The Squashed Tomato Challenge
A fun hands-on and brains-on challenge for KS2-5
Challenge your students to take on a real life problem affecting people in Nepal.
The problem: In Nepal many farmers living on the mountainside grow fruit and vegetables, including tomatoes. To earn a living they need to sell these at the local market. The problem is getting to market involves a long, dangerous walk down the mountain side and over a river, at the end of which the tomatoes may well be a bit squashed.
The challenge: To design, build and test a way of moving tomatoes that won't squash them!
The basic challenge is flexible enough to be adapted to any length upto a whole day challenge (for which you can gain a CREST in a day bronze certificate), but enhancement activities are suggested if you wish to develop it further.
The challenge can provide a focus for National Science and Engineering Week be used as a STEM or science club activity, enhance a lesson on forces/friction/levers, form the basis of an enrichment day, provide an activity for SEAL and PLTS and be the starting point for a range of cross-curricular activities.
The further information section contains video clips of Practical Action's solutiion to the problem.
Classroom resources
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| teacher's notes | student information sheet | student worksheets | well done certificates | congratulations certificates |
| download | download | download | download | download |
 |
Fundraising: We have everything you need to use the challenge as the basis for a great fundraising activity should you wish to do so. Find out more |
How it works
Find out more about how gravity ropeways work and affect the lives of people in Nepal.
Read our detailed technical brief on gravity ropeways
Case study of how a family has benefited form the gravity ropeway
Have a look at a great article in Low-tech Magazine on the history of aerial ropeways which includes diagrams and information on a variety of different stuctures and and their uses.
Images
The images below are linked to Flickr. They can be used to help illustrate the context of the challenge and/or for display.
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
.jpg) |
 |
Some quite interesting facts about tomatoes
- The tomato is the world's most popular fruit. 60 millions tons are produce each year, 16 million more than the banana.
- It used to be thought that tomatoes were poisonous. They come from the same family as deadly nightshade.
- An average size tomatoes has 35 calories.
- Tomatoes originated from South America, in the Andes. They were first cultivated in 700AD by Aztecs and Incas.
- Tomatoes are rich in vitamins A and C and fibre, and are cholesterol free.
- The tomato was once considered to be an aphrodisiac. The French called it 'the apple of love'.
- Tomatoes will keep longer if you store them stalk down.
Videos
| How a gravity ropeway works | How the gravity ropeway has made life better for families in Nepal | |
Some quite bad tomato jokes!
-
Why did the tomato blush? Because he saw the salad dressing
-
A family of three tomatoes were walking downtown one day when the little baby tomato started lagging behind. The big father tomato walks back to the baby tomato, stomps on her, squashing her into a red paste, and says, "Ketchup!"
-
What's a vampire's favourite soup? Scream of tomato.
-
Grace was looking at the red ripe tomatoes growing in the farmer’s garden. “I’ll give you a penny for that tomato,” said Grace, pointing to a beautiful, large, ripe fruit hanging on the vine.
“No,” said the farmer, “I get ten pence for a tomato like that one.”
Grace pointed to a smaller green one, “Will you take a penny for that one?”
“Yes,” replied the farmer, “I’ll give you that one for a penny.”
“OK,” said Grace, “I’ll pick it up in about a week.”
Post a Comment