STEM & Sustainability
STEM
This year, the STEM program has been a hub of creativity, hands-on learning, and exploration. Students across all grades embraced science, technology, engineering, and math, building key skills like courage, and creativity, and learning from mistakes.
Embracing Inclusivity in STEM
In alignment with our commitment to inclusivity, we proudly observed the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11th. This celebration reinforced our belief that STEM is for everyone, encouraging families to engage in conversations that affirm inclusivity in scientific pursuits.
Foundation Classes
● Materials Exploration:
Our youngest learners dove into the world of materials, exploring their properties and applying this knowledge to design and craft their own hats.
● Introduction to 3D Design: They ventured into the basics of 3D design, creating personalised 3D name tags for their pets, fostering creativity and introducing them to emerging technologies.
● Spinning Toys: They investigated, designed and built thaumatropes and spinning tops.
● Weather: They explored how daily and seasonal weather patterns affect their clothing choices and activities.
Years 1 and 2
● Coding Adventures with Dash Robots: Students embarked on a coding journey, mastering sequencing events, loops, and conditional statements.
● Fidget Spinner Mechanics: Later in the year, they explored the mechanics of fidget spinners, designing and creating their own unique versions.
● Introduction to 3D Design: Students followed tutorials to design elements from familiar fairy tales and then created 3 fairy tale-themed designs of their own.
Years 3 and 4
● Design Thinking and Forces: Focusing on forces and the design thinking process, students designed paper planes for maximum flight distance.
● Rubber Band-Powered Cars: They applied these principles to design and construct rubber band-powered cars, testing and evaluating their creations to improve performance.
● Maze Design with 3D Printing: Investigating maze design, they crafted intricate 3D-printed mazes to challenge their problem-solving skills.
● Thermal energy, conductivity and insulation: They investigated the thermal insulation properties of various materials by designing, building, and testing thermoses made from recycled materials.
Years 5 and 6
● 3D Modeling and Superheroes: Immersed in 3D modelling and printing, students used Tinkercad to bring their own superhero figurines and symbols to life.
● Climate Change Experiments: They tackled real-world issues by designing experiments to understand how global warming contributes to rising sea levels, enhancing their coding skills in the process.
● Coding: They developed programs for Dash robots using loops, events, and conditionals to complete coding challenges.
● Laser beam fun: Students ended the year by investigating how light reflects and using this knowledge to design and build mazes of mirrors for laser beams to travel through.Special Events
● Open Night: The STEM room buzzed with excitement as students and families engaged in making and launching paper rockets, coding challenges, and watching mesmerising 3D printers in action.
● Kalinda STEM Expo (June 17–21): Our inaugural expo showcased students' projects, allowing the community to interact with the innovative work across all year levels.
● Mad Science Show (June 20): A spectacular science extravaganza featured giant smoke vortices, levitating beach balls, flying toilet paper, flour fireballs, and hair-raising electricity, inspiring awe and curiosity among students.
● Quantum Victoria Print A Car Challenge: Two teams of selected Year 6 students represented the school in this prestigious statewide competition, designing and racing 3D-printed cars powered by CO₂ canisters. Precious Plastics Recycling Program
● Grant from Bank First: Kalinda Primary secured funding to launch a community plastic recycling initiative.
● Educational Incursion: Sustainability Leaders and Wildlife Warriors explored the environmental impact of plastic and innovative repurposing methods.
● Precious Plastics Launch: Families and community members were invited to contribute waste plastics for STEM lessons, empowering students to rethink consumption and promote positive environmental change.
Looking Ahead
This year’s program built creativity, problem-solving, and resilience in our students.
Thank you to our families and community for their support. Here’s to another exciting year of STEM learning!
Paul Todd
STEM Teacher
STEM plastic recycling,
In celebration of National Recycling Week, we are excited to announce the official launch of our Precious Plastic Recycling Program! Our Bank First Teachers Initiative Program grant has enabled us to begin this process.
Recently, our Sustainability Leaders and Wildlife Warriors from Years 1 to 6 joined an inspiring Precious Plastic incursion. They explored the environmental impact of plastic, discovered different types of plastics and their recyclability, and learned about innovative ways to repurpose plastic "waste." Using small-scale recycling equipment, they transformed discarded plastics into new, functional items—leaving with handmade pens, carabiners, Jenga blocks, and door knobs. They walked away inspired and empowered to tackle the pressing issue of plastic waste!
We have now placed collection bins at the school office and in the STEM room for plastic waste. Waste plastic donation requirements:
- Labelled 2 or 4 only
- Must be 100% clean and dry
- No bigger than a jar lid in size (you’re welcome to cut larger items down to size)
- Any inserts (foam/silicone) must be removed
Families and community members are invited to regularly contribute their waste plastics, which will become part of our STEM lessons. Students will learn to sort plastics, and, with future funding for more equipment, they’ll start making new products from the collected materials, creating a circular economy.
This initiative is an exciting opportunity for our entire school community to rethink how we consume and repurpose our waste, creating real, positive change for the planet!
Paul Todd
STEM
points to remember -
- Must be clean and dry for us to use
- Any insert or plastic removed from the piece
- No bigger than a milk lid size
- Must be labelled with a 2 HDPE ( examples HDPE is a plastic-type commonly used in a grocery bag, opaque milk, juice container, shampoo bottle, and medicine bottle)
- or 4 LDPE (is mostly used for bags (grocery, dry cleaning, bread, frozen food bags, newspapers, garbage), plastic wraps; coatings for paper milk cartons and hot & cold beverage cups; some squeezable bottles (honey, mustard), food storage containers, container lids. They are also used for wire and cable covering.
The Sustainability Team
Mrs Smith, Mrs Bulled, Mr Todd, Issy and Layla.