Thursday 25 August 2016

Guests in the Classroom

We started our day with a visit from Mr Bailey's Year 10 Science class. They have been developing lessons to teach how electricity works. They practised their lessons with 6T last week and were given feedback on how effective the lessons were. Year 10 went away and refined their lessons based on the feedback. Today they came to try out their revised lessons. Teaching someone else is a powerful way to learn something for yourself. It's also powerful to foster connections between learners of different ages.





One of the groups had a role play activity to demonstrate how electricity moves through a circuit. Students lined up in a square and collected "power" from a "battery". Students then walked around the circuit and gave their "power" to the light globe.  



This afternoon we had a visit from Mr Kyte, a parent who runs his own public speaking training business. He came to talk to students about how to structure a speech. We brainstormed ideas for convincing Mr Coote to allow a McDonalds to be built in the playground. We had some robust discussions about this topic, including some strong dissent!






Tuesday 16 August 2016

MAAS Powerhouse Excursion - Science week

As part of our 'Let's Build It' unit of work for Science, Stage 3 had the opportunity to attend the MAAS Powerhouse Musuem. We were able to explore the amazing exhibits focusing on architecture, design, sustainability and engineering. As part of the day we were involved in the Young Creators Conference where we were able to share and learn about thinking like an engineer. 

In addition to this as part of National Science Week, a group was able to share in presenting a design challenge inspired by the "Three Little Pigs, an Architects Tale".
In The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale, the story follows the traditional tale of three pigs building three different houses – the first pig, Frank Gehry, builds a house of scraps looking strikingly like the Gehry House.  The second pig, Phillip Johnson, opts to build a house of glass, reminiscent of The Glass House built by Johnson just down in New Canaan, Connecticut. The third pig, Frank Lloyd Wright, builds a house of stone and concrete, aka Fallingwater.

The were set with the design brief to design a home for one of the three pigs that's both environmentally sustainable and wolf proof. The results were impressive!




Wednesday 10 August 2016

Moon Rover Design Challenge

Today students were challenged to make a moon rover vehicle using a range of materials. Instructions were provided as a guideline. Students had access to cardboard, bamboo skewers, pipe cleaners, elastic bands and life savers! Groups were formed and the designs began to take shape. Some followed the instructions and some tried their own ideas. After cleaning up we went outside and tested the designs. Some vehicles moved further than others but everyone was able to share something about what they'd learned through the process. Thanks Mr Host for organising it!!