STEAM

Foundation

We have been focussing on the T for technology in STEAM this term, beginning with digital technologies. Students explored what robots are and realised that they come in many different forms, but all of them have been made for a purpose. They also learned that robots will not do anything unless given instructions by a person. Students practiced giving each other instructions before learning how to give instructions to the bee bot robots. We are now shifting into the design technologies. Students have come up with a simple story, tying into what they have learned in writing with their classroom teachers. They are now in the process of making jackets for their bee bots to turn them into the characters from their stories. Students will also design and make the sets for their stories before coding their robots to act them out. We look forward to sharing the video recordings of their stories when all the pieces come together. 

1/2

This term, students have been learning about sound. We have explored objects that make sounds compared to those that make light. They have had experience using their sense of hearing to notice sounds in their environment and categorise them. Students now know that sound is made by vibrations and that there are different aspects to sound such as pitch and volume. Through a series of experiments students have identified that small objects make high pitched sounds whereas large objects make low pitch sounds. They also discovered that hard materials made louder sounds than soft materials. We will continue to learn about different materials and their properties and how this influences their use. This will lead us into our design technologies unit where the students will make their own musical instruments. 

3/4

We are in full concert preparation with the 3/4 students this term. Students have been tasked with making the props for our up coming school concert in term 3. We have been working through the design process for this. First, students identified the problem. They realised they needed to know which props are to be made and this required them to know the script and storyline. Once they knew this, they brainstormed all of the props the story would need and chose one to make within teams. They have researched existing examples of the prop and have started designing their own, considering the types of materials they will use to make it. To help prepare them to for the creating phase, students worked collectively as a whole 3/4 section to make a giant wind ball using the awesome Make Do tools, specifically designed for cardboard construction. We are all super exited to start making out props next week and look forward to using them in our concert. 

5/6

After students learned about volcanoes and earthquakes last term, they have been working on an applied engineering task of designing and building an earthquake resistant tower that would fit right in to the earthquake prone Japan. Students have worked through the design process to define the problem. They recognised that many people live in Japan and need safe buildings to live and work in. We researched many existing solutions for earthquake "proofing" buildings and identified strategies such as braces, dampers and base isolation. Students have since implemented these engineering principles in their group designs that they are now in the process of making. We are looking forward to putting these towers to the test in the next few weeks to see which designs would make  it in Tokyo.