Scientists in Miniature
Invisible forces, measured on working models
Track and field is the field of observation: every physical phenomenon is first predicted, then built as a working model, then measured. Each team documents every test in a form another group could repeat.
- School level
- Primary school
- Age
- 8-11 years old
- Structure
- 30 hours over 8 sessions. Stable teams, one kit per team, and a closing event: the Invisible Forces Games.
The programme
Welcome to Spike Town
4hPresentation of the programme, handover of materials and first assembly of the stations.
The air you cannot see
4hAir resistance, lift and pressure, with the construction of a sail model.
Gravity on the ramp
4hCentre of mass, weight and free fall, with sensor-based measurement of the angle of imbalance.
Races by day and by night
4hLight propagation and optical communication, with a coded signalling system.
Forces in contact
4hForce, mass and friction in relation to forces acting at a distance.
The athletes' energy
4hPotential and kinetic energy and their transformations, made observable on a moving model.
The prototype of the Games
4hIndependent design of the team discipline and preparation of the trial.
The Invisible Forces Games
2hClosing presentation open to other classes and to families.
The outcome
A prototype designed by the team and a lab notebook with predictions, data and diagrams of the models built.
For the school
- The sessions have a constant structure: a first part of about forty minutes devoted to presenting the phenomenon and formulating a prediction, stated before any experimental verification, and a second part of team work across four rotating stations.
- No prior programming skills are required.
- The activities use LEGO Education SPIKE Essential and BricQ Motion kits, with a block programming environment available in a browser or as an app.
Bringing this programme to your school
This page can be shared with the school leadership without sending the whole catalogue. A twenty-minute conversation defines the calendar, the number of sessions and the adjustments the institute’s context requires.