Today we re-capped on centre of gravity and our successes last week. This week we moved to a more mixed area of the woodland which was far nicer 🙂 We discussed what we knew about forces then I asked two people to make a human arch – pressing against each other – to demonstrate compression. The children then touched toes, held hands and lent back to demonstrate tension.

I challenged the groups to build an overhanging structure then we toured the groups and tested the overhangs by hanging my first aid kit or water bottle from the furthest point. We discussed forces and improvements then each group went away to make the improvements.

This was  successful activity – everyone  worked out how to balance the overhang with something heavier. The most successful group used rocks and logs!