Learning in Alfa’s Lab: Super Structure

How Does it Work?

Throw it in the air and challenge your child to manipulate the parachutes! The speed of the parachute falling down to the ground is determined by the gravitational force that acts upon the load and the air resistance that acts upon the parachute. The wider the parachute, the slower the speed and the lighter the load, the slowed the speed and vice versa.

Assemble the kit with your child by referring to the step-by-step instruction provided on Page 26 and 27 or the video below.

How-To Video

Does the STEM Kit look complicated to assemble? Fret not! Watch the video to help your little ones!

How Can I Teach the Skills?

The Sky Rider is a great kit to learn about ‘Problem Solving’ and ‘Applying’ skills.

Once your child has explored the Sky Rider kit, let’s extend the activity by asking your child to conduct the classic “Egg Drop” experiment. In this egg drop experiment, your child needs to find a solution (by improving their sky rider kit) that will keep a raw egg from cracking when dropped from a high place.

Here, your child will use Problem Solving Skills to solve this challenge. Here are the simple and easy-to-follow steps to problem-solving:

Walkthrough the problem-solving steps with your child. Offer guidance when your child needs assistance. Encourage your child to come up with as many solutions as possible (Here your child will also acquire the skill of generating ideas.) At this point, they don’t even need to be “good” solutions. If your child is unable to come up with a solution, step in and help him/her think of some. Along the process, ask the following questions:

  • What is the problem?
  • There must be some way you can fix that…what are the possible solutions?
  • What would happen if you try each of these solutions? What are the pros and cons?
  • Which solution will you try? (Which design do you like best?)
  • Since you have chosen the best solution, let’s build it! Tell me about what you built.
  • Does it work? If not, what went wrong?
  • How would you modify your solution to make it better? Do you want to revise and improve it?

Tell your child to try a solution and see what happens. If it doesn’t work out, he or she can always try another solution from the list that brainstorm in the earlier stage.

Problem-solving skills are the key to help your child tackle problems on his/her own in real-world situations. This is why it is important for you to begin teaching your child problem-solving skills from a young age.

Do you know while your child is attempting to solve the problem, he/she will acquire the Applying Skill? Applying skill is where your child learns how to use knowledge or concepts that he or she learnt in new situations, to solve a more complex problem. In this situation, your child might learn that a bigger surface area creates a higher air-resistance force that can help to slow down the object. Inspire your child to think creatively, you could ask him/her the following questions:

  • Will slowing down the speed of the egg falling down help?
  • How can you slow down the speed of the egg falling down?
  • How can you increase the surface area of the parachute?
  • What would happen if you made the parachute bigger?

So, let’s get your child to apply what he or she knows to keep a raw egg from cracking when dropped from a high place.