The Mysterious Disappearance

of Mr Winchlever

Key Stage 2

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The Mysterious Disappearance of Mr Winchlever is a musical comedy on the theme of Forces and is based on Attainment Target 4 of the National Curriculum for Science.

FORCES AND WHAT THEY DO

Within the story our heroine, Fatima Chipsnburger, tells the story of Sir Isaac Newton and the falling apple, and of how, from this, he developed his theory of forces. Fatima explains that between any two objects there exists an invisible force of attraction and this force pulls them together. She demonstrates the theory with the help of the Maurice Clampstand, the PE teacher, by holding out two apples to observe the pulling force between them. Of course the apples are too small for the pulling force to be seen. But the larger the object the larger the pulling force. Fatima tells us that the Earth is so big that the pulling force is large enough to notice and that that pulling force is called Gravity. The Earth pulls everything towards it.

Forces are treated as pushes and pulls, twists and turns and with the help of the audience Fatima identifies the force used to push a chair across the floor as a pushing force and to pull it back as a pulling force. She jumps in the air and we see her legs have used a pushing force to push her from the ground. The audience is asked what force pulls her back down and we learn it is Gravity. She sharpens a pencil and we see a twisting force (which is described as a pushing and pulling force working together).

Fatima them sings a song which helps her remember all the various forces and what they do:

Forces push and forces pull

They cause a change of speed.

To speed things up or slow things down

A force is what you need.

Forces twist and forces turn.

They move things round and round.

The force that's due to Gravity

Pulls things to the ground.

Fatima teaches this song and the accompanying actions to the audience.

GRAVITY AND THE MEASUREMENT OF NEWTONS

The evil Baron Von Frictionhalter explains to his side-kick Cogwheel that the force of Gravity acts upon all things pulling them down. Cogwheel is asked what would happen if, firstly in space a bag of dead rats was held above his head and let go and then on Earth the experiment was repeated. Cogwheel realises that in Space the bag would just float but on Earth the bag would fall.

The Baron explains that the bag falls because the force of Gravity pulls it down.

He then tells the audience that Gravity is measured in Newtons on a Newtonmeter. He conducts an experiment to see how much 1kg weighs in Newtons. Using a Newton-meter a 1kg bag is discovered to weigh 10 Newtons. (this is the usual value given to the force of Gravity for GCSE level. The true value is nearer to 9.8N/kg)

FRICTION

Fatima needs to move a heavy boulder. She realises that the way to do this is to overcome friction. The audience are asked to rub their hands together to feel the heat given off by the force of friction. Fatima discusses the fact that friction can be a good or a bad thing: if you are riding a bike you need friction to keep the wheels from sliding on the road but need to reduce friction in order to help the chain go round.

The pushing force must be larger than friction to move the rock. So if the force of friction is reduced then the pushing force needed to overcome it will be smaller.

Fatima uses the oil from her bicycle to reduce the force of friction and she easily pushes the rock.

MAGNETISM

The evil Baron Von Frictionhalter has a mad plan to build an antigravity machine using the power of magnets. He experiments with the force of magnetism on Fatima Chipsnburger

We explain that magnets have a ‘north’ and ‘south’ pole and the Baron experiments with the two poles to see how the forces react. Firstly the north and south poles of two magnets are put together and we see that there is a force of attraction between them – they pull each other together. Then two ‘north’ poles are put together and we see that they repel. We repeat the experiment with the other ‘north’ and ‘south’ poles and see that they attract once more and then put the two south poles together to see that they repel. We conclude that different poles attract and the same poles repel.

SPEED AND DISTANCE CALCULATION

We do not develop the relationship between speed and distance but we do set up a simple calculation: If Mrs Block, the Headmistress, has to travel 120 km in 2 hours then what should be his average speed in km/hr? Mrs Block works out with the audience that you need to divide 120 by 2 and that the average speed should be 60km/hr.

PRESSURE

Fatima demonstrates the relationship between surface area and pressure with the help of a member of the audience. The volunteer is asked to step on a polystyrene tile with a flat shoe and they make no mark. They repeat the experiment with a stiletto and this time press into the tile. With the help of the audience Fatima discovers that with a larger surface area the weight is spread out making the pressure less, whereas with the stiletto the weight is concentrated on the tiny heel making the pressure greater. So Fatima draws the conclusion that to get over a pressure mat without setting it off one needs to spread one’s weight over a large surface area.

AT THE END OF THE PLAY

These are the topics covered in the production. At the end of the play the actors will be happy to take questions

Show Requirements

The actors will be arriving approximately forty minutes prior to the start time in order to set up and will need to have access to the school hall from then. They bring the set, lighting and sound equipment with them so only need access to a plug socket. They’ll need a space approximately 15’ wide by 10’ deep with the children sitting in front, either seated or on the floor. The show works well ‘on the flat’ but if it’s more convenient for the actors to use your stage, please let them know on arrival. This show lasts one hour with a two minute ‘q & a’ session at the end.