Hello fellow scientists,

Prep students have been investigating various textures to understand how different materials feel. We have been focusing on categorising objects by their textures: smooth, hard, rough, or soft. Some of the materials we have examined include marbles, silk, paper, wire, soft toys, wool, and rocks. Students collaborated in groups to discuss the textures of each material and share their observations.

Grade 1 students are learning to make predictions, record their results, and compare their findings from investigating magnets. They examined various objects to identify which ones were magnetic and which were not.

Grade 2 students are diving into the fascinating world of butterflies! They are learning about the remarkable life cycle of these beautiful creatures. To make this learning experience fun and memorable, the students created their own butterfly life cycle diagrams, complete with arrows, in their STEM workbooks. Here are the stages of the butterfly life cycle they explored:

Egg: The butterfly’s life begins as a tiny egg, laid by the mother on leaves or plants.
Caterpillar (Larva): When the egg hatches, a small caterpillar emerges. Its main job is to eat and grow.
Pupa (Chrysalis): After the caterpillar has grown enough, it forms a protective shell around itself called a chrysalis, where it begins transforming into a butterfly.
Adult Butterfly: The final stage is the emergence of the beautiful adult butterfly, which will eventually lay eggs, beginning the cycle again.

Grade 3 students are exploring the world of Australian native plants. This study helps them learn about the unique characteristics of these plants and how to classify them accordingly. Students are identifying and describing the distinct features of various Australian native plants. They will use their observations to classify these plants based on features such as leaf shape, flower, smell colour, and plant size.

Grade 4 students are learning to draw and label food chains. They recorded the food chains of various organisms and identify the producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers in each chain.

Grade 5 students are learning to how to graph and analyse the results of an investigation. They make predictions about the outcomes by creating line graphs based on their investigation results, and then analyse these graphs to interpret their findings.

Grade 6 students are learning to create a labelled diagram of an extremophiles, highlighting the features that enable these organisms to survive in the harsh conditions on Mars. Did you know that an extremophile is an organism capable of thriving in extreme environments- conditions that push the boundaries of what most known life can endure, such as extreme temperatures, pressures, or radiation?

IMPORTANT UPDATES:

CSIRO Young Future Shapers update

Earlier this year, the STEM team nominated 10 of our Gr 5 and 6 students to receive a CSIRO Young Future Shapers award based on the leadership, attitude, and aptitude that they have consistently displayed in STEM. The students nominated were Rupali, Sreenidhi, Sreevalli, Zion, Mamie, Baani, Anshu, Emily, Lucy and Samaaha. While the nominations were not successful, the STEM team would like to congratulate all these students for being singled out and wish them luck with their applications next year if they choose to nominate themselves. These students have immense talent, and it is the STEM team’s hope that they enthusiastically continue on their journeys towards careers in STEM.

TARNEIT RISE SCIENCE NIGHT!

Dear families,

We are so excited to announce that the Tarneit Rise Science Expo night is almost here! Students and their families are invited to attend this special night on Thursday the 15th of August 2024 between 3:15pm and 5pm in the GYM.We will be running investigations and demonstrations to celebrate the world of science.Some of our amazing science/STEM activities on the expo night will include:

Coding
Lego discovery
Electrical kits
Green Screen
Sphero robots
Blue Bots/Bee Bots
Animal Camouflage
Magnets exploration
Fossil Making
Box construction
Marble run
Bubbles

And much more!!Make sure you check the newsletter and Compass for the science competitions that are running. You can win some great prizes!

**ALL children attending must be accompanied by an adult, unless they are at Big Childcare. We hope you can all come along and join in the fun.

Kind Regards,

STEM Team

SCIENCE COMPETITIONS FOR SCIENCE WEEK

Dear families,

Science Week Competitions!

Have you entered yet?

All competitions are running from 5th August and entries close 18th August. Winners will be announced in the newsletter and assembly on Thursday the 29th of August. Students will also be announced at assembly and presented with their prizes.

PRIZES: We have a prize for each category! Prizes will include vouchers and science packs.

Lego creation

Prep to Grade 2:

Do you have a potential engineer in your family who loves Lego? Maybe a few? If so, you should enter the Tarneit Rise Science Week Lego competition! All you have to do is create an animal. The winners will have the most creative entry and the best-looking design that fits the topic. Take a photo of your creation, and email it to:

8881-trpsstem@schools.vic.edu.au

Make sure you rename the file with your child’s name and grade.

Entries close 18th August.

Lego creation

Grade 3 to 6:

Do you have a potential engineer in your family who loves Lego? Maybe a few? If so, you should enter the Tarneit Rise Science Week Lego competition! All you have to do is create an animal. The winners will have the most creative entry and the best-looking design that fits the topic. Take a photo of your creation, and email it to:

8881-trpsstem@schools.vic.edu.au

Make sure you rename the file with your child’s name and grade. Entries close 18th August.

Make a Rube Goldberg Machine/Marble Run

Prep to Grade 2:

If you love building marble runs in your family, why not create one and record it in action! We are running a competition for a marble run that uses the most recycled materials, and that runs through interesting materials at home. Google search “Rube Goldberg Machines” for some inspiration. Take a photo/video of your creation, and email it to:

8881-trpsstem@schools.vic.edu.au

Make sure you rename the file with your child’s name and grade.

Entries close 18th August.

Make a Rube Goldberg Machine/Marble Run

Grade 3 to 6:

If you love building marble runs in your family, why not create one and record it in action! We are running a competition for a marble run that uses the most recycled materials, and that runs through interesting materials at home. Google search “Rube Goldberg Machines” for some inspiration. Take a photo/video of your creation, and email it to:

8881-trpsstem@schools.vic.edu.au

Make sure you rename the file with your child’s name and grade.

Entries close 18th August.

Make a video game with the theme of nature.

Grade 3 to 6:

Create a fun and educational video game using an app called ScratchJr where you get to design your own natural landscapes, solving nature themed- puzzles and compete to collect items. Show off your creativity as you design interactive levels, unlock exciting challenges and discover the wonders of the natural world. Take a video of your video game, and email it to: 8881-trpsstem@schools.vic.edu.au

Please make sure you rename the file with your child’s name and grade.

Entries close 18th August.

Prepare a healthy snack with protein and dairy

Prep to Grade 6:

Get creative and whip up a yummy snack that's both healthy and fun! Use ingredients with protein and dairy, then snap a photo or make a video to show us how you put it together. Explain which parts give you the protein kick and which parts are packed with dairy goodness. Take a photo/video of your healthy snack, and email it to:

8881-trpsstem@schools.vic.edu.au

Please make sure you rename the file with your child’s name and grade.

Entries close 18th August.

Conduct a fair experiment and explain your results in a video or report

Grade 3 to 6:

Do you have any budding scientists in your family? If so, you should enter the Tarneit Rise Science Week Fair Experiment competition! All you have to do is conduct a fair experiment and explain your results in either a video, a report or a poster. The winners will have a correct understanding of the requirements for a fair experiment and will have presented their work clearly. Take a photo of your report or a video of your experiment (no longer than 5 mins), and email it to:

8881-trpsstem@schools.vic.edu.au

Make sure you rename the file with your child’s name and grade.

Entries close 18th August.

Nature OR animal picture made using only recycled materials

Prep to Grade 2:

Create a fun nature or animal picture using materials that can be recycled. Use your imagination to craft a picture of a habitat, landscape, or an animal using recycled materials. Some examples of recycled materials include cardboard, paper, plastic bottles/ bags, milk bottles, egg cartons, foil and cloth. The winner will have the most creative picture of nature or an animal that only uses recycled materials. Take a photo of your creation and email it to: 8881-trpsstem@schools.vic.edu.au

Make sure you rename the file with your child’s name and grade.

Entries close 18th August.

Australian STEM Video Games Challenge

In semester one some of our Gr 5 and 6 students created video games that follow a ‘star’ theme in Scratch during STEM coding club after school. In July, most of these games were entered into the Australian STEM Video Games Challenge. I would like to congratulate these students for the time, hard work and effort that they put in to complete their games. Their commitment has not been for nothing, as it has resulted in many of them becoming expert game-coders – a skill that will stand them in good stead in our technology-driven world. I am pleased to announce that these students’ games have gone through to ROUND 2 (!!) of the competition:

Congratulations:

‘Star Catcher’ – Midhuna, Sreenidhi, Sreevalli and Svara

‘Star light adventure’ – Suryansh, Arnav

‘Star Fetcher’ – Sresta, Inayat, Aesha

‘Galaxy Platformer’ – Birsahib, Aarav, Nathanial, Aarth

STEM Team

The Fortnight Ahead

Below are events coming up over the next fortnight.