{"id":1080,"date":"2026-05-22T12:20:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sh\/primary62526\/?p=1080"},"modified":"2026-05-22T12:20:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:20:06","slug":"stem-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sh\/primary62526\/2026\/05\/22\/stem-week\/","title":{"rendered":"STEM WEEK"},"content":{"rendered":"

LEGO LAND YACHTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eleanor and Floortje came in to visit with a STEM activity.\u00a0 In pairs we had to make a Lego Land Yacht.\u00a0 The yacht had to be able to move with the help of a wind fan.\u00a0 We measured how far each land yacht travelled. We were able to test our yachts the modify them. We found that changing the size of our sails and position of our sails improved the distance the yachts could travel.\u00a0 We had to collaborate with our partner to make the best model.<\/p>\n

Pupil Voice<\/em><\/p>\n

“I enjoyed how you got to try it then work out problems.”<\/p>\n

“I liked working with a partner rather than by myself.”<\/p>\n

“You had to balance the boat.\u00a0 If the mast was heavy you had to make the back heavy.”<\/p>\n

“We used smaller wheels to make it go faster.”<\/p>\n

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MRS GEAR\u00a0 (Bobby and Fraser’s mum)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs Gear came in to tell us about how lawyers use technology.<\/p>\n

Lawyers make sure things are done safely and fairly.<\/p>\n

We learnt that lawyers use technology to make video calls to court and prison, to email other lawyers and clients or to check laws. Technology means people don’t have to travel for court. In remote parts of Scotland court is sometimes via video call.<\/p>\n

If you want to sell your house you need a lawyer. the lawyer needs technology to check you own the house.<\/p>\n

Lawyers also use the internet to check laws they don’t know. They check what happened in similar court cases and fill out forms for court trials.<\/p>\n

Then we asked her some questions.<\/p>\n

What are the hardest cases?<\/em><\/p>\n

The hardest cases are the ones where people really care about the outcome, like when it is involving children.<\/p>\n

How long do you need to study to be a lawyer?<\/em><\/p>\n

You need to study for seven years to be a lawyer.<\/p>\n

by Sophie P6<\/p>\n

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MICROBITS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Using makecode.microbit.org pupils working through tutorials working on their coding skills.<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

VICTORIAN TOYS\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

SPINNING TOPS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our topic is Victorians.\u00a0 We have been exploring Victorian toys.\u00a0 We made spinning tops with a circular piece of card and a cocktail stick.\u00a0 We had several attempts as the circular pieces of card were quite big.\u00a0 Smaller circles of card worked better.\u00a0 Using playdough to properly fix the cocktail stick helped too.<\/p>\n

Science <\/strong>We talked about forces and gravity.<\/p>\n

Technology<\/strong> We experimented to see who could design a top to spin the longest.<\/p>\n

IMG_5051<\/a><\/p>\n

THAUMOTROPES<\/strong><\/p>\n

A thaumotrope is an optical toy consisting of two circular bits of card with different illustrations on each side.\u00a0 When the disc is twirled rapidly by the string attached, the separate images blend together.<\/p>\n

Science<\/strong> Animation principles. Light and perception.<\/p>\n

Technology<\/strong> Early animation device<\/p>\n

Engineering <\/strong>Designing and constructing a working spinning mechanism<\/p>\n

Maths <\/strong>Symmetry and alignment of images<\/p>\n

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PEG DOLLS<\/strong><\/p>\n

We made peg dolls using old fashioned wooden pegs.\u00a0 The pegs were decorated with material.<\/p>\n

Technology<\/strong> Comparing Victorian toy-making methods with modern manufacturing.<\/p>\n

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LOTI-BOTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

We used the Loti-bots for the first time. We coded them to change colour, make a noise then make\u00a0 different shapes.\u00a0 We worked together in small groups.\u00a0 One group managed to code the Loti-bot to make a ten sided shape!<\/p>\n

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MRS BURDEN (Sophie’s mum)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs Burden came in to talk about how she has used STEM in her career working on boats.\u00a0 She emphasized how STEM is used all the time on boats.\u00a0 \u00a0On the bridge of the boat technology is used for navigation.\u00a0 The technology on boats is used for identifying the position of the boat, the depth of the boat and the position of other vessels.\u00a0 Throughout the boat people are using technology to test equipment, engineers are required to make sure everything is running properly. Equipment needs to be tested and fixed to ensure everyone is safe.<\/p>\n

Mrs Burden is now the Principal and Chief Executive of UHI Shetland.\u00a0 Within this facility the hairdressers being trained are using STEM.\u00a0 They are learning about angles and mixing colours. Hospitality students are using STEM when they are measuring ingredients and\u00a0 adjusting temperatures.<\/p>\n

The class enjoyed looking at the maps that Mrs Burden brought in.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LEGO LAND YACHTS Eleanor and Floortje came in to visit with a STEM activity.\u00a0 In pairs we had to make a Lego Land Yacht.\u00a0 The yacht had to be able to move with the help of a wind fan.\u00a0 We … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1626,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,24],"tags":[26,4,11,3,25,19,16,15],"class_list":["post-1080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","category-stem","tag-adapting","tag-collaborating","tag-communicating","tag-creativity","tag-critical-thinking","tag-curiosity","tag-focusing","tag-sense-making"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sh\/primary62526\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sh\/primary62526\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sh\/primary62526\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sh\/primary62526\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1626"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sh\/primary62526\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1080"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sh\/primary62526\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1121,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sh\/primary62526\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions\/1121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sh\/primary62526\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sh\/primary62526\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sh\/primary62526\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}