STEAM News

Foundation

Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum! Giant STEAM Fun for Foundation! 🌾

This term in STEAM, our F–6 students are diving deep into the fascinating world of Biological Sciences! 🌿

Our youngest learners in Foundation have kicked off the term by becoming mini-botanists. They began their science journey by identifying the external features of various plants and examining real-world samples up close. To bring their learning to life, they listened to the classic tale of Jack and the Beanstalk before planting their very own bean seeds. Over the coming weeks, the students will be carefully monitoring and recording the growth of their plants.

The excitement peaked this week with a hands-on STEAM challenge. Students were tasked with designing and engineering a beanstalk to help Jack return the golden hen and harp. Using only cardboard tubes and green paper leaves, our little engineers had to construct their towers and successfully balance a figure of Jack right at the very top.

The challenge highlighted three incredible traits in our youngest learners:

Brilliant Balance: Students carefully engineered their structures, learning firsthand how a strong foundation keeps a tall tower standing.
Powerful Persistence: Building with cardboard tubes is tricky! When towers tipped or tumbled, our students didn't give up. They picked up the pieces, smiled, and tried again.
Tremendous Teamwork: Working together, students shared ideas, took turns, and encouraged each other to reach new heights.

Year 1/2

Thirsty Work: Year 1/2 Discover How Plants Drink Water 💧

Our Year 1/2 students have been flexing their scientific muscles this term as they explore how plants survive and thrive!

The students started by identifying the key physical features of plants and investigating the vital functions that ensure their survival. To see these concepts in action, they observed the classic 'thirsty celery' experiment. By placing celery stalks into coloured water, the classes got a clear, visual demonstration of how water travels through a plant. They learned that plants have special, built-in "straws" called xylem inside their stems, which actively suck up water and nutrients from the roots all the way to the leaves! 🌿

Reminder for Year 1/2 students: Don't forget to keep a close eye on our celery stalks over the coming days to see just how much colourful water our xylem straws can drink.