Task 3

Materials and tools for a working group:

string, scissors, canvas, plasticine, scales

At the beginning of the activity, the teacher discovers students‘ ideas of how objects fall to the ground. He can use the following questions: Are all objects falling to the ground? Are all objects falling to the ground the same quickly? What affects how things fall to the ground (which way, how fast). Can I think of something that will slow down or accelerate the fall of the object to the ground? It is important that it is really a question of finding students‘ ideas. The first principle (identifying children ‚s ideas) is that the teacher asks himself that he really wants to find out the opinion, not the knowledge that the pupils do not feel that the teacher is asking about something he did not take with them, they should know and do not know. Indeed, it must be a curious question about past experience, so it is advisable to use initial question formations: What do you think ... What is your idea ... Think about what you have experienced ... and so on. The second principle is to give enough time for each pupil to think through the answer. That is why it is not appropriate to let the pupils react in a frontal way, and then a few pupils (often unreasonably) react and others remain inactive in their ideas.

If the learner does not use what he knows from the experience of the investigated phenomenon, we cannot assume that his idea will change as a result of the investigation. It is better if the teacher encourages the pupils to consult the group. At the same time, it creates an idea that exploration is a collective activity with a common goal and a common result, just as it is in science and technology itself. Every product (whether in discovery, explanation or directly practical solution, or construction) is created in a cooperative atmosphere where everyone contributes in a personal way.

In addition, the initial survey (which takes quite a lot of time for precise work, but should be seen as an important part of the learning activity), the teacher will find out what pupils have ideas about the falling objects, what are the differences in the ideas, leading the debate To identify, together with the children, the question which will be the object of their examination. If, before this activity, the teacher performed 1. and 2. tasks, the identification of the imagination is also relevant in terms of feedback on what the pupils have found in the previous investigation.

Subsequently, the teacher asks where a person‘s slowing down the fall used; Whether it is possible to slow down the fall of man, if so, how. It will suggest the pupils to try to construct the parachute. To make the design meaningful, the pupils first lead to reflection on how they would proceed if only the following objects were available: spaghetti, scissors, canvas and plasticine. It is useful if children have these materials available in the group to view them. The most optimal is if the pupils try to draw a parachute as they could create it from the materials they have at their disposal. The teacher leads the pupils to try to implement their proposals.

After the children are constructing their prototypes, the teacher leads the pupils to reflection on how they could check if the parachutes work. The procedure to be used should result from a joint discussion, so that pupils understand exactly how and why the parachute will be approved. The simplest way to verify the functioning of a parachute is that the pupils create two equally large (heavy) marbles of plasticine (preferably, if they are also weighed to make them really as difficult), one will attach to the formed prototype of the parachute and both run from Equally large heights – one will be slowed down by the builtin prototype of the parachute and the other will fall directly to the ground. It is advisable to test the parachutes from as much height as possible, preferably from the floor, to make the difference in the fall as pronounced as possible; However, the two meters are sufficient. It is important that pupils realize that the parachute works when the ball with a parachute will fall later than the ball without a parachute.