Please see below for the feedback from our STEM Open Afternoon. Thank you to everyone who took part in our questionnaire.
Category Archives: STEM 2017
P2/1 Robertson Building Site visit
On Thursday the 30th of April, P2/1 went to visit the Robertson Building Site in Mid Calder as part of their IDL STEM topic for term 3.
The children demonstrated that they were responsible citizens by displaying excellent behaviour and using their road safety knowledge to cross roads sensibly and safely.
On arrival, we entered the meeting room where we met the site manager and some of Roberson Building Site team members. First, they gave us an important safety chat where we discussed the clothing and equipment builders and the children would need to keep them safe on the building site. Then we spoke about some of the things we might see and hear on the building site and any potential hazards that we would have to look out for. The children also got the chance to share their knowledge from their topic and ask their own questions to the experts.
Then, we put on our safety equipment (orange hi-vis vests and hard hats) and set off on our tour around the building site. The class could successfully identify and talk about different building materials and different machines they could see as we walked to look at the foundation stage of building.
After this, we went to see a house that was further on in the building process. We discussed the scaffolding outside, the wooden frame and how it was pieced together, what insulation was and why it is important, the layout of the upstairs and downstairs and finally the wiring and position of the lights.
The children did an excellent job of asking questions and linking their knowledge from our topic to this real-life experience. They could identify different tools and speak about the different types of roles involved in building a house (plumber, electrician, painters etc.).
The class really enjoyed the experience and we would all like to say a huge thank you to the Robertson Homes team and all our adult helpers that came along to support the class in our learning during the visit.
The Primary 3’s had fun at our Brilliant Baby Gym Assembly!
Last Friday Primary 3 presented an assembly all about our Baby Gym Challenge. We had to work really hard when designing, building and selling our baby gyms so we couldn’t wait to share our learning with everyone.
Ignatius: “I was so excited to go on stage and hold up my ‘nose’ picture!”
Lewis C: “When I was doing the Boss Baby Rap I was really nervous but I enjoyed it!”
Carla: “I enjoyed doing the Boss Baby Rap because I got to do some funny dance moves.”
Ben: “At first I didn’t want to be a Boss Baby. But once I had done it I wasn’t so nervous and enjoyed it after all!”
 
Mission Accomplished!
As part of their IDL context, Kidnapped, P5B have been working hard in their investigation teams to compile, sort and analyse the evidence in the case of the missing Green children. Now, we’re proud to announce that we have solved the mystery! In the lead up to the discovery, we had to take part in a series of missions:
Mission 12: The Hideout
The kidnapper got in contact with Chief Anderson and we were given one hour to meet their demands. We listened to a voice recording of the message the kidnapper left, and although their voice was heavily disguised, we were still able to get some clues. Chief Anderson also gave us a link to a map that the Special Police Squad had put together following their investigations in Wick. We used Google Earth to look at each place closely, and linked it with clues from the phone message. Based on the evidence, we decided to lead the police squad to an abandoned hut in the woods and waited for news.
Mission 13: A Final Clue
We learned that our suspicions were correct and the children were found safe in the abandoned hut- phew! They were discovered along with one final piece of evidence- a bank statement left by the kidnapper. After analysing the final clue, we had our suspicions about Martha Goodwater due to the payment into her account from Save the Wildlife and the purchase of walking boots. But, we pulled together all of the intelligence we had been gathering throughout our investigations, and most of us still believed that this pointed towards Austin Black- the tyre track, the handwriting analysis and his police interview was hard to ignore!
However, a final package containing CCTV footage from Green Manor was delivered, and it was confirmed that Martha was the one who took the children! We’re extremely glad that the Green children are safe and sound, and we hope that the police team manage to catch Martha quickly!
Maya commented, “I really liked the Kidnapped topic. I liked that you had to solve a mystery and I really liked the experiments we did. I did suspect Martha at the end but I thought it was Austin Black or William Baker.”
Ben said, “I really liked the topic but I still think there is a bit more to it. I think it wasn’t just Martha Goodwater, I think all of the suspects were involved. I think they were walking round the other side of the house so they weren’t on the CCTV camera.”
Rebekah added, “I liked learning about what it is like for people being kidnapped and what the police have to do to solve crimes.”
The day Baby Ailish and Natalie came to visit Primary 3!
Primary 3 received a letter from Natalie and baby Ailish asking us to design and build a baby gym. We decided to make the Baby Gym Challenge our topic this term.
We have enjoyed working in small design teams to design and build the ultimate baby gym to meet baby Ailishs’. needs. We worked hard to create 4 toys to help develop Ailishs’ sense of touch, smell, hearing and sight.
This week Natalie and baby Ailish came to visit and look at our baby gyms. Here are some pictures that show this lovely visit:
Space Exploration with P4B
This week P4B have been working in their space teams to investigate space travel from specific key dates. We have used our research to start creating a timeline of space travel in the form of a whole class sway and a class timeline book. During this activity we have developed our research, team work and digital technology skills.
We can’t wait to complete our timeline Sway and book after the Easter Holidays.
Cracking the case with the Constable
Today, Primary 5 had a special visit from Constable Graham McKenzie who gave us an insight into the different roles the police would play in an investigation similar to the one in our IDL context, Kidnapped. He explained different useful ‘intelligence’ or clues that the police would look for at a crime scene, and how they would gather the evidence. He also explained how he and his colleagues might use this to solve a crime and catch a suspect.
Constable McKenzie also gave examples of the different roles he has taken on within the police, and examples of crime scenes he has attended. We also had the opportunity to touch some of the vital equipment an officer requires to keep themselves and others safe. We even got to try some of it on- the body armour was much heavier than we expected it to be!
A big thank you to Constable McKenzie for coming to talk to us and help us with our investigations.
Building Site Safety
Today, Mid Calder Primary had an important talk from Stephen from Hadden Construction, the company who are building our new nursery. He showed us the plans for the nursery, described what it will look like, and spoke to us about some of the equipment that will be used to build it. We also learned about the different careers people can have in the construction industry. He also taught us, very importantly, about the potential dangers found on a building site, and how to keep ourselves safe.
Stephen also introduced a whole competition to design a poster about building site safety. Hadden Construction have very kindly donated money to the school for prizes, so we are very excited to take part and to share what we have learned about how to stay safe.
If you want to learn more about building site safety, visit Ivor Goodsite’s website:Â https://www.ivorgoodsite.org.uk/kidszone/
Bike-tastic Skills Fun Afternoon for P2/3
P2/3 had a lot of fun and learned about bike safety on the 20th of March 2017. Ian from Lowport Activity Centre came to lead bike games, talk about his interest in bikes and cycling and check whether our bikes were roadworthy. He told us that we need to check our brakes regularly and that we need to have a well-fitted helmet to keep ourselves safe.
Some of us were skidding and were clearly very skilled already and for others we gained in confidence as we weaved in and out of the bike trails in the playground. There are lots of cycle tracks near Mid Calder so here is hoping we are now ready to cycle beyond the school gates!
STEM P7/6
This week we had our STEM open afternoon and P7/6 enjoyed showing friends and family a few of the experiments that we have been doing in class. All of our experiments have their own unique qualities but they were all chemical reactions. This week we made more slime, more elephant toothpaste (our water was the correct temperature), blobs in a bottle and a fizz inflator. When we made our we mixed together glue and washing detergent, we had to be careful though because if we mixed too much detergent with the glue, the mixture became too gloopy and lumpy and wasn’t the correct consistency for slime, we seem to have now perfected our slime and it really is now taking over P7/6!!!! Blobs in a bottle and the fizz inflator were new experiments, so were excited to find out what the results would be. Blobs in the bottle was a bit like a lamp lamp and The Fizz Inflator was a bit like a balloon pump. With our Blobs in a Bottle experiment we mixed together sunflower oil, and water but they did not mix together and the oil sat on top of the water, we then added some food colouring and this mixed with the water, once we had all the materials in the bottle we added an alka seltzer. The results were amazing…..the alka seltzer fizzed and pushed the water up into the sunflower oil and made blobs, it was really amazing. The Fizz Inflator consisted of bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, a balloon and a bottle. We had to put the vinegar in the bottle and then carefully put some bicarbonate of soda into the balloon. Once we had all the materials in place we had to very carefully try and put the balloon on top of the bottle, this allowed the bicarbonate of soda to fall into the vinegar, the two chemicals worked together to create an acid base reaction and the two chemicals work together to create carbon dioxide and this blew up the balloon, it really was exciting to watch. I think all of the family and friends were impressed by our experiments. Hopefully they might be able to try this at home!!!
I hope you all have a good weekend.
Miss Anderson and P7/6
