STEM Fortnight

unknownc

We are all really looking forward to the next 2 weeks as we embark on a challenge that will put our engineering skills to the test! Stay tuned for more !

Day 1!

Today we had a visit from the digital leaders teaching us all about the wonders of coding! the children had a great time creating there own animal that moves and talks.

Here is a link to the Scratch website if you want to play the game at home!

https://scratch.mit.educat

Day 2!

Today the children were challenged with creating a den that we can all fit in. The children had a great sharing ideas and problem solving. With a lot of work and dedication…. Look, we did it! 

frenchfdfAlso we had a visit from Mrs Noble
who was teaching us French though the story of Handa’s Surprise. Thechildren had a great time
completing the activities!

 

Day 3!

Today we have been using the DS’s to put our knowledge to the test. We have enjoyed trying to beat our speed at answering questions correctly.

Day 4!

After days of planning and gathering resources we have begun the task of building our boats using our design boards as a guide to help with creating the boats. We have had a fantastic time using a saw to cut wood, problem solving to help stick materials together and adapting our plans to suit the materials that are out on the table.

Today we also made paper boats in class. Watch the video underneath to show others at home how to make these floating ships!

Day 5!

Today we have had a very exciting day with lots of fantastic visitors in to see us.

First of all we had a visit from the digital leaders who were in showing us how to use QR Codes. We had a blast finding and scanning the picture to work out the times table sums at the end. We have all learned so much from using the QR codes and they are something we hope to use in the future.

Thank you again Lucy, James and Shay for all of your help today!

Also, we were very lucky to have a visit for Miles today who was teaching us all about DNA and how it is extracted and the process it goes through. We had a go ourselves at extracting the DNA from a strawberry!

clipart-didyouknow-billboard                                                             Here’s an interesting fact. Did you know that a strawberry has 4 times the amount of DNA than a human! Wow who knew! 

 

Lastly, we had a visitor in helping us to design a free standing structure that is a 3D Shape. The children approached this challenge fantastically and have reduced some amazing constructions!

Today was the day! To sink or … well sink! We began to test our designs and put them to the test to see how many weighted gingerbread men their boats could hold before sinking! We then discussed what could we do differently to get more gingerbread onto their floats.

 

Day 6!

Today we had a visit from Scott and Callun who came to tell us information on Internet safety. They helped us design some awesome posters that we displayed in the gym hall so others could read our super facts.

The boys and girls did a fantastic job!

Also, we continued to check which of the boats could hold the most weighted gingerbread men. Well done to Emily whose boat held 150 gingerbread men! Well done! 🙂

Day 7!

The final day of STEM has arrived. We have all had such a wonderful putting our engineering skills to the test. We have learned so much over the course of this fortnight and taken up new interests. To end off our Super STEM Fortnight we all gathered together to learn about each classes challenge. We enjoyed looking at each classes challenges.

The Discovery Zone

We had a super day investigating lots of challenges. We looked at:

  • Sinking and Floating items.

  • Electrical Circuits.

  • Our 5 Senses board game.

  • Making Hearts following LEGO construction intructions.

  • Placing and name the parts of a flower.

  • Magnets pushing and pulling.

  • Finding the buried treasure using magnets.

    Exciting Experiments

As it has now come to an end and we have tried so hard. I felt it would be nice to have a special treat and try some super science experiments. All of these experiments you can try at home!

  1. See the Rainbow – Skittles and warm water.

  2. Magnificent Milk – Milk, food colouring, cotton bud and fairy liquid.

  3. Blooming Mentos – Coca cola and mentos (Must to be outside!)

  4. Floating Ink –  Whiteboard pens, plate and water.

  5. Hoovercraft – CD, Fruit shoot lid, balloon.