STEM Update
St Fidelis' Catholic Primary School
Foundation Students Reach New Heights in STEM!
The Foundation students put their engineering skills to the test in an exciting LEGO Masters Challenge, where teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving were the keys to success!
Working in teams, the students had 35 minutes to design and build the tallest LEGO tower they could. Once the challenge was complete, we measured each tower and compared the results. Together, we discussed what made some towers stronger and taller than others, and explored ways we could improve our designs.
To help us think like real engineers, we investigated famous towers from around the world and throughout history, including the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids and the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates, which stands an incredible 828 metres high! The students quickly noticed a common design feature—these amazing structures have a wide, strong base that gradually becomes narrower towards the top. They discovered that a strong foundation is essential for supporting the rest of the structure.
Armed with this new knowledge, the Foundation students eagerly returned to the challenge for a second attempt. What an incredible difference! Every team built a taller and stronger tower than they had in their first attempt, demonstrating how learning from observation, testing ideas, and making improvements are all part of the engineering design process.
A very special congratulations goes to Lenny and Roman (FOS), who smashed last year's school record of 103 cm by constructing an incredible 120 cm LEGO tower! What a fantastic achievement!
While a new record was set, every Foundation student should be incredibly proud of their efforts. They showed outstanding teamwork, perseverance, creativity, and resilience throughout the challenge. It was wonderful to see our youngest learners thinking like engineers and discovering that great designs come from testing ideas, learning from mistakes, and never giving up.
Well done, Foundation LEGO Masters! We can't wait to see what you build next!
Specialist Teacher | Joe Frazzetto