We had a fabulous day at Drayton Manor Park on Friday 23rd September learning about and experiencing all sorts of forces in action. The children had a wonderful time and were incredibly well behaved - even a member of the public commented on their wonderful behaviour. Below is the write up and some photos from the trip.

LF: To understand how forces are used when designing rollercoasters

Today, Year 5 ventured to Drayton Manor Park to not only enjoy going on the rides and to observe them, but to take part in an educational workshop about forces.

They learned about how pushes and pulls on an object are the same but can be balanced or unbalanced, meaning that one force is larger than the other. This can lead to an object remaining still or it can keep moving.

As they went on to learn about how rollercoasters are designed, the class were divided into small groups to test out how forces can be used in the design process. The groups went on to learn the following:

· A carriage, on a rollercoaster, climbs the hill to save potential energy. When the carriage drops, this energy is converted into kinetic energy which then powers the carriage around the track. The hill is the most important part of a rollercoaster.

· Rollercoasters use a chain lift (hill-pulley system) which pulls the carriage to the top of the hill. This consists of gears and electric motors. 

· Air resistance impacts how bigger objects move as they have a larger surface area for air molecules to hit them which leads to slowing them down.

· Friction can be used to power carriages from the station, to stop them, pull them and to also slow them down around corners