The Preppies have been exploring each of the four disciplines of STEM - Science Technology, Engineering and Maths. To learn about Engineering, the Preps were tasked with making the tallest tower they could using only ten dominoes. As you can imagine, there was lots of falling towers so the Preps practised being resilient and modifying their designs for stability.
0 Comments
Grade 5/6 are looking at how fertiliser works and the impact it has on growing plants. They set up experiments this week to examine this. They refreshed what a fair experiment is and made predictions on the outcome. Some classes are comparing liquid fertiliser with the slow-release kind that is sprinkled on soil, while others are looking into the effect of varying concentrations of liquid fertiliser. This term, Grade 1 and 2 are thinking about how we grow plants for food and what plants need to survive. They planted some radishes this week and we will conduct some experiments on our seedlings in the weeks to come. The Preps learnt about clouds this week. They learnt that they are made from water and talked about why they look different every day. They made different types of clouds out of cotton wool.The Grade 3s and 4s have been taking a very close look at dirt. They brought a sample of dirt from home and examined it under a microscope. They discovered that dirt isn't nearly as uniform as they imagined - there's bits of rock, plants and even living things in dirt!The Grade 3 and 4s have been experimenting with insulation. They tested out how they slow down the movement of heat energy. Some students used insulators to keep hot water hot, others used them keep cold water cold. They tried out bubble wrap, a tea towel, a thermos and a drink cooler/stubby holder.
This week, Grade 5 and 6 experimented with making an electrical circuit. Their task was simply to get a globe to light up. They were provided with wires, globes and batteries but no further guidance was given. It was up to them to show perseverance and problem solving to work out how the pieces needed to be arranged. Eventually, all students worked out what the ‘circuit’ part referred too and managed to light up their globes by arranging them in a closed loop. This week, Grade 1/2s started to 'look' at sound energy. While we can't see the vibrations travelling through the air, we can see things like musical instruments vibrating or feel vibrations from a loud speaker. We had lots of fun using the slo mo function on the iPads to film a rubber band vibrating back and forth after we plucked it like a guitar string. Prep had fun this week thinking about coloured light. They used coloured lenses to see how things look different. We enjoyed looking pretty silly!
This term, the Grade 5s are participating a program called Light Moves. They are working with an industry group called Skunk Control to create an art installation of oversized flowers made from cardboard and plastic optical filters. This structure will use the properties of light to create interesting effects. Students have been learning all about light and how it behaves so they understand how the sculpture works. There is also some interesting maths involved that they are investigating in the classroom. Week 1 showcased many demonstrations involving light energy and in week 2, students started constructing their the leaves for flowers. We are looking forward to seeing the finished product! |
TeacherAlex Augello Archives
February 2022
Categories
All
|