In STEM this term, the Grade Prep/1 children will learn about the steps of the design thinking process. They will explore the properties of materials and decide whether these materials could be used to create a strong structure. After investigating the needs of wombats, they will work in groups to design and create a prototype of a shelter for a visiting wombat. The drawn prototype will combine images and labelling. The prototype model will be a 3D structure using materials of their choice. The children will work in groups to complete all tasks and focus on working cooperatively as a team and sharing ideas. 

In STEM this term, the Grade 1/2 children will be exploring the design thinking process and using it to investigate the strength and behaviour of materials. They will use this knowledge to build a variety of structures, including some of their own designs and others that follow a set of instructions. Children will communicate their design ideas using modelling and simple drawings. They will aim to label their designs and provide reasons why their designs will be successful or unsuccessful. While working through the design thinking process, they will develop skills that are essential to STEM - group work, inclusion, having a go, sharing and developing ideas and learning from mistakes. 

In STEM this term, the Grade 3/4 children will use the design thinking process to empathise, define, ideate, prototype and test when presented with a design brief. They will develop design ideas that will be drawn, labelled, modelled and presented to an audience for feedback. While working through the process, they will focus on essential STEM skills such as group work, inclusion, having a go, sharing and developing ideas and learning from mistakes. The children will also explore conductivity using simple circuits and use Makey Makey invention kits to create and test their own circuits. 

In STEM this term, the children in Grade 5/6 will revisit the design thinking process. While putting the design thinking process into practice, they will further develop essential STEM skills such as group work, inclusion, ideation (the formation and development of ideas and concepts) and the importance of trial and error, so that failures have the opportunity to turn into successes. They will practice all of these skills by responding to a brief set by Zoos Victoria challenging them to create enrichment opportunities for selected zoo inhabitants. The children will need to consider sustainability factors as well as select and use appropriate technologies, materials and techniques correctly and safely.

Grade 5/6 - Video submissions to the zoo 

Submissions to the zoo are complete and ready to send off! 

Click on the links to have a look... 

Grade 3/4 - More circuits with the Makey Makeys

Building on the simple circuit knowledge we had gained previously, we did some more experimenting with the Makey Makeys. They are so much fun and we will revisit them throughout the rest of the year (even when we move on to Performing Arts). 

Grade 5/6 - Preparing to Test 

The 5/6 students used their week 10 session to prepare their submissions to send to the zoo. All of their work is going to be sent in digital form to the Zoos across Victoria for some feedback. Linked here is a slideshow of the prototypes that they created across the last few weeks. Next week, when their submissions are complete, you will be able to take a look at the videos that they will be sending off as well. In these, they will explain what they have created, who it is for and why it will be of benefit. 

Grade 1/2 - Reflecting

Along with a fun building design that they created in pairs, the 1/2 children spent week 10 refecting on their semester in STEM. We had a lot of fun remembering what we did and what we learnt and they had the chance to put some of these things down on their reflection sheet. This helps me to work out what they liked most and the concepts that stayed the strongest in their minds. There is also a section on every reflection form that we do that asks what they wish they could have done. This helps me to get an idea of where their interests are and guides what we might be able to do moving forward. 

Grade 3/4 - Mini Golf: Choosing our favourites 

With all of our mini golf holes created, the only thing left to do was vote for our most popular designs in the hope that one day we might turn our favourite prototype into a reality. The slides linked here contain the top 3, as voted by all of the grade 3/4 children and pictures of all of the other amazing designs too!

Grade 3/4 - Working with circuits 

This week, we also had a look at how circuits work and we made our own using foil, a battery and an LED. First, the children had to think about how a torch might work by imagining that they sliced it down the middle - What would be inside it? How would the things inside it work? After having a look at the inside of a torch, and discussing the differences between a momentary maintained switch, they made circuits in pairs. Although we followed instructions to complete the task, it was also a great opportunity to do some problem solving as many of the circuits didn't work at first and needed some attention or tweaking!  

Grade 3/4 - Mini Golf: Present and Test

After a few incredible sessions of building their prototypes, the 3/4s had some time to add some finishing touches and test our their mini golf courses before they presented them to their class mates. When they shared them, they had to introduce their theme as well as explain how the mini golf course is intended to be used and the different paths the ball to take to make it into the hole. 

The designs were so individual and unique that every single presentation was exciting and earned great feedback from the rest of the class. 

Grade 3/4 - Mini Golf: Construction of Prototypes

Building was in full swing this week as the 3/4s used their collected materials to build their prototype models. 

We are super excited that, even though the models won't be full size, we might be able to test them out with our mini golf putters and some smaller balls. 

The 3/4s are loving the creativity, teamwork and seeing their designs come to life. 

In Grades Prep-2 for Term 1

STEM has a focus on problem solving through the scientific method. The children will participate in guided investigations and experiments to explore and answer questions. They will hypothesise the outcomes of experiments and safely use the 5 senses to observe the results. They will work in small groups to practise teamwork and communication skills and reflect on how we can give and receive different types of feedback. 

In Grades 3-4 for Term 1

STEM will explore the scientific method. Through hands on experiences, the children will work collaboratively to solve problems, make observations and draw conclusions. While working collaboratively in groups, they will focus on taking turns and negotiating responsibilities with each other. 

In Grades 5-6 for Term 1 

STEM will explore the ways that science experiments respond to questions that we have about our world. They will conduct investigations that have observable causes and effects and compare their observations to their hypothesis. While working in groups, the children will further develop their ability to compromise and cooperate. 

In P-2 we did a pepper and soap experiment and a milk based experiment. These were both great ways to show SURFACE TENSION in action. When you add a drop of food colouring to the milk, you'll see the colour spread out and create a cool pattern. This happens because the food colouring is less dense than the milk, so it floats on top. But the surface tension of the milk is what keeps the food colouring from sinking to the bottom. Instead, it spreads out in a circular pattern because of the way the surface tension is pulling it.  The same thing happens to the pepper. 

The EGG SMACK experiment explored inertia. Inertia tells us that an object at rest will remain at rest, or an object in motion will remain in motion, unless an outside force starts or stops the object. In this experiment, since the egg is not moving while it sits on top of the tube, that’s what it wants to do - not move. When force is applied to the plate, it zips out from under the cardboard tube and pulls it along, knocking the support out from under the egg. For a brief nanosecond or two, the egg didn’t move because it was already stationary. But then, the force of gravity took over and pulled the egg straight down toward the centre of the Earth. 

The SCREAMING BALLOON experiment was so very simple, but a lot of fun. All you need is a balloon and a hex nut. You place the hex nut in the balloon, blow it up and then tie it up. Then you hold the balooon in your hand like a bowling ball spin it around and wait to see what happens. 

What happens to the hex nut in the balloon when you spin the balloon around? 

The hex nut may bounce around at first, but it soon begins to roll around the inside of the balloon.

It is the round shape of the balloon that causes the hex nut to move in a circular path. The force at work here is ‘centripetal force’. It is a force placed on a body that makes it follow a curved path.

What about the screaming sound? 

The hex nut has six sides with flat edges, which cause the hex nut to bounce or vibrate inside the balloon. The screaming sound you hear is caused by the sides of the nut vibrating against the inside wall of the balloon.

This week we had a look at the way we can replicate a natural event in the form of an experiment. 

First we created the CLOUD IN A JAR. The water represented air, the shaving cream represented a cloud and the food colouring acted as the rain that got heavy in the cloud and finally rained down under it. 

Later, we used some INSTANT SNOW to look at the way that water can be absorbed into materials and the effect that it can have.  We explored the feel of the instant snow before we added the water, and then observed the changes to it after it had absorbed the water. 

GUMMY BEAR OSMOSIS involves testing the effect of putting gummy bears in different types of liquids for 24 hours. 

After the 24 hours, they children had the opportunity to see, touch and smell them to see what impact the water, salt water, vinegar, oil, lemonade, bicarb water, and sugar water had on the gummy bears. 

In grade 5/6 we explored buoyancy in a fun and delicious way with THE GREAT COOKIE DUNK. We had 4 cups of milk and 4 different kinds of cookies - Oreos, Fortune Cookies, Wafer Biscuits and Choc Chip Cookies. First, we observed the properties of the cookies, then make predictions about whether they would float and sink. We conducted the experiment by putting the cookies into the cups and seeing if they would sink or float. After this, we made some conclusions and then we ate!!

Did you know that you can GROW YOUR OWN RAINBOW? Well that's what our grade ones had some fun with. They used a scientific process called the capillary action. This happens when a liquid moves up into a spongy, solid material like a paper towel. Three forces work together in this experiment: cohesion, adhesion and surface tension - and it looks beautiful too!

The grade 3/4s conducted the MENTOS AND COLA GEYSER experiment. We used 3 different drinks (Diet Coke, Pepsi Max and Soda Water) to compare the heights of the geysers. The test was fair because, although the drinks were different, we put the same number of mentos in the bottles. This means that the different drinks were the variables.  

There are two reasons Mentos work so well for this experiment. Each mint has thousands of tiny pits all over its surface. These tiny pits act as nucleation sites, which are perfect for carbon dioxide bubbles. As soon as the Mentos hit the soda, bubbles cling to the surfaces of the candies and then quickly rise to the surface of the liquid. Because Mentos are heavy and sink to the bottom of the bottle, the gas released by the Mentos pushes the soda up and out of the bottle in an incredible and amazing blast.

The grade 1/2s, filled BALLOONS WITH POP ROCKS. They carefully placed the balloon on a bottle of soda water, making sure that the whole top was covered. Then, they held the balloon up so that the pop rocks fell into the bottle and watched what would happen.  

Each group used a different number of pop rock packets and compared the results. They observed by looking at what happened as well as listening to the changes within the bottle and the balloon.

Here is the science: 

The liquid in the soda water dissolved the pop rocks, releasing the carbon dioxide. This caused increased formation of carbon dioxide bubbles in the soda water. Carbon dioxide is less dense than the soda water, so the bubbles rise, inflating the balloon attached to the bottle.

In week 1 we began our focus on SCIENCE across all classes.  

We started with a recap  and brainstorm about what science is. 

Discovering new things - Abel 

Using your brain - Ayla 

Experimenting - Sheneli 

Mixing things together - Gracia 

Learning about space - Paul 

Fun and learning at the same time - Claire 

You need to think about safety first - Raven 

Exploding stuff - Tia 

Making observations by drawing and writing - Kruna 

We had a look at some of the important discoveries made by science, some common scenarios where we might use science and revisited the scientific process in 6 simplified steps. 

Then we jumped into a quick experiment. 

There was some CRYSTAL GROWING using water, food colouring and epsom salts. This experiment also required the skills of turn taking and cooperation as well as some very careful pouring.