This year, our school celebrated Science Week with the exciting theme “Curiosity: What’s your question?”. The focus was on encouraging children to ask their own questions about the world around them and investigate them like real scientists.
Year 5 took on the challenge by asking a very sporty scientific question:
“Does your dominant foot make a difference in kicking accuracy or distance?”
Making Predictions
Before beginning their investigation, the children discussed their ideas and made predictions. They considered questions such as:
Will your dominant foot kick further or more accurately?
Will both feet perform the same?
Each pupil recorded their own prediction, just like scientists do before conducting an experiment.
Planning the Investigation
Working in their table groups, the children designed their own tests. They had to carefully think about how to make their investigation fair and reliable.
They discussed and decided:
How to test accuracy – many groups chose to kick towards a target, such as a cone.
How to test distance – groups measured how far the ball travelled after each kick.
How many kicks each person would take – they repeated their kicks several times to make their results more reliable.
Recording Results
The children also decided how they would collect their data. Different groups used:
Tables
Measured distances
This helped them organise their results clearly so they could compare their dominant and non-dominant foot.
Equipment and Fair Testing
Year 5 thought carefully about how to make their experiment a fair test. They kept key factors the same, including:
The starting point
The ball used
The person measuring
The number of kicks
The only thing that changed was the foot used.
Investigation Time!
After planning their investigations and creating scientific posters explaining their methods, the children headed outside to test their ideas. With lots of excitement (and some very powerful kicks!), they measured distances and aimed carefully for their targets.
What Did We Discover?
Through this investigation, Year 5 practised important scientific skills such as:
Asking questions
Making predictions
Planning fair tests
Collecting and recording data
Working collaboratively
Most importantly, they experienced the true spirit of Science Week — being curious and exploring their own questions about the world.
Well done, Year 5 scientists!
