On Friday 14th of August, our Year 4 students had an exciting and hands-on learning experience during our Taskworks Incursion. The incursion gave students the opportunity to explore different materials, investigate how things work and put their teamwork and problem-solving skills into action.

The session began with an engaging discussion about different materials, including rubber, wood and steel, and the properties that make each material useful for different purposes. Students were encouraged to think about why particular materials are chosen when designing and building objects.

Following the introduction, students separated into five groups and rotated through a range of interactive activities.

One activity challenged students to deconstruct a steel robot before working together to reconstruct the pieces into their very own design. This station required plenty of communication, creativity and teamwork as students experimented with different ways to connect the parts.

Students also investigated electricity and movement using a steel train held together with nuts and bolts. After deconstructing the train, students turned a wheel to generate electricity. They were able to see their energy come to life as it powered a train motor and illuminated a light bulb!

At another station, students used a whiteboard and magnetic shapes to design and create their own ‘marble run’ obstacle course. Their challenge was to manoeuvre a round magnet through the obstacles to successfully reach the end of the course. This hands-on activity encouraged students to use creative thinking, problem-solving skills and persistence as they tested and adjusted their designs.

Another station offered several fascinating challenges. Students used magnets underneath a plastic surface to move iron balls around and create different pictures and patterns. They also investigated a foot-operated turntable containing a mystery material, using their observations to guess what might be hidden inside. To test their steady hands, students played a game where they had to carefully manoeuvre a handle along a bent copper rod. Touch the copper more than four times and it was game over!

One of the biggest highlights was a fast-paced activity that combined elements of Whack-a-Mole and Dance Dance Revolution. Working in pairs, students stood opposite one another with three foot buttons on each side. As different buttons were raised, they had to react quickly and push them down with their feet to score points. The highest score achieved was an impressive 37, reached by Max Elliot and Mrs Selemba!

The Taskworks Incursion was a wonderful opportunity for our Year 4 students to learn through exploration, experimentation and play. Throughout the experience, students demonstrated curiosity, teamwork, persistence and creative thinking while developing their understanding of materials, magnetism, electricity, forces and movement.

Most importantly, our Year 4 students had a world of fun while discovering that science, technology and engineering are all around us!

Some student reflections

Emily 4BK

I enjoyed taking apart and putting back together the robot in any creative way we wanted. I noticed that instead of marbles being under the spinning thing, it was actually golf balls. I wondered how the guy made all of the games and robots and train.

Max 4BK

I enjoyed the stomp stump game, as it was fun, me and Mrs Selemba got the high score!

I noticed that there was a really fast way to screw the nuts and bolts.

I wondered how the buzz wire game worked.

Jayden 4BK

I enjoyed the stomping stump. I noticed that under the spinning thing there were golf balls. I wondered how they made all of the equipment.

Jovina 4BK

I enjoyed everything including magnets,material,Robob,stompin stump,buzzwire and the marble run,and I noticed that under the spinning thing are golfballs. I wondered how they would make everything in a few months.

Kayla 4BK

I enjoyed the marble run because it puts me in a creative mood. I also liked doing the stomp stump game.I noticed that some of these materials were found a few years ago. I wonder what will happen next?

Alanna - 4BK

I enjoyed playing with the magnets.I noticed that the stomping stumps were hard to flatten.I wondered how the golf balls stayed in place.

Liya 4BK

I enjoyed the stomping stump because you had to get the right timing and try to beat the high score.

I wonder how they built everything, especially the buzz wire.

I noticed that the Buzz Wire only gave you 3 lives instead of 4.

Austin 4CC

My favourite bit of the incursion was taking apart the train and putting it back together. The tricky one was the Buzzwire game because you only had four tries to try and get the handle to the end without touching the wire.

Akshara 4CC

I liked our incursion because it showed us different materials and why they were made. My favourite game was step on the button game and buzz wire.

Aairah 4CC

At the incursion my favourite activity was the step on the button game. I also liked how we made our own electricity by turning a wheel really fast. Ayla and I made a marble run with magnets as well

Annastasia - 4CC

Today I had an incursion called Taskwork. My favourite part of the incursion was the game Buzzwire where you had 45 seconds and would have to move the handle to try and get through the wire without touching it.

Mikkel - 4SB

My favorite part was when we built a train and robot with moving parts!

Dominic - 4SB

The friction spinning was the best part, I was standing on a spinning circle and had to guess what was underneath. We used our knowledge of objects to guess, it was really fun!

Pearl - 4SB

The game “stomp of the stump” was my favorite! We played with partners and had to try and beat the high score. Friction helped our shoes grip the surface without sliding.

Aleyah - 4SB

Today at our incursion we took apart and made a robot out of steel materials. We explored objects such as nuts, bolts, pins and hinges to make the best robot!

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