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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The Grade 5 and 6 students have spent the last few weeks thinking about the forces acting on a falling object and what can be done to mitigate them. Their task was to create some sort of safety capsule to protect their group's tomato from a 4 metre drop onto concrete. They were only allowed to use materials that would otherwise be going into a landfill or mixed recycling bin. There were a variety of designs, some bigger than others. There was a 30x30x30cm size restriction in place and a limit of one parachute if they chose to use one. All students did a fantastic drop with 25 out of 25 tomatoes surviving the fall. A few of the tomatoes did experience some trauma, as evidenced by their slightly split skin but overall a fantastic job! (And the slow-cooked bolognese sauce that Miss Augello made that weekend was just heaven!) 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. After learning about the properties of water early in the term, and then comparing fresh water with salty water later in the term, Grade 5/6 were presented with a hypothetical: Imagine you have been in a terrible plane crash and are now stranded on a small tropical island. How could you separate the salt out of the ocean water so that you won't die of thirst before the rescue plane arrives? You may only use items that would be found on your little beach or in the wreckage of the plane. The student quickly worked out that the best way would be to use heat to force the water to evaporate, leaving the salt behind. They showed some excellent problem solving skills and critical thinking to find ways to trap the steam and collect the fresh water as the steam condensed back into liquid water. 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. 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 The Grade 5s and 6s are looking at light this term. They have been using lenses, mirrors and light boxes to examine how light interacts with the real world. We have been talking about how light can be reflected, refracted or absorbed. The Grade 2s, 4s and 6s have all been working very hard on their investigations and projects. |
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February 2022
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