The science of sport: friction

Topics Year 2/3

Objectives

Geography

  • Describe and understand key aspects of physical and human geography including climate zones and mountains and land use and economic activity.

Science

  • Ask relevant questions and use scientific enquiry to answer them.
  • Set up a simple practical enquiry, comparative and fair test.
  • Make systematic and careful observations and take accurate measurements; gather, record and present data to help answer question.
  • Compare how things move on different surfaces.

Maths

  • Measure and compare lengths; interpret and present data using bar charts and tables.
  • Solve comparison questions using info presented in scaled bar charts

Lesson Planning

Use a range of sports equipment, ground coverings and a Newton Meter to investigate and measure the effects of friction on various sports. Then create your own set of sporting ‘top trumps’ cards with all your Norwegian sports knowledge and discoveries and present them to winter Olympics executives.

Teaching Outcomes:

  • To record a range of physical and human aspects of geography that impact on winter sports.
  • To carry out an investigation into the impact of friction on a toy car moving across different surfaces.
  • To create and analyse a bar chart based on data from their science investigation.

Children will:

  • Investigate and compare the impact of friction on stopping distances for a range of surfaces.
  • Present and interpret data in bar charts.
  • Create Norwegian sports trumps cards using all of the information gleaned throughout the block.
  • Use all resources developed during the block to brief Olympics executives on Norwegian sports.

Provided Resources

  • Friction in sport covering, Investigation question
  • Investigation question
  • Friction investigation
  • Results tables
  • Sample Trumps cards
  • Trumps cards template).

You Will Need

  • Cars
  • Ramps
  • Access to carpet
  • Lino and floor tiles