Everyone in the school is working on our coding and robotics unit. The Prep-Grade 2 students have been pretending to be robots and practising giving instruction to each other to follow. The Grade 3-6 students have been using out Lego Robots. They connect to the robots using their iPads. The Grade 3/4 students use a visual programming langue, while the Grade 5/6 students have a programming language that is very similar to Scratch, using blocks with words on them.
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Grade 1 and 2 have been thinking about the forces acting on different forms of transport. They spent a couple of weeks thinking about the physics of boats and why they float even if they are so heavy. Of course, this meant that we had no choice but to engage in some water play and sort out the issue for ourselves using cups, bowls, pebbles, aluminium foil... A good time was had by all, even if we did have to clean up some puddles when we were done. The G1 and G2 students have been looking at how factors such as weight and size change how far a ball rolls down a ramp. So far they have discovered that most important factor is the weight - heavier balls roll further. Some students decide to come to STEM Club on Monday lunchtimes for some engineering challenges. The most recent challenge was to build the tallest tower. Students worked together using as much newspaper as they wanted but they only had a limited amount of masking tape to work with. Grade 1 and 2 students are currently trying to work out what the best material is to use to make a fork. They are looking at metal forks, reusable melamine plastics ones and disposable wooden ones. They are testing for strength, pointiness, smoothness, eco-friendliness and cost. This week, the Grade 1/2 students started thinking about properties of materials. They had to examine samples of different fabrics, list some properties and give a suggestion for what that particular type of fabric could be used to make. The Grade 1 and 2s have been talking about evaporation. They made puddles outside and traced them using chalk so they knew how big they were when they started. At the end of the session, they checked on their puddles to see how much they had evaporated away. 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. 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. Congratulations to the follow students who have been selected to represent TPPS at the STS in 2021.
2C - Scarlett S, Fraser C, Bryan X, Isabella Y, Jude W, Rex M, Mia I 2D - Megan S, Zain P, Hope G, Chloe A, Nathan K, Gabriel M 2G - Hunter B, Fletcher G, Anmol B, Evie C, Alex G, Mia G 2N - Ellie K, Angus B, Aaliyah E, Ambrose M, Xavier O, Layla S 4E - Gretchen M & Oliver P 4K - Farrah B & Zoe G, Eleanor T & Melody V 4TF - Isabella A, Simi M, Caitlin E & Katara H, Eva T 6A - Matisse F & Scarlett C, Jamie G, Estelle C & Niamh R 6I - Brianna L & Elka V, Sara H & Bani J 6K - Michael C & Ethan K, Daniella S & Kate G |
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February 2022
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