 20cm and 10cm x 10cm) and dropped them from the adventure playground bridge to find out which one had the most air resistance and would fall the slowest.

To try to keep the test fair, all the parachutes:

• were the same shape
• were made from the same material; 
• had the same length of string; and 
• were dropped from the same height.

Well done Year 5 for some super science learning, using your knowledge and scientific vocabulary to make a prediction and explain your findings.