2022-Term4 STEM Overview

STEM Overview

Prep and Year 1

Throughout Term 4 Prep and Year 1 students will investigate how plants grow. They will investigate the Driving Question: What knowledge of plants do we share with First Nation's scientists and what can we learn from them? This will include investigating what is a native plant and what is a non- native plant? What is the same and what is different? What do they both need to thrive in the local environment?

Students are currently sharing their prior knowledge and exploring how seeds work, finding out if all seeds are the same and experimenting whether native plant seeds and non-native plant seeds need the same things to start growing. They will pursue areas of inquiry that interest them and create sustainable solutions to real world problem around how plants grow.

Year 2:

In Term 4, students will be investigating where water comes from and how humans use it in a variety of ways. They will conduct experiments to see what happens when rain falls on different surfaces and how it is collected. Students will determine how water can be responsibly and irresponsibly used and will show this usage in graphs. They will also look at how boats act on water and build replicas to investigate this. 

Year 3/4:

Students in Grade 3 and 4 will be using Lego Education kits to test their understanding of forces and motion (physical science). They will be looking at how certain sports are played, identify the forces involved in the sport and discuss other variables that will have an influence. Students will be developing their group work skills in their sessions and use their problem-solving abilities.

Years 5/6:

Grade 5 and 6 students will apply their scientific inquiry skills to provide evidence of the change in an object’s motion based on its force and mass. They will apply Newton’s three laws of motion as they design and develop replicas of athletic sports and will gather data on variables, angles, heights and lengths to support their analysis and synthesis.

Term 4 Year 7 Science Overview

This term in science, Year 7 students will be consolidating their understanding through designing sustainable solutions to real world problems that connect prior learning, eg energy, cells, classification systems, food chains and food webs.

Students are currently working on a brief to design an affordable, miniature vertical garden that could operate in a small urban yard, on an apartment balcony or similar location.

They are continuing to cultivate the independent learning dispositions essential for successful outcomes.

They have reflected on their kitchen science session at the end of term 3 where students worked in collaborative groups to safely prepare, cook and present vegetarian food for shared consumption and enjoyment, guided by sustainable practices. Students may choose to continue building their skills and knowledge of kitchen science through personal inquiry opportunities towards the end of term 4.