Tag Archives: STEM

The Results Are In!

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We tested the last of our wind powered cars today.  Some groups needed more time to make slight modifications to their sail or car structure.  As well as engineering skills being developed here, the pupils were working with a partner to share ideas, make decisions and persevere with the task when it didn’t always work first time.  What a lot of learning going on!

Some cars didn’t get finished in time, but those pupils will still get the chance to test their sail making abilities, using a ready made toy car.

As each car was tested. it was lovely to hear the positive feedback given to each group, along with some helpful tips on how to improve on each design.  Some common themes were:

  • Getting the right shape and size of the sail
  • Can the wheels turn?
  • Is anything on the bottom of the car creating too much friction?  We realised that the car would need even more wind energy to help it to move.
  • How the sail was held up – was it secure enough?

With Mrs Smith, the class have been working on their measuring skills and these skills were put into good use for this task!  There were lots of helpful pupils who were keen to read how far each car had travelled.  Very accurate measuring from all!

All of the cars moved when wind energy was provided, even if just a little bit.  However, the most successful wind powered car travelled a massive 1m 80cm!

Even when things didn’t go to plan, it didn’t matter!  We had fun watching the results and learning from the process.  This car was even pushed over by the wind!

 

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Week 3

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Week 3 was another busy one with lots of opportunity to work with others and be creative.

We played a variety of word building games and revised some common high frequency words.  These words are used regularly in our writing, so we will work hard to learn them in many different ways.

Thank you for sending in resources to help with our Rainforest in  a Box project.  We started building them this week and it has been lovely to see so many creative ideas being shared amongst the class.  We plan to have them ready to show parents towards the end of term.

In Maths this week we have been looking at Place Value and how to construct larger numbers.  The class had fun using the Place Value blocks to build models and then work out the value of each model.  It was great to hear the children sharing their thinking and supporting each other to understand.  We will be moving on to comparing numbers and ordering them too.   I’m sure everyone will be keen to challenge themselves with even larger numbers!

We love to hear about any achievements outside of school and this week enjoyed hearing about one P4’s success at a recent athletics competition.  Well done!

 

Light

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It has been a busy scientific term in P4/5/6!  Over the past few weeks we have explored all aspects of Light.  We learned about shadows, reflections and how light can bend when it travels through a different medium.

We had fun with a periscope, looking around the room for a secret message being held up on a whiteboard.  This was made possible with the mirrors reflecting the light.

Our camera obscuras showed us how light is reflected into our eyes.  This appears as an upside down image.  Our brain flips this around so that it makes sense to us.  But in this camera, it is projected upside down on to the tracing paper screen.  One pupil decided to do some handstands so that she would be seen the “right way up” in her friend’s camera obscura!  It was lots of fun to experiment with.

 

It’s quiz time!

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Wednesday afternoon was spent in P1/2, sharing with them the electrical quiz boards that we made last term.

Each pair supported a couple of P1/2s to try out their quiz and gave them time to explore the electrical circuits used to the play the game.  If they managed to match the question with the correct answer, the bulb lit up!

Everyone in P4/5/6 did so well to explain their quiz and how to use it.  They showed patience and understanding when more time was needed for the pupil to find the right answer.  We would like to thank the P1/2s for having us in their classroom, they listened so well to their buddies and were so enthusiastic about each game they played.

We have missed having these opportunities to mix with other classes and develop important communication and social skills.  We hope to be able to do something like this again soon!

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LEGO Renewables

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Emma Chittick, who is a STEM Engagement Advisor for Skills Development Scotland, came in to help us with another STEM wind turbine challenge., but this time we used LEGO!

She set a competition to see which design could generate the most power.  The tricky part was trying to build a strong structure to set the turbine on.  The class also had to consider how they attached their blades and in which direction they were facing.

Everyone was so engaged and worked well on their own or with a partner to complete the task.

Well done P4/5/6!  You did a great job!

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Wind Turbine Challenge!

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As part of our topic work, we have been learning about Renewable and Non Renewable energy sources.  We discussed the advantages and disadvantages of these and which ones would work best in Shetland.

Last week, we worked in teams to design and create a wind turbine using a selection of materials.  The turbine had to turn when  we used a hair dryer on it and it also had to lift a plastic cup!  Lots of things to consider in their designs!

It was lovely to watch everyone interacting and taking turns to contribute.  Everyone showed consideration towards the ideas shared and compromises were made as to what the design would look like and how it would work.

It was important to try little tests now and again, to check if any changes needed to be made.  Some groups found that when the hair dryer was switched on, the blades of their turbine were not strong enough and required further reinforcement.  Some found that there blades were the wrong size or shape and some discovered that they needed to attach their cup differently so that it would lift without getting tangled in the turbine blades.  Lots of learning going on!

We tested all the designs and everyone had the chance to add their thoughts on what they thought had worked well and what could be done to improve their designs further.  I was impressed with how the children were able to make suggestions in a such a positive, caring and considerate way.  Look out world…some future engineers here!

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Transition Day

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What a super Transition Day we had with the new P4/5/6 class this week!  Mrs Smith came in for the first part of the morning when we spent some time getting to know each other with the Find the Fib game.  Everyone (including Mrs Henderson and Mrs Smith) had to think of 3 things to share with the class about themselves.  BUT, 1 of them had to be a fib.  We had fun trying to guess which statement was false.  Sometimes it was very tricky to decide!

We spent a little time writing down all of the things that were important to us.  Some people had similar interests but it was also good to point out that it’s OK to like different things too.

We then got into groups and took part in some team building games.  We played Lower the Hoop, Pass the Hoop, Lego building Relay and Silent Birthday Line up.  We managed to put everyone in order from youngest to oldest…without saying a word!  Well done everyone!  Amazing!

The afternoon was spent doing a STEM activity.  Each team had the challenge of building a newspaper bridge which would be strong enough to hold a textbook.  Some bridges were so strong that they were able to hold more than 10 books!  It was great to see how everyone worked together as a team and took responsibility for the task.

We are looking forward to welcoming the class back in August where we can continue to get to know each other and work as a team.

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STEM – final challenge!

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Today was our last STEM session with Emma Chittick this year. The children were asked to use all of the knowledge and skills gained over the past couple of weeks to build something that would generate electricity. Everyone was raring to get started and it didn’t take long for their designs to take shape!

Some made wind turbines, some used solar cells, while some used both in the same structure. It was great to see the children interacting and problem solving together to try and achieve success. I was very proud to see everyone working so well as a team and providing support for each other. Well done P5/6!

STEM

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This term we are looking at renewable energy so we invited Emma Chittick into our class to work on a few STEM projects linked to our learning. In week 1, the children were challenged to build a wind turbine using Lego. When their structures were ready, everyone had a trial run and were given time to make any necessary alterations to their design. It was very exciting waiting to see if it would turn with the wind from the fan! We measured how much electricity was produced from each design.

In week 2 the class were asked to build a structure with solar panels that would capture natural light and artificial light. This meant that they had to design a structure that could change the angle of the solar panel. Again, they were given a trial run, then a fair test with the same conditions for each group. During our testing, we quickly realised one disadvantage when relying on solar energy. The position of the sun moved as we were testing at our classroom windowsill, resulting in less direct natural sunlight for some of the tests.

Keep a look out for the final challenge next week!

Rocket launch day!!

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We’ve had a super morning today launching our bottle rockets at the sports pitch!

The pupils have been using our learning on forces – notably friction, air resistance and thrust – to try and adjust their own bottles to build the best rocket design possible. There have been some variations in style and we have all been looking forward to the day when we finally got to test them out…

We set a challenge to see which group could get their rocket to fly the furthest.

Becca and Hannah were the winners with a magnificent 24metres!

Once all of the groups had launched their rockets for distance the ones who struggled with coverage were given the chance to “take to the sky”.

It was a lovely, slightly chilly, morning and a fantastic way to extend our learning outside the classroom. I hope the pupils enjoyed the activity as much as I did – though they did work me hard with the hand pump and I did get a little wet a few times …