STEM Ideas for Years 5 & 6

Children learn through play and discovery. Providing curious and interesting activities across the curriculum gives students opportunities to share their understanding and build on previous knowledge and skills through communication and collaboration. The future for our students will have technology embedded in every aspect of living! STEM education will assist in preparing students for that future.

This post shares a few ideas which can be used with Year 5 & 6 students across the curriculum.

1. Challenges with Sphero

Girls were introduced to Sphero Bolt, started with remote control and looking at pathways and drawing in the App. Moving onto challenges like Sumo Wrestling, navigating a maze and long jump.

2. Painting with Sphero

Girls thoroughly enjoyed painting with Spheros. Spheros are pretty versatile and tough, thank goodness!

3. Programming Spheros

Girls were introduced to coding with the Sphero Edu App. Programming animations on the LED matrix, sounds, angles and using the gyroscope when throwing the Sphero in the ‘Animal Toss Game’. Girls designed games with a theme and entered challenges in the game as the Sphero was programmed to enjoy the game.

4. Sphero as an engine!

Girls designed and made a craft to be powered by the Sphero and to race in a fun competition to complete a course. So much fun and learning about mass, fiction and design!

5. Investigate and Create with Technology

Students were thoroughly engaged in the process of planning, designing, evaluating, re-designing and creating their 3D creatures. Splat3D’s were used in the design phase, and recycled materials were carved, cut, moulded, painted and pasted to bring their designs to life. The added bonus was getting to enhance their creatures with some form of technology, including MicroBits, LittleBits, and Chibitronics. Read more here.

6. HASS and Green Screening

Developing skills in creating videos and using Do Ink App to create a short video sharing knowledge of facts about South America. Girls teamed up to deliver some interesting facts they discovered during their HASS unit.

7. Game Design with Scratch

Game design was integrated into Religious and Values Education (RVE) using Scratch. Girls studied Women of the Bible and after completing research designed a game; many with levels, maze, quiz, pong, click, scrolling or beat the clock.

8. Makey Makey and RVE

Girls researched different World Religions in RVE. After learning how Makey Makey can make projects interactive and having fun playing banana pianos, playing online games the girls made icons to represent a religion and linked up their 3D model with Makey Makey to deliver their research through programming in Scratch. Read More here.

9. Making a Hologram

Girls enjoyed watching Holograms on the Holaplex Hologram Video Creator App. The girls tied this into delivering their poems from their English unit. After composing their poems the girls videoed each other against a black backdrop of their heads only. Using a black Power Point slide the girls inserted their videos 4 times which then reflected into a square pyramid when placed on top of the screen. So many skills were developed in creating a hologram!

10. SDG’s and Micro:Bit

Engaging students with the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals using the Micro:Bit was successful and fun when games were created. The girls researched to understand the 17 goals and in teams decided which goal or goals they were most interested in to share and create a game for younger students to play. The girls used the Micro:Bit as controllers, dice, timers and monitors of skills. Read more here.

11. Fun in the SandBox

Girls enjoyed playing and creating in our Augmented Sandbox….plenty of fun, discussions and discovering contours and elevations! Linked up nicely to HASS (Geography).