STEM Event – Push and Pull Forces

Students Booklet

Group names:

Teacher / Teacher aide / Parent Supervisor:

Mission:

Recently Queensland has experienced severe flooding and there are towns that can not receive food
or stock via road

Your team is part of the special forces that are to deliver food and toys to flood affected areas. Your
mission is to design a boat, a parachute and a toy using the knowledge and understanding of push
and pull forces that we have been learning about in science this term.

A preliminary meeting with experts in the field will take place before you set off on your mission.
You will hear from a Navy officer, Army officer and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elder who
will talk with you about their experiences. Make sure you have questions written down to ask them
to help your group with your builds.

The experts in the field will judge each groups boat, parachute and toy on the day to determine
which one they think is the most successful. The winners will receive a prize and a certificate.

During the activities you will need to take turns at being the scribe.
The K and W parts of the KWL need to be filled in prior to the event in your groups. Use the W to
form questions for the experts. The topic will be ‘Push and Pull forces’
 Building a Boat
(working with naval officer)

Your special forces team needs to build a boat that will carry 2 boiled eggs across the water
to get to the flood affected towns. There is a fan to create wind for your boat.

What materials will you use to build your boat?

Why did you choose these materials

Do an annotated drawing of a boat and what a boat looks like when

it floats. Be sure to draw arrows to show the push and pull forces of
air and water. Label the materials you will use for each component of
the boat.
POE
Description of focus of demonstration

Predict
Write or draw all the things you think you will see.

Explain
Write the reasons why you think it will happen this way.

Observe
Draw or describe what you did see.

Explain
Add to or change your ideas about why it happened.
 Building a Parachute
(working with army officer)

Your special forces team needs to build a parachute made from appropriate materials to
land an egg safely on the ground without cracking open. This will ensure that the food lands
safely to the flood affected citizens.

Investigation Planner

Question: What material is the best for a parachute to land food safely.
We will change

We will observe which parachute lands the food slowest and safest

We will keep the same

(Australian Academy of Science, 2012) (adapted from)

What did you notice about the changes you made?

Which option worked the best and why?

 Making a Push or Pull toy
(working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elder)

Your special forces team is in charge of making a push or pull toy for the children of the
flood affected areas. These children would love to receive something new and exciting after
being the victims of a flood for so long.

Before you design your own toy, watch the demonstration of the traditional Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander toy and as you observe fill in the following information.
Draw a design of your push or pull toy

What materials will you use?

Annotate the drawing with arrows to show the push and pull forces

How did you test your toy?

Did your toy work? Why or Why not?

Is there anything that you think could be changed for next time? If yes, what?

ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED ALL ACTIVITES YOU MUST GO AND FILL IN THE ‘L’ PART OF
THE KWL.