STEM

Foundation

This term, the Foundation students are participating in a series of investigations and design challenges. They will be designing and constructing different items such as a bed for Goldilocks, a bridge for an elephant, and ‘Wild Things’ made from cardboard and Makedo (reusable plastic screws).

This week, we designed a new crown for Max (the King of the Wild Things) and created different patterns using the jewels placed on the crowns. We will be drawing inspiration for our designs from problems characters encounter in children’s literature. Through these challenges, students are developing an understanding that designed solutions are created to meet a need or help someone.

Year 1/2

This term, the Year 1/2 students are investigating sound. They will be exploring concepts such as volume, pitch, and how sound travels and is processed by the ear.

This week, we are investigating how sounds are made through vibrations. To demonstrate this concept, students will observe how vibrations from sound can move small items such as water, rice and salt using tools including tuning forks and a subwoofer speaker.

It has been a relief to move on from our investigations into volume, where students quite literally had a “scream of a time” measuring loud and quiet sounds using units such as steps (how many steps away until the sound could no longer be heard) and decibels using an iPad app.

Year 3/4

This term, the Year 3/4 students are participating in a unit called The Eggletons’ Big Adventures… and Misadventures. As part of the unit, students are designing a series of vehicles and gadgets to safely transport an egg (“Eggleton”), including a zipline, car, swing and falling device.

Students are using “crash test dummies” (fake eggs) to test and refine their prototypes (first models) before trialling their designs with a real egg.

This week, students will test the safety of their Eggleton cars by blowing them two metres using a leaf blower. We are recording egg survival rates at the end of each testing session, with the aim of reaching an overall survival rate of 80%.

If we achieve our goal (which is admittedly a fairly low bar for engineers!), we will celebrate by making chocolate Eggletons using moulds  (which I’m fairly certain will have a 0% survival rate).

Year 5/6

This term, the Year 5/6 students are embarking on a unit exploring Newton’s Laws of Motion. They will investigate concepts such as elasticity, inertia, velocity, equal and opposite reactions, and acceleration.

This week, students explored speed and braking distance using Sphero balls (educational robots). They investigated how far a Sphero travelled after braking at different speeds and drove the Spheros through obstacle tracks to experience how their level of control changed as the speed increased.