@ St John's

                                             Welcome to the exciting world of STEM!

Welcome to STEM,

 This term is flying and there's so much to do before the year ends. We have been having a great time in STEM this term with loads of hands on activities to help students apply their learning.  Thank you to everyone who has sent in recycled materials, they have been very much appreciated!

Engineering Process

Throughout the term we have had a strong focus on the Engineering Design Process in all activities.  Students are beginning to understand and learn that designs take a lot of testing and re-designing to become successful. We focus on the cycle in this image below when we are working in class.

Unit Focus: Wind Power

As well as working on challenges, Foundation to Year 4 student have been looking at wind power through the work of Theo Jansen and his incredible wind powered Strandbeests, that almost look real in the way they move. Here's a link to one of his many videos on YouTube if you are interested 

F/1/2

Over the past couple of weeks students have been working on challenges from Fairy Tales. They have designed ways for Rapunzel to escape from the tower, a house that will and won't move when the Big Bad Wolf tries to blow the house down, and ways for Little Red Riding Hood to get her basket of food to Grandma without going through the woods.

After this week, we will be working on making Land Yachts (wind powered cars).

Year 3/4

Students have also been working on designing a house that will withstand strong winds. It was great to see that students thought carefully about their designs and changed their designs according to the testing results.

We have also looked at the Beaufort Scale (wind strength measurement) and how this is used in weather forecasting. This week, students will begin constructing their Land Yachts (wind powered cars) and testing them to see what design features move the vehicle the furtherest.

Year 5/6 

This week the Year 5/6 students are completing their International Space Stations and I have been very impressed with the dedication the of students during this project. From next week, Year 5 students will be designing and making Land Yachts and the Year 6 students will begin working on a mini golf course for all students to enjoy. Year 6 students will need to design and construct one hole for the course. Once all holes are completed, I would like for the Year 6 students to set up the course in the Mercy Centre at break times for everyone to enjoy.

Email - lhamilton@sjeuroa.catholic.edu.au

Kind regards, 

Mrs Hamilton