Giraffe on a Raft

Giraffe on a Raft is a workshop about understanding materials, making predictions, and running fair tests.

And giraffes. Don’t forget the giraffes.

Nobody’s entirely sure why the giraffes want to take a trip on the rafts. Perhaps they’re trying to escape a flood, or maybe they’re looking for adventure. You might come up with your own ideas while you’re doing the workshop, but for now let’s concentrate on what you do in the workshop.

Taking notes about what happens in your tests.

The Workshop

Giraffe on a Raft has been created to help you explore the world around you, at around Key Stage 1. You’ll practice reasoning skills to develop fair experiments, and from your observations you’ll solve real problems. Real problems like:

Question

If a giraffe wants to travel on a raft, what sort of material should it make the raft out of?

Hmm. Perhaps not very real problems. But real enough for the plastic giraffe.

We provide you with the framework of a raft, a bunch of different materials, some test weights (washers) and an intrepid giraffe.