Year 5 DT project

Year 5 worked together in small groups today, to build their own seismometer to record earthquakes. They had to use their maths skills to measure accurately and then build a cuboid frame. They learnt how to saw carefully, safely and accurately. We could see who had been the most accurate, once the frames were built. Using wood glue, cardboard triangles to strengthen and glue guns, the frame was constructed and attached securely to the base.

Once built, the groups had to explore how to weight the cup correctly, so that the tip of the pen would touch the paper and record the earth movements.

In an amazing bit of planning, the builders constructing houses next to the school decided that today was the day they would dig foundations using heavy machinery. Therefore the ground was actually shaking. We investigated how successful our seismometers were inside Wagtails classroom, which was the one most affected by the groundworks. Also, we took them outside to see our designs at work for real. The year 2s enjoyed watching the year 5s and were really enthusiastic.