National Science Week: Game Changers & Change Makers

Wow, what a massive week Science Week turned out to be! This year was the first time our school has hosted a community after school STEAM Fair and it was sensational to have so many people come along to learn and play.  This event celebrated "Game Changers and Change Makers" and showcased some of the wonderful STEM/STEAM projects our students have been working on. 

We were lucky enough to receive generous funding through the Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA) school grants for Science week; without this support we would not have been able to have as many interactive activities for our families to get involved in.

The day started early with some student representatitives invited to talk on live radio about what Science Week means to them. The students handled the pressure of live interviewing well and I was so proud of them. For part of the interview they were asked what they liked the most about Science:

"I like the hands-on part of learning, getting to put things together to make something, building, creating ... We started making a game for younger kids. We've animated a fridge and it's got to run around and collect the good food and not collect the bad food." - William

"I love Science because you get to do things that you normally wouldn't get to do if you were just at home, and you get to do things that are different and really fun. You get to do hands-on learning and it's not just sitting back to watch, you get to play with it as well." - Edie

"I love STEM and STEAM because you get to do hands on stuff instead of just normal school, you get to make stuff." - Georginia

"I really love Science because you get to step out of your comfort zone and you get to help the world with the real life issues, and as everyone has said the hands-on learning is really the best part." - Bella

It's not every day a Makey-Makey appears on live radio!

After school we had our STEAM Fair, which was open to the wider school community with the aim of promoting the value of hands-on learning activities and inquiry-based learning. It was amazing to have so many families (and people from the broader community) come along to get a first-hand glimpse at the technology and activities that our students are engaging with in their classrooms.

This term we have had the opportunity to borrow Spheros from CSER Digital Technologies Lending Library, and they were certainly a hit at the fair! Here are a few snaps of some Sphero soccer fun:

We also had plenty of buzzing around the Bee Bots we had borrowed from Launceston NGN STEAM Room, and our Ozobot towns and tracks. Some students had created straw mazes and simple arcade games out of recyled materials, which people enjoyed testing:

 

Year 3s used their visual art skills to share "Inventions that were Game Changers and Change Makers":

There were Makey-Makey arcade games to play, and we also had a few interesting game controllers to test out! Rain clouds in a jar was one of the simple science experiments we had set up to explore:

Here's a slide with other simple STEAM activities we had set up for people to enjoy:


By the end of the day I'd clocked up a fair few steps on my fitbit ... I wonder if I can beat it next year!

For more Science Week fun see National Science Week - Part 2

STEM+X Futurists' Fair

This week our Year 5/6 students had the opportunity to present some of their big ideas to a panel of judges for the STEM+X Futurists' Fair. It was so wonderful for them to have an authentic audience; what a positive message for them that their voices matter and that there are people willing to listen to and believe in their ideas. I hope that it will be an experience that stays with them throughout life. 

Each group has been working on different STEM solutions for how they would help to improve Australia's future. This is one of the group's ideas:

"We love STEM because we get to do hands-on learning and solve real problems. We get to do the thinking for ourselves and learn about things we are interested in and passionate about."

"We learn about things that might help us in the future. We learn skills that will help us no matter what type of job we want, like working together and thinking critically."

"Thank you ABCN and NBN Co. This program has helped us to realise that we can use STEM to help our world to be a better place. We have learnt that we CAN make a difference in our own lives and the lives of others. We have learnt how to work together and how to compromise when we all had different ideas. We have learnt to be curious and to ask the big questions."

"We have become better problem-solvers and it has helped us to have more resilience when things don’t go the way we originally planned. We have learnt that mistakes are all part of the design process. We have learnt that our ideas are awesome!"

Computational Thinking

What is computational thinking? I just created a brief presentation for teacher PD to explain some of the key concepts of computational thinking. I think the simplest explanation is that computational thinking = solving problems logically!

Powtoon is a great online tool to use to create short videos. My presentation is embedded below, but it may take a moment to load. The other resource that I used in this presentation was Bebras 365. I included two of their past questions as examples of problems that require computational thinking.


 

International Dot Day

Happy International Dot Day! International Dot Day is inspired by Peter H. Reynold's book The Dot, which is a story of a girl who begins a journey of self-discovery after she is challenged to "make her mark." After we read the book, my students had a great time creating their own marks with QuiverVision's augmented reality.

Moonhack 2017

I signed my students up for Moonhack, which is Code Club's free World Record setting event for kids aged 7-18 around the world. "On August 15th kids all over the globe, in many languages and from all time zones will be Moonhacking. You can try one of our Moonhack projects or submit your own coding project with a moon theme."

My students love to code and there are so many different ways you can cater to their varying levels of confidence with coding.  Some of them followed step-by-step visual instructions to help get them started, others created their entire project from scratch. Some worked collaboratively in pairs and others completed individual projects. We can't wait for next year's Moonhack! #getkidscoding

 

Borrowed Bee Bots!

Our school currently has very limited access to digital technology. We are lucky enough to have smartboards or tv screens in most classrooms, and laptops are stored in a central place for classes to share. Most classrooms have one or two iPads to share within the class, but we don't own any of our own robotics. So I was pretty excited when I found out that there is a local Technology in Schools program where you can borrow equipment!

Since our students have had very little exposure to programming, I decided to start with something very simple.  Bee Bots seemed like an obvious choice because they're something that can be easily differentiated for all early-childhood and primary levels.

Students in Years 4-5 explored the concept of sequencing steps and decisions using the Bee Bots. They worked in groups to solve progressively more complex routes, and programmed the Bee Bots to navigate through mazes that other students created with physical objects. They had to plan the path for the Bee Bot using paper grids or mini whiteboards and then test, evaluate and improve the path of the Bee Bot to ensure it avoided the obstacles. Lots of fun and plenty of learning took place!

     

Butterflies

Bringing the real-world into the classroom: What could be a better way to spark interest and learn more about life cycles than to observe a chrysalis transform into a beautiful monarch butterfly?