Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths. STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths.

STEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6ORv8e8G9k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tycf-VSTOIc Successful core books for STEM; share ideas and activities to be emailed around. Trips which have linked in and incorporated STEM (Effra). Key questions to stimulate STEM thinking; used as hooks/starters.

Ideas from STEM discussions: Topic of space: Roaring Rockets/Whatever Next/The Man on the Moon. Exploring rockets, making rockets. Milk bottle rockets (Science museum website) and recording/talking about how high they go. Balloon rockets on straws on string; how far will the rocket go? Incorporating distance language, encouraging key questions. Balloon CD hovercraft experiment. Balloon helicopters, sycamore helicopters. Straw rockets. Designing vehicles on the moon, moon landers. Links. NASA website. Structure and strength; if you’ve got chickens/animals making structures to support these and containers to hold the eggs for example. What and how could you design something to carry their eggs? Links to other topics such as dinosaurs, tadpoles. Key books ‘Can you see Sassoon?’ Links to life cycles; why do some animals come from eggs and some do not? Cooking with eggs. Why do some eggs have animals in and others do not? Links to growth and strength/structure of what you are growing. Measuring sunflowers – Jaspers Beanstalk, Jack and the Beanstalk, A Small, Small Seed, Ruth Brown – Seed Book; different animals take a seed. A New House for Mouse. Mobilo towers inspiration by cranes. Measuring, how can you make your crane. Lifting/links to forces and pulleys etc. Imagination Lab in Vauxhall as school visit. Recycling centre trip. Hose spraying silhouettes; small or large scale. Exploring rainbows with water/hose etc. Shadows; drawing over time. Making volcanos and discussing how it explodes; link to potions. Larva lamps (oil, berocca, water and food colouring – one third water and two thirds oil). Cars, trains, transport. Boat making; ‘Who Sank the Boat?’ how can you sink a boat/make it float, why does the shape matter, how many people will your boat hold. ‘I see, I think, I wonder,’ for higher order level thinking. Question of the week. Mini-beast hunting; how many worms can you find etc?

Outdoor learning Time of year – approaching end of EYFS. How can we challenge our Reception aged children, particularly with regards to engaging them in activities in our outside area? Links to natural thinkers. Engaging our chn in independent reading, writing and STEM. What has been successful? Share key ideas and feedback which will be emailed out to everyone.

Ideas from outdoor learning discussions: Natural thinkers/Forest School: Making elderflower cordial, making solar system using the fire as the sun, making volcanoes with bicarb and vinegar, making/cooking food, creating with natural objects and linking to topic – e.g. mythical creature or giant etc. Create a gallery; chn have to talk about its name, where it lives, what it does etc. Transient art. Bringing traditional tales to life. Reception chn: Could record what they have made; taking a photo and printing on a piece of paper for chn to write about. Tally charts/hunts for specific natural things. Measuring and recording footprints. Hide clues and chn to find and piece together. Chn to hunt pictures with words underneath and order to make sentence and then follow instruction. Chn to then write their own clues for each other. Giving tyres/planks/material to move from one point to another without touching the floor. Team building/problem solving. Making obstacle courses and leaving a gap; what could you use to fill the gap. Challenge cards: how long can you balance on one leg etc. Animal walks; how can you walk like a chicken etc. Birdfeeders filled with bird seeds; 1 painted green, 1 painted red, 1 painted yellow. Predict which would be the most popular with birds; ‘Springwatch.’ Looking at half pictures of insects/mini-beasts and trying to work out which it is. How many legs would there be altogether. Drawing large scale dinosaurs and chn to work out how chn many would fit in the dinosaur. Developing role play opportunities; pirates and castles. Designing and making drawbridges, maps. Painting food on pebbles and then adding into the mud kitchen so chn can use as food. Chn can write shopping lists. Waterproof paper which can be printed on and laminated and used outside. Lasts longer than normal paper.