I received a wonderfully written invitation from Samuel, a student in Year 3, to join the Year 3 students on Friday afternoon to test the capability of the parachutes they had designed and built. Of course I accepted the invitation. The weather was on our side as we ventured out to the playground to see if each parachute was able to safely deliver the 'teddy bear' biscuit to the ground!
The aim was to see , if when dropped from the high platform of the playground, the teddy bear biscuit would land on the ground still in once piece. The excitement, enthusiasm and anticipation of the students was palpable. Some were successful while others less so. It mattered not either way. The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the learning.
The parachute experiment formed only one part of the rich task being undertaken as the students have been working on refining their understanding of procedural texts. Through designing and making the parachutes the students have used the structure of procedural texts to form the parachute - making and testing instructions. Congratulations Year 3 students on your mighty efforts and the collaborative way you worked through this experience.
