Corpus Christi School Newsletter 

Learning and Teaching

Encouraging science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills

In last week’s Newsletter, we shared the students' Science Week activities which all the students enjoyed participating in. At home, you can foster this curiosity and interest in different ways.

 

The way that STEM subjects are taught may have changed over the years, but families are still able to support children of all ages engage in STEM related experiences.

 

Ways you can help your child engage with STEM

Investigate and ask questions about the real world

You can do this by asking open-ended questions, such as:

  • Can you describe...?

  • I wonder what would happen if...?

  • How would you answer that question...?

  • What if...?.

 

 

 

Encourage and support activities that are STEM-related

For younger children, this could include:

  • playing games to identify different shapes, numbers and patterns

  • singing songs and nursery rhymes about numbers and playing with building blocks.

For older children, this could include:

  • using a digital device to make a movie with special effects

  • learning cooking skills

  • encouraging the use of apps and computer games that are STEM-related.

For children at secondary school, you could:

  • ask your child's school about STEM subjects and extra-curricular activities that may have a STEM focus – this could be national science forums, pedal prix, engineering challenges and coding challenges

  • encourage young people to talk to their teachers or career advisers about pathways that lead to STEM careers.

STEM websites and places to visit

  • Museum Victoria cares for the state's scientific and cultural collections. Museum Victoria includes Melbourne Museum and Scienceworks, These museums provide stimulating exhibits and activities ensuring that families can maximise their STEM experience.

  • Zoos Victoria, including Healesville Sanctuary, Melbourne Zoo and Werribee Open Range Zoo provide families with the opportunity to discover a wild range of wildlife and learn about conservation. 

  • The Digital Technologies Hub for families provides learning resources on digital technologies. The families section of the hub contains information, activities, careers advice and cybersafety links for families to explore.

  • Code has the tools to help you explore, teach, and support computer science education.

  • CodeMonkey is an online platform that teaches kids real coding languages like CoffeeScript and Python. Children and teenagers learn block-based and text-based coding through an engaging game-like environment

  • Cosmos is a science magazine published in Australia. Its accompanying website has the latest science news, discoveries, developments and events.

  • Backyard Species Discovery is a virtual citizen science Bush Blitz. It provides a virtual expedition to add to our knowledge of Australian biodiversity while keeping everyone busy at home and contributing data to the Atlas of Living Australia.

     

Article adapted from Vic.gov.au -https://www.vic.gov.au/encouraging-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem-skills 

 

Deborah Courtney

(Director of Learning and Teaching)