The Bridge and Beyond

This term, the Prep students have been looking at the properties and the uses of different materials. They have experimented with building techniques as they made an aluminium foil boat and a bridge.

We read the story ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ and they were told that after the three billy goats had eaten lots of green grass, they each decided to go on a journey to discover the world.

The students had to get into groups and make their own playdough billy goats. This lesson taught them that materials can be combined for particular purposes. This was a

fun, but messy, activity which the students enjoyed. The students all had a turn of stirring or kneading the playdough before they made their billy goats.

Next, the Prep students were given a piece of aluminium foil to make a boat for the billy goats to sail away on their adventures. We spoke about what the boat needed to allow the billy goat to float. There was much excitement seeing whether our boats floated in the water. Some of the billy goats did not make it very far into their adventures on some of the bespoke water vessels!

Lastly, we discovered the properties of paper as they tried to build a paper bridge for their billy goats to walk across to get back home to the green grass. We had a look at different paper bridges and the students came up with a number of characteristics that their bridge would need to hold their billy goat on. The students were paired up to discuss how they would come to an agreement on what their bridge would need and look like and then they had to draw a plan of their bridge. The discussions were fantastic to hear and the Preps were very respectful to each other making sure they listened to their partners ideas.

This Integrated Studies unit allowed the Prep students an opportunity to participate in guided investigations, including making observations using the senses and to explore and answer questions. We all had a lot of fun with this unit, even with the mess it created.

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