SPECIALIST 

STEM | SPOTLIGHT

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) classes have been full of excitement and discovery, with students enthusiastically participating in a range of hands-on and digital learning experiences. Through engaging challenges and experiments, students explored STEM concepts by designing, creating, testing and problem-solving together. They also developed their coding skills through interactive digital tasks, learning how to sequence instructions, debug programs and create their own projects. It has been wonderful to see students collaborating, thinking creatively and showing persistence as they tackled new challenges and celebrated their successes.

PREP

We have been busily learning all about weather this term. Preps recorded different symbols to represent types of weather. We looked at how we can find out about the weather, for example, from an App or the news. We creatively made objects using playdough to represent our seasons.  

YEAR 1

Students were very excited to see their grass seeds in full bloom this week. Some had less and some had more grass, so we spoke about how sunlight, water, and soil can change the growth of the plants. Students were shown how to make their observations more scientific and including a detailed sketch of their plant. 

YEAR 2

Students have been designing and creating Rube Goldberg Machines. They have used the 6 simple machines (inclined plane, wedge, screw, lever, pulley and wheel and axel) to design their contraptions. Students worked collaboratively to create these machines, with fantastic results! It has been so much fun. 

YEAR 3

There was a lot of excitement in the STEM room last week as students made muffins to show their learning in Inquiry and STEM.  They got into small groups and had to decide on one recipe to cook.  Students had to find one that you could cook in 20 minutes, had an element of heat and were healthy. Then they were extended as they had to justify their thinking. We can’t wait for Week 10 to come when we get to cook our muffins! 

YEAR 4

Coding continues to be a favourite of the Year 4 cohort. Students have learnt how to create lists, use if – then statements and use variables to add extra excitement to their Delightex worlds. They have created a gadget as a solution to a Sustainability goal and are demonstrating in Delightex how their gadget/solution can help the world be more sustainable. 

YEAR 5

Students continued to learn about solids, liquids and gases through experiments. The first experiment was to create the strongest solid structure out of sand. Some groups were able to have 5 people standing on their solid sand constructions!  Another experiment was to work out whether dishwashing liquid or shampoo created the best bubbles. You can have a go at making them at home! 

YEAR 6

Students continued to look into electric circuits, how energy is transferred and transformed into light, sound and motion. They have begun a project that will propose a solution to a real-life problem around our school.