Lesson video

Hi everyone, I'm Miss Harris.

Welcome to today's science lesson.

How are you doing today? Good.

I'm glad to hear it.

Now today we are going to be looking at whether the walls that we created last lesson are going to withstand strong winds.

So if you didn't make any walls, don't worry, because I made some, and we're going to have a look at what happens to them when I point a hairdryer at them to create some wind.

Okay? So let's see what else we're doing today.

We are going to do our star words.

Then we're going to compare what heavy and light means.

Look at some properties of a wall.

Look at the groups of materials that we have used to create our walls.

And then, our experiment.

You will need an exercise book, a pencil, a coloured pencil, and your brain.

If you need to go and get any of these things you can pause the video and go and get them now.

Great.

So you will need your wall creations and a hairdryer for today's experiment.

So make sure that you've got one of these if you're going to join in today.

Otherwise, don't worry.

I'm going to do it so you can watch me and still complete today's lesson.

So you can go and get these a little bit later.

Let's do our Star Words, design, model, heavy, wind, wood, light, powerful.

Good.

Well done.

So we have been learning all about a story about some children that went to the rainforest and their teacher gave them an experiment to build a wall that could survive in the rainforest that they could use to build an entire classroom.

Today, we're going to test our mini walls to see if the materials that we've used can withstand a strong wind.

Because in the rainforest they have quite a lot of storms which creates a lot of wind.

So we don't want our classroom wall to fall down, do we? We want it to be really strong and to stay standing.

So let's recap what heavy and light means.

Here, I've got a picture.

Is this showing something which is heavy? Remember that heavy means an object is hard to move and lift.

Whereas a light object is easy to move and lift.

So is this heavy or light? So keep that in your head.

Now look at this one.

Is this showing heavy or light? So we've got heavy here and light on the other side.

And we've got our balancing scales here to show whether an item is, whether a material is heavy or light, because if it's heavy, it will drop down because it's heavier to lift.

Whereas if it's light, it will lift up because it's easier to lift.

So thinking about the walls that we might create, a real one, does it need to be heavy or light? What do you think? So our wall needs to be heavy.

It doesn't need to be light because we don't want it to blow away.

So our wall needs to be heavy to avoid being blown away by the wind.

It also needs to be strong, waterproof, sturdy so it doesn't fall down, quite heavy, hard, and we want it to be quite thick so that we've got enough space so it's not going to break or bend in the wind.

So let's think about are all materials strong? Can you just think about that question for a moment? Are all materials strong? So not all materials are strong, because remember that when we looked at the tree that was falling down in the wind.

Although trees are really strong, they can stay standing.

A wind, a strong wind, could still blow it down.

So let's take a look at our experiment today.

Our walls are made from Playdough hay or straw, twigs or lolly sticks, so one of each of those, sugar cubes, and, of course, we've got our plastic bricks.

So what I want you to do is, in your books, I would like you to write this down.

So I'd like you to draw this table because we are going to tick whether the material is heavy or put a cross whether it is light.

So whichever one.

If it's heavy, tick, if it's light, tick.

If it's not heavy and not light, we're going to put a cross.

So pause the video and draw this table.

Just draw some nice lines and put some other lines going the other way.

So it doesn't need to be a beautiful table.

Well done.

So now we've got our table ready.

When we watch Miss Harris do the experiment or when you do it, you can fill out the information to record your results.

Now, before we do any experiment, we need to make sure that we are protected.

So we need to wear our lab coat.

So if you have a white shirt or a white jacket could you go and grab it and put it on so that you can be a scientist today? So pause the video and go and get that now if you have one.

So now we're ready.

Do you think you could help me put my lab coat on? Great.

So I need my lab coat.

Can you help me put on my lab coat so I'm ready for today's experiment? Great.

So we're going to rub our hands together and get the magic started, ready.

Now today, keep them still.

Don't touch anything now.

Okay, we're going to do one big blow like this.

Do you think could do that, but whoosh your hands forward so you push all the magic towards me.

Ready? Let's do it one more time.

Let's practise.

Okay, do you think you can help me? Ready? So one big blow.

Three, two, one.

Thank you so much.

Now I've got my lab coat on I'm nice and protected so I can start today's experiment.

Thank you so much for helping me put my lab coat on.

Now we've got some safety things we need to go through first.

So before we start, you need to one, ask your parent or carer if you can use a hairdryer, number two, clear lots of space because we're going to be using a hairdryer and we don't want to blow things down, do we, and we don't want push them off the sides so they fall over and break.

And number three, the hairdryer can be really hot so make sure you hold it on the handle with two hands and you ask an adult to help you if you are stuck.

So one, ask if you can use a hairdryer.

Two, clear lots of space.

And three, hold the hair dryer with two hands.

Okay? So let's find out how are we going to do it.

So first, put your wall creation on a flat surface.

So put your wall somewhere flat.

Ask your parent or carer to plug in the hairdryer for you.

Face away from your wall when you turn the hairdryer on.

So you're going to turn it on low power, but you're going to face away from your wall when you turn it on.

Okay? Then you're going to point your hair dryer at your wall to see what happens.

I want you to think about these questions.

If it falls on the floor, has it broken? Did it survive the wind? And is the material heavy or light? Okay? So if you are doing today's experiments think about those questions.

Now it's time to begin.

If you have the materials you can pause the video and begin your experiment.

Don't forget to fill in your table.

If not, you can continue watching to see me conduct the experiment.

Once you've finished your experiment, continue watching so you can fill out the rest of your table.

So I've got my hairdryer and I've got all my materials ready and I'm going to do one, one by one.

So I'm going to move all of these out of the way.

And I'm going to put my one material here and use my hairdryer to create the wind, which is going to hit my wall.

And we're going to watch what happens and whether the material survives the wind that we're going to create from the hairdryer.

So I want you to have a think about, when you're doing your experiment, or when you're watching me do the experiment, that I'm going to hold the hairdryer an equal distance away from the wall.

So I'm not going to put it really close next to the wall.

I'm going to hold it the same distance away so that it's a fair experiment.

Because if I was to hold it here, really close, it probably would blow away.

So it's really important.

We do the same distance away from the material.

Okay.

So let's make the wind using the hairdryer.

I'm going to turn it away.

I'm not going to point it at the wall first.

I'm going to turn it away and turn it on low.

Ready? Did the wall, did the Playdough wall withstand the wind from the hairdryer? It did.

It still looks the same and it hasn't moved anywhere.

Just the sign is the only thing that blew onto the floor.

So we can see here, just the sign blew on the floor.

So here we have got our table with all of the materials that I have used in my experiment.

So I've got Playdough, straw, lolly sticks, sugar cubes and plastic bricks or Lego.

So we are going to see whether they are heavy or light.

So wait to now think about the Playdough, which we've just seen.

Was the Playdough heavy so it remained on the table? Or was it light so it blew off the table? Can you, on your table, put a tick for whether it was heavy or put a tick for whether it was light.

Can you do that now? So the Playdough was heavy, wasn't it? It was not light.

It did not blow off the table.

So if we were, if it was windy outside, the Playdough would be a good material for us to build our wall with, because we know it wouldn't have blown away.

Now I am going to use the hairdryer to create some wind to blow the straw.

Are you ready? Remember that this sign will probably blow on the floor.

So the wall has plunged straight onto the floor.

Now, why do you think the straw wall was blown onto the floor? Is it heavy or is it light? You're right! The straw wall is light.

So the wind could blow it away really easily.

Now let's think about the straw.

Was the straw wall heavy so it remained on the table or was it lighter so it blew away? Put a tick for whether it was heavy or put a tick for whether it was light.

So the straw was light.

So we've got to put a tick in the light column.

But I'm going to put a cross here because it was not heavy.

It was light.

Now let's try the lolly sticks wall.

Are you ready? Goodness me, the floor didn't it? So we can see that the lolly stick wall has actually broken when it was blown by the wind created by the hairdryer.

Do you think that's because the lolly sticks are heavy or because they are light? What do you think? It's because the lolly sticks are quite light.

So the wind was quite powerful and blowing it off the table.

Now let's think about the lolly sticks.

Were the lolly sticks heavy or were they light? Did they blow away or did they stay on the table? Can you complete this line on your grid? So the lolly sticks were light.

They blew off the table didn't they? They were not heavy.

So if we built a wall using lolly sticks they are quite light.

So it might blow away.

Now let's try the sugar cubes to see whether they get blown off the table by the wind.

Let's see if this wall is strong enough to withstand the wind.

Are you ready? Turning it away first.

Did anything happen to this sugar cubes wall? No.

It was strong enough to withstand the wind wasn't it? Well we know that the sugar cube wall was not strong enough when we put water on it and it absorbed the water.

The sugar was absorbed in the liquid.

So actually, the sugar cube wall, although it withstands the wind, it was not good in the rain was it? Now what about the sugar cubes? The sugar cubes were heavier weren't they.

They were not light.

But if you remember from our last experiment, the sugar cubes did not survive the rain.

So they did survive the wind, but they did not survive the rain.

So maybe sugar cubes isn't the best material for our classroom wall.

And lastly, let's do the Lego wall.

So turning it on away from the wall first.

Did the Lego wall blow down? No.

So what does that tell us about the plastic bricks? Are they strong or are they weak? So they're strong and they're quite heavy.

So they survived the wind.

And lastly, we've got the plastic bricks.

Were they heavier or were they lighter? Complete your table.

So the plastic bricks were heavy.

They did not blow away.

So I think that the plastic bricks would be the best material for our wall because they survived the wind and the rain from our last experiment.

Did you enjoy that experiment? Me too.

It was fun seeing things blow off the table, wasn't it.

So let's think about the materials that we would want to use for our classroom.

So we saw that the Playdough was waterproof and it survived the wind.

But the Playdough went quite slimy didn't it when we put rain on it a few lessons ago.

So I don't think we would want a wall, a classroom wall, built of Playdough.

Now let's think about the hay and the straw.

Did it survive the wind? It didn't survive the wind.

But did it survive the water? Yeah, but we can't have a wall that gets blown away by the wind.

So maybe, using our classroom built of straw, isn't good either.

What about the lolly sticks or the twigs that we used? Did they survive the wind? It didn't survive the wind, no.

But it might have if we built it a bit better and we used thicker pieces of wood.

Because if you imagine a garden shed, that's built of wood and it doesn't get blown away, does it? So we need to think carefully about what we use to build our wall.

So we could use wood but we would need greater amounts of it.

What about the sugar cubes? Did they survive the wind? They did.

But did the sugar cubes survive the rain that we created? No.

So would a sugar cube wall be good for our experiment, for our classroom wall? No, they wouldn't be good.

And lastly, the plastic bricks.

Were the plastic bricks able to survive the wind? Did the plastic bricks survive the rain that we made? They did.

So do you think plastic bricks would be best for our classroom? So if we were to build a classroom in the rainforest we could use plastic bricks.

That might be really helpful making it but we might need lots of big ones because it might take us a long time if we use little ones.

Now it's time to do your end of lesson quiz, where you can show off all the knowledge that you have learned today.

And some of the questions are related to the experiment.

Great job today.

I'm really proud of you and I hope you have a great rest of your day and I will see you next time for our last lesson of our building things unit.

Bye.