Scientific enquiry with Christmas wrapping paper

Wednesday 13 December 2017

Today, Y3/4 children were asked, “Which wrapping paper is the strongest?”

We made predictions:

Alex: I think the blue Christmas tree paper is the strongest because it is made up of different layers. It feels different on the front and the back.

Piper: I think the Santa paper is the strongest because it feels a bit like cardboard. It’s thicker than the others.

We thought of ways of testing the paper to find out which is strongest:

Ruby: We could wrap up one of our trays and drop things on it to find out if it rips easily. If we drop something heavy and  the paper doesn’t rip, it’s strong.

Cyrus: We could get something sharp and scratch each piece of wrapping paper to see how easily it tears.

Lilia: We could put water on it and see if it makes a hole in the paper.

We tested by attaching a bag to a strip of each type of wrapping paper and adding weights until it ripped.

Ask your child to tell you what they found out.