P3/4 had a taste of STEM learning today. Last term the class were learning about houses and homes. They were set a challenge to design and build a house that the specified toy person could fit into. The criteria were that it had to be only made from the provided pasta and playdoh and that it had to stand unsupported. This gave the pupils creative freedom to try lots of different techniques and methods to design and build their houses. In their small groups they set about the task. Many quickly found that it wasn’t easy to do and had to try different ways to get the pasta to group together to make walls and other parts of the houses. Some had good ideas but the buildings then collapsed so they had to start again using things that had worked well and changing the things that didn’t. When the time was up we went around all the groups to inspect their work and assess how it did to meet the design problem and follow the criteria. They found only one house that was fully successful but all the other houses had areas of improvement that they could give ideas for. They learnt that the process was where they learnt the most by working together, trying things out, discussing their ideas and working to improve their work.