Taking Recycled Airplanes to New Heights

February 14, 2020

Academics

GNS

The Kindergarten classes headed over to the Pemberton Woods Campus on February 11 where, as part of their IB PYP Unit of Inquiry into ‘How the World Works,’ they built airplanes with help from Senior School students.

Led by Senior School Science Team members Riya and Shreya Gandhi and Dana Mavrow, the Kindergarten students used recycled materials to build their airplanes.

“We talked to them about recycling and the importance of recycling,” explained Riya. “Then we used some recycled materials that we collected and they collected to build airplanes and we tested them.”

Building the airplanes allowed the Kindergarten scientists to put their newly acquired research skills into action. Teamed up with a volunteer Senior School mentor, the students used a variety of recycled material to build airplanes of all different shapes and sizes.

“We showed how different materials affect the flight of planes,” added Shreya.

The afternoon was focused on the process of designing a product, and then testing it and revising it based on their observations, rather than on the actual product As inquirers, the junior scientists were excited to investigate how and if recycled materials could be used to build airplanes. The use of recycled materials was also a neat way to show the Kindergarteners of how everyday waste can be repurposed.

“They knew a lot about the basics of recycling, so I think that’s a really good start on how it impacts our society,” said Dana.

Riya, Shreya and Dana planned the afternoon as part of their CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service) project where they had to organize all of the logistics including working with the Junior School, booking the Dining Hall, getting the volunteers and more.

Thank you to Team Science and all the volunteers, and good job to the Kindergarten scientists!