STEM News

Prep students have been learning about foods that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people collected and harvested, known as Bush Foods. Students recognise that many of these foods look and taste like foods that they eat every day. Lilly Pilly tastes like apple, Quandong is also called the desert peach, and Warrigal greens are like spinach!

Students also played an online game that shows where different food items come from and how they are harvested. This game is Cookie Monster Foodie Truck - https://www.sesamestreet.org/games?id=26139 

Grade 1 students started creating a diorama of a farm. In groups students chose to make either an orchard, a dairy farm, a sheep farm for wool or a cotton plantation. Students have been working through the design process to create their farm with a small group. 

Grade 2 students have been practising their science inquiry skills by conducting an investigation about sound. Students used spoons made of different materials tied to a string and banged these onto a table with the string near their ears. Students made predictions about which spoon material would be the loudest, recorded the results, compared their results to their prediction and thought about why other groups may have achieved different results.

Grade 3 students were also practising their science inquiry skills by conducting an experiment with Oobleck. Students made a prediction about which shaped object would sink the fastest, tested their prediction, recorded their results, evaluated whether the test was fair and compared their prediction to their results. Students really enjoyed the mystery of Oobleck, and it’s made from very easily sourced ingredients. The recipe for this is below. 

Grade 4 students have been working very hard on planning an investigation to test the absorbency of different fabrics. Last week students used their plan and conducted their experiments very successfully! Some students timed how long it took for a droplet of water to soak into the fabric, some measured how many millilitres they could squeeze out of the fabrics and some measured how far the ink from a texta travelled through the fibres. 

Grade 5 students have been working through the design process to code a game on a coding app - Scratch Jnr. Students were asked to design a game that demonstrated how we could grow food on Mars. Students needed to research the atmosphere of Mars in order to know what is required for successful growth of plants. Students worked collaboratively to use code to create their games, then shared them with another group for evaluation. 

Grade 6 students have been very busy preparing and baking food for the last few weeks. Students first practised their cutting techniques on fresh vegetables…

Students then used their knowledge of reversible and irreversible changes, and the design process, to bake egg-free blueberry muffins! These were an absollute hit and the recipe is below. Ask your grade 6 child to make them for you! https://www.egglesscooking.com/vegan-blueberry-muffins/#easyrecipe_toc

“If you make any of the recipes from this week’s STEM newsletter, or participate in any STEM activities at home or outside of school, please send your photos to the school email, for the newsletter

The TRPS STEM team.