The Importance of STEAM

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. It develops innovation, creativity, critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration among many other skills proven to lead to success. Rather than teach the five disciplines as separate and discrete subjects, STEAM integrates them into a cohesive learning paradigm based on real-world applications. Last week, our Prep pupils learnt about the five subjects and were able to put their studies into action. 

In Year 3, the children were challenged to design and build a sail car. The day started with an exciting preview of potential ‘cars of the future’, closely followed by a close analysis of  the basic features of a sail car with a prompt to consider any changes they could make. They investigated the material, shape and size of both the sail and the base, and contemplated the best method of attaching the sail. Should they have 4 wheels or 6? How might they make their car aerodynamic? What forces would be acting on the car? The design of the sail was also discussed: a sail design that was visually appealing and suggested ‘movement’ was required. The cars were constructed and raced using the aid of large fans to provide thrust to move the car forward. Pupils were able to film their sail cars, using their iPads, on a green screen giving them the possibility of editing the background.

The theme was ‘air and rotation’ for our Year 4 pupils which featured hoop gliders, renewable energy and wind turbines. The pupils learnt about renewable energy, examining the benefits and the problems of using wind power. After studying a wind turbine, the children were asked to determine an optimum design that would enable a wind turbine to produce as much energy as possible. Once they had designed their wind turbines, the time to create had come! Once finished, we tested their designs using hairdryers. But, we couldn’t stop the fun there – hoop gliders were next! The pupils made their individual gliders and investigated the changing variables.

With Mr Hill, our Year 4 pupils programmed Sphero BOLT robotic devices to draw shapes. The primary objective was to engage children in a hands-on activity, fostering creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking skills. This specific task involved programming the Sphero BOLT to draw repeating squares with coloured pens. With Mrs Price, the Year 4s explored ‘drawing with light’, using DSLR cameras and light up objects to capture masterpieces. Pupils learnt about mirror reflexes inside cameras which control the amount of light hitting the sensor which records as a still image.

In Year 5, they focused on the effects of climate change, in particular, the effects of flooding. The children considered various properties of materials, such as absorbance and strength, and then designed flood-resistant buildings considering pricing and sustainability. In the afternoon, they built their buildings and tested their waterproof capabilities by simulating a flood using a watering can and condensed space.

Year 6 enjoyed a week of lessons focused on the idea ‘If the World were a Village’. In this, the world’s population is scaled down to a village of a hundred people. In the village, forty four don’t always have enough to eat, eleven live on less than two dollars a day and fourteen cannot read or write. First, the children were tasked with employing their maths skills to present the information graphically then considered various ‘natural disasters’, many of which have increased in frequency as a consequence of climate change. In a hypothetical situation, we asked the children to plan a temporary accomodation set in the Sports Hall for the victims of a severe flood. Using the iPads, the children created scale diagrams of how the Sports Hall might be laid out. Finally, following the Engineering Design Process, and with a focus on stability and strength, the children designed, created and tested temporary model structures.

We have had so much fun teaching our STEAM lessons this year, it is amazing to see so many pupils getting involved in as many activities as possible. We hope our pupils enjoyed their lessons and have taken on board the critical skills each activity set out to teach them.