Mrs Whomsley (Head of Year 5)

Year 5 have been using their Thinking Skills to investigate the human body using tennis balls and tea cakes! Focusing on Evolutionary and Revolutionary Thinking Skills, we began by looking at the structure of skeletons, considering the shapes of our bones and what makes a strong shape. Their challenge was to design and make a model that could hold a tennis ball at the top and remain upright without being supported (and build it as tall as possible) but only using the same resources as each other, which was 10 pieces of paper and 1m of sellotape. By reflecting on their initial research into skeletons, they could then test the designs during the build process, which enabled the girls to evaluate and adapt their designs before the final trial to compare their successes with each other.

Following on from this, the second challenge was to consider the protective elements of a skeleton using a teacake. Using the same quantities of straws, paper and sellotape, the groups were asked to design and make a model to protect the teacake when it was dropped from varying heights.

Again, the girls used their Evolutionary and Revolutionary Thinking Skills with their designs, reflecting on existing structures that protected delicate objects to explain the rationale for their designs. Their creativity was fantastic, with designs stemming from clam shells to linking to other areas of their learning, such as mathematical shapes. However, one rule was that no teacakes could be ‘secured’ into place with tape and the design needed to allow for the chocolate to be checked after each test drop. The impressive designs were extremely successful – with some classes managing to drop the teacakes from the Junior School staircase before the chocolate cracked!

View photos here.