We have two amazing 1000 piece Kapla sets available to borrow. They come with four
ide
a books but are perfect for letting your pupils’ imagination and creativity shine.
The feedback received so far has been fantastic and some teachers are trying them out to see if they are worth buying as a school (they are!).
How big a tower can you build? Let’s measure it!
Remember we have loads of ‘hands-on’ STEM resources as well as books.
Our Early Years Book Group has been looking at new picture books that can be used for STEM. Picture books are fantastic for stimulating learning and many are wonderful for a STEM Through Stories focus. The Falkirk STEM Officers support us by providing story planners for each book to give teachers and practitioners a starting point but our members always find creative ways to use the books and bring the learning to life.
King of the Swamp by Catherine Emmett and Ben Mantle
McDarkly lives all on his own, growing orchids in his dank swamp, until one day his peace is disturbed by an arrogant king who wants to turn the swamp into a roller-skate park. This story is brilliant for looking at nature, minibeasts and environmental issues.
Practitioners took the book with them on a visit to the local woods and it stimulated lots of role-play and den building. One child commented that they didn’t want them to ‘take away our green stuff’ when they saw building work happening nearby.
Tad: a big story about a brave minibeast by Benji Davies
Tad is the smallest tadpole in the pond and she is scared of ‘Big Blub’. When the other tadpoles start to disappear she worries ‘Big Blub’ has got them. This story is brilliant for looking at life cycles and feelings.
The children loved this story and found it very engaging. They walked to a local pond to see some real tadpoles and practitioners felt it would be best to use this at spring time.
Tiny Little Rocket by David Fickling and Richard Collingridge
A little rocket takes you on an adventure to space. This book is great for looking at space, rockets and technology.
This was a strong favourite of the children who loved to pour over the pages together with friends. The black background makes the pictures bold and attention-grabbing and encourages the children to learn about space. The children took their interest outside to see the moon and this lead to lots of discussion about what’s in the sky.
Izzy Gismo by Pip Jones and Sarah Ogilvie
Izzy loves to invent but her inventions don’t always go to plan. This story is good for looking at inventions, technology, block play and developing a growth mindset. Izzy is also a strong, diverse role-model for getting girls into STEM.
A planner wasn’t created for Izzy as the STEM Officers felt it was the perfect book to inspire free and creative play in children. Practitioners felt it is a good book to leave in the building area to inspire children. They loved the rhyming text and the pictures have a lot of detail for children to pour over.
We have been working with the Falkirk STEM Officers, Laura McCafferty and Barbara Hanning, to extend our range of STEM resources and develop new resources to support STEM Through Stories. This year’s COP26 in Glasgow has meant many schools are covering Learning for Sustainability and we have produced new resource boxes to support this at early, 1st and 2nd levels.
Each box has a story book with a planner developed by the STEM Officers:
Early Level
Somebody Swallowed Stanley by Sarah Roberts
Somebody Swallowed Stanley Plan
1st Level
Eco-wolf and the three pigs by Laurence Anholt
2nd Level
Song of the dolphin boy by Elizabeth Laird
Class sets of the books and the resource boxes are available to borrow from us.
Fantastic resources to support using the beautiful book ‘The Lost Words’ by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris
From The John Muir Trust:
Welcome to the Wind Power in Falkirk STEM Activity BoxInside the Teacher’s Guide below you will find all the information you need to deliver a jam-packed STEM lesson with a hands-on activity, local heritage links and future career inspiration for your pupils! The learning materials included are best suited to pupils aged 8-14 years.
You can use the resources any way you please! In addition to the core lesson and activity there are plenty of optional extras, extension ideas and links to external resources to use at your disposal
01 Teachers Guide_Wind Power in Falkirk
Click here for video of Tony Fong – Engineering Manager – Tony Fong answers questions in relation to his career pathway to becoming an Engineering Manager at ORE Catapult. This video interview was created by ORE Catapult in partnership with Great Place and Falkirk Science Festival, and presented as part of a digital learning STEM Activity Box resource: ‘Wind Power in Falkirk’.
Below you will find additional helpful links and resources from our partners at ORE Catapult
Click here to download the PowerPoint presentation: Pres1_ORE_ STEM – FunFactsWind Power_2021
Levenmouth Demonstration Turbine in Fife
Sustainable decommissioning of offshore wind (circular economy) Great opportunities for future careers and environmental discussions.
Our test facilities in the north east of England
Explaining the forces and loads on a turbine
Click on this link to download in Word format the Wind Power Risk Assessment Dec 2021
Inside the Teacher’s Guide below you will find all the information you need to deliver a jam-packed STEM lesson with a hands-on activity, local heritage links and future career inspiration for your pupils! The learning materials included are best suited to pupils aged 8-14 years.
You can use the resources any way you please! In addition to the core lesson and activity there are plenty of optional extras, extension ideas and links to external resources to use at your disposal.
1) Teacher’s Guide – Blue Carbon STEM box
2) Digital Board Friendly Version to use alongside your Teacher’s Guide
Click here to watch an overview and introduction to ‘Blue Carbon’, video made and narrated by Marcelina Lekawska, detailing the ‘Blue Carbon’ and how to protect it. Originally produced for a Falkirk Science Festival workshop in 2021:
https://vimeo.com/636076877
Click here to watch a guided video of a local Blue Carbon heritage site, conducted and presented by Professor William Austin, when exploring the Saltmarshes and the work of researchers RSPB Skinflats. Film Originally Produced by Schedule D Productions:
https://vimeo.com/635377136
Click here to watch a detailed introduction to the importance of Saltmarshes by the RESIST Project. Produced by Cambridge Filmworks and Voice over by Julia Lee
Click here to watch an instructional video made and narrated by Marcelina Lekawska, detailing the ‘Teabag Experiment’ used by scientists and the wider community to compare decomposition between a saltmarsh and regular soil environment. Originally produced for a Falkirk Science Festival workshop in 2021:
https://vimeo.com/636071628
Click here to watch an interview of Professor William Austin, conducted by Marcelina Lekawska, detailing the career path and work of a scientist, researcher and academic within the world of Blue Carbon. Originally produced for a Falkirk Science Festival workshop in 2021:
https://vimeo.com/636077203
Click below to learn more about Blue Carbon projects around the world:
https://www.blueforestsolutions.org/projects
https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/our-work/our-projects/living-seas/blue-carbon/
https://www.innerforthlandscape.co.uk/projects/conserving-restoring/skinflats-saline-lagoons
https://www.abpmer.co.uk/services/habitat-creation-and-restoration/
https://www.teatime4schools.at/en/
https://www.thebluecarboninitiative.org
Click on this link to download in Word format the Blue Carbon STEM Box Risk Assessment
Over the coming weeks, Kelpies (imprint of Floris Publishers) will be adding to their bank of resources with videos of creators sharing their own stories as well as activities, discussion points and learning resources for children of all ages. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for details of the latest additions, and check out their YouTube channel.
You will find a complete list of all available resources in the Features for Teachers section of the blog.
If you are looking for a way to continue class reading or storytime, please visit the website here
The Learning Resource Service promoted The Book of Hopes when it was published last year, it is a wonderful book to comfort and inspire children. Edited by the well known and loved author Katherine Rundell, it contains contributions from more than 100 writers and illustrators, including Lauren Child, Anthony Horowitz, Greg James and Chris Smith, Michael Morpurgo, Liz Pichon, Axel Scheffler, Francesca Simon and Jacqueline Wilson. The publisher, Bloomsbury, have kindly made the on-line book available free during this lockdown.
There are some brilliant activities and ideas that have been produced based on the Book of Hopes as well as a challenge to spread hope, inspiration and a love of reading in your school and local community with a chance to win prizes!
The theme of this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week is Express Yourself.
Expressing yourself is about finding ways to share feelings, thoughts, or ideas, through creativity, through art, music, writing and poetry, dance and drama, photography and film.
Free resources for children and young people are available to explore what it means to Express Yourself and can be easily adapted for use in school, for home-schooling, online lessons or independent learning.
From Grandad’s Island by Benji Davies
Click here for video resources for 11 author/illustrators, freely available on the CLPE YouTube channel and enjoy listening to 11 picture books read aloud by the authors/illustrators.
An amazing resource perfect for lockdown for parents and children to listen to.
Enjoy!
Benji Davies shows how to draw grandad from Grandad’s Island.
Also you will find some fantastic illustrators here showing how they create their characters, brilliant to draw along to.
The Power of Pictures helps primary school teachers to develop their understanding of the craft of picture book creation and illustration as a way of raising children’s reading and writing. Enjoy using the specially developed free teaching resources for all age groups.
