STEM Day activities
On Wednesday this week we celebrated STEM Day with hands on experiments and activities. Students loved exploring science, technology and engineering activities, and some were lucky enough to eat their delicious experiments!
Chemistry in cooking
The smell of honeycomb wafting through the school was a clue that some serious science was happening. Our Year 5's explored the chemistry behind making honeycomb, investigating how gases are produced and trapped in the mixture, creating bubbles that make honeycomb light and fluffy.
Our Year 6 students also headed to the kitchen to bake bread and explore the chemistry of what happens when ingredients are heated. The best part? They got to eat their experiment – and now they have a recipe they can try again at home!
Exploring surface tension
Our Year 2 students investigated surface tension - adding soap to milk with food dye in it for a ‘Magic Milk’ experiment. They watched the colourful swirling pattern reaction take place and noted down their observations.
For our Year 4 students, bubbles had a very important job. As well as exploring surface tension, students used bubbles as part of a mindfulness activity before their final Production performance. Watching the bubbles slowly float away gave students a chance to visualise their nerves doing the same – floating away and leaving them ready to perform Treasure Island.
Engineering
Our Prep and Year 5 buddies became engineers for the day, working together to design and build a bed for Goldilocks. They had to think about how to make their structures strong and stable while working as a team to bring their designs to life.
Our Year 4's designed and built their very own versions of a Mars Rover using lollies. They thought about engineering, design and space exploration – before getting to eat their creations.
Technology
Technology was the focus for our Year 3 students, who explored graphic design programs, using shapes and digital features to create their own snowmen.
Our Year 1 students explored robotics using Bee-Bots. They programmed their robots to move forwards, backwards, left and right, developing their understanding of direction and sequencing.
STEM Day was a great reminder that some of the best learning happens when students are given the chance to try, test, build, experiment and sometimes get things wrong!