STEAM

Foundation

We are looking at movement in the Foundations first introduction to the world of physics. They are learning about what moves, how it moves and what makes it move that way. So far we have looked at moving toys and brainstormed a list of words to describe movement (i.e. spin, roll, slide, turn, shake, stretch etc). Students then did an experiment to look at how the shape of an object affects its movement. We watch a number of objects move down a ramp and determine whether they rolled or slid. Students noticed some patterns in the data were able to make the generalisation that round or circular things roll. We will use this knowledge, along with learning about forces to help create artwork later in the term. 

1/2s

Students are learning about natural resources and how humans use them, particularly water. We have discovered that there are many more places to access water in the school than we realised. Students also determined that there are many ways that we use water at school (i.e. for drinking, watering gardens, cleaning and for fun). They got creative coming up with symbols to represent each of these uses and created a map for people to easily find water around the school. We also looked at what happens to water after it rains and discovered that it is sinks into most surfaces including grass, soil and sand. This helped to explain groundwater and wells to students to gain a better understanding of water on the Earth. 

3/4s

Last term, during the 3/4 orienteering excursion, students did a quick geology lesson. They realised that the Earth beneath our feet is very different right by the creek, were there are lots of rocks, compared to further away from the creek, where there is lots of soil, grass and trees. This term, we are completing a variety of experiments to determine why this is. So far, students have discovered that not all soil is the same. Rocks are harder than soil and that rocks can be changed over a long period of time by the movement of water. We still have more investigation to do to get to the bottom of things, but hopefully students will be able to explain the differences we saw down by the creek by the end of the year. We'll keep you updated when we find the answer. 

5/6s

Students have been challenged to create their own light decoration using just cardboard, copper tape, LED lights and a battery. When faced with this challenge, students realised they had a lot of learning to do, specifically about how electricity works and how to create electrical circuits. So far, they have learned that electricity is the flow of negative particles, (electrons) and that an electrical circuit must be a complete circle in order for the electrons to flow from the negative end of the battery to the positive end. They also learned that electrical energy is transferred along wires and is transformed into other energy forms such as light, heat, sound and movement. We are currently looking into anything that may affect that flow of electricity to make sure we don't come across any of those problems when we create our own circuits. 

STEAM work for concert

Students worked extremely hard behind the scenes to create props for the concert in STEAM. Below is some photos to celebrate the wonderful work they did.