Parachutes!

We are beginning our science chapter of Technology and the Design Process. To introduce the chapter we did an experiment in design and teamwork yesterday. I put the class into groups of 2 or 3. Each group was given string, a plastic bag, paper, aluminum foil, a metal washer, a ruler and tape. From their materials I told them to design a parachute. Once they completed their designs, they had to test it by dropping it from a height of 2 meters. Another member of the group timed the drop with a stopwatch. They each did 3 trials on parachute #1 and then had to start the whole process over to see if they could make one that took longer to fall to the ground. 

First of all, they did an awesome job! Second of all, I think they had a great time doing it! I saw some pretty neat designs and a lot of groups really learned by trial and error what type of material worked the best and which did not. They also learned how to correctly time the falling parachute. They kept track of their trials in a result chart and had to draw a diagram of their parachute. Feel free to ask your child about the materials they used and how their two parachutes were different. 

Here are quite a few pictures to document our fun science morning.