RIAT
Tuesday 18th March 2025
Road to RIAT
Year 5 took part in an all day STEM activity run by the Smallpiece Trust in collaboration with the RAF - Road to RIAT. Via a youtube live link we welcomed Ollie into our classroom. Ollie certified us all as Aerospace Engineers for the day.
Our first mission was to learn about Space. Space is 62 miles above sea level and as we travel into space the sky turns from deep blue to the dark sky that we see at night. We learned that 80% of the known universe is a vacuum (empty of all matter). Ollie also explained that to travel into Space we have to defy gravity. Gravity is the weakest force in nature and we have to overcome this to be able to travel into space - that is where rockets come in.
Ollie introduced us to Newtons 3rd Law (Action and reaction are equal and opposite - for every action there is an equal opposite reaction). Taking this and aerodynamics into account we had to design a rocket that would be capable of travelling to space. In their groups, the children discussed and gave consideration to the payload (where the astronauts sit), fuselage (body of the rocket), fins (stabilise the rocket and stop spin) and booster (provide thrust for launch) for their rocket.
Then came one of our favourite parts of the day - launching and testing our rockets.
During the afternoon session, Ollie talked to us about sustainability. This means taking care of our planet for future generations to come and using our resources responsibly. We then applied this new knowledge and designed a sustainable aircraft of the future. Our designs will be put forward for a national competition where they have the chance to win tickets to RIAT.
Later in the summer we will take part in Meet the STEM SuperStars when we will have the opportunity to ask questions and find out about life as an RAF specialist, Engineer and Scientist.
#RoadtoARIAT
