Zog science experiment - zipwire - recording sheet - KS1 / Year 1

Building a zip wire to help Zog fly:

Read the story of Zog.

He was very resilient wasn’t he?

He did struggle to fly though, didn’t he? What ways can you think of to help someone fly? Hear ideas and write on the board. Zip wire, that’s a good idea!

Today we are going to make a zip wire to help our Zog fly! We will use some characters to test it!
Children are to choose a character from the small world basket.

Watch zipwire videos for inspiration.

Recap the forces associated that we have covered in science.

What are the variables here and which forces will effect the speed of the zipwire? What could change how well the zip wire works? Hear ideas:
The type of string/ribbon used - friction
Whether it is windy, whether we push it - thrust
Whether it is on an incline - gravity
What variable shall we change? Let’s change the incline - what do they think will happen and why e.g. “I think the highest one will go fastest because it has more gravity.”

Ask children to fill in their prediction

Allow children to make their own zipline character by using a pipe cleaner, threading it through a straw to attach it to the character and then tying it around the character

Allow children to make a zipline in groups and try it out

Test it together to compare against our prediction