Primary Rocket Car Project

This project is designed to bring together children’s skills in Science, DT and ICT. It is truly cross curricular and was used with classes of Year 5 and Year 6 children but could be easily adapted for any Key Stage 2 children. Reception children made an excellent audience during the test days!

The project makes children think about their knowledge of forces and its application. It is ideal for setting up an exciting fair test with a real purpose and exploring the variables involved.

The children work in teams to build their ‘team car’. This generates a massive amount of discussion, social working, collaboration, division of labour and peer teaching of skills. The teams can be given real roles such as director, resource manager, communications officer, mechanic etc.

The project was run with groups of 4 children and this number worked well with all children being involved in every stage from design to final presentation. The children also naturally engaged in self assessment and target setting in their enthusiasm to complete the work, often coming back at break times to ensure they were on schedule!