Stem Clubs Activities
Jewellery
08th November 2010
Pupils will study various types and styles of body adornment to gain inspiration.
They will then use this knowledge to design and make various pieces of jewellery.
As a group various manufacturing processess will be used (ie casting, CAD/CAM, injection moulding etc etc
Playing with FIre!!!
03rd November 2010
I showed members of my STEM club me burning a £10 note. Then I let them write messages with fire!
Below is the video of Miss Black burning the £10 note. Sorry that it’s the wrong way round but my phone rotates my videos for some wierd reason.
Scalextric4schools
03rd November 2010
Students are creating car bodies and chassis’ to race on a national set track. They use Pro-desktop 2000i to model the car and then mill it out on a Boxford A3 router. the chassis is made using the same machine and then standard components are used to make the car complete.
At the moment we are finishing the track and scenery and we are just about to start making a start light.
Pumpkin carving...Happy Halloween :)
28th October 2010
This week for the final club before half term the learners started by completing their spider toys from the previous week…
The learners then worked in teams to design, create and accurately carve a halloween pumpkin design whilst listening to ‘spooky’ music…
The learners then turned their pumpkin light green by adding copper sulphate to their flame….
Incy Wincy Spider
28th October 2010
This week the learners in STEM club made Incy Wincy toys.
They used their engineering and technology skills to cut and drill wood safely and accurately, and their creativity to design an imaginative and well presented spider!
All learners worked independently on their spider, with help from the Y10’s when needed. A special mention goes to two year 7 learners Laura Mercer and Emily Basforth who used the hacksaws, drills and files for the first time with brilliant success!
The learners toys were successfully started, and next week the last finishing touches will be added and they can be taken home for half term…
- A super display is now up in the LRC advertising zoom club…go and have a look!! Thanks to Kirsty Blower and Mollie Cummins for their brilliant display work :) **
First month!
22nd October 2010
Its been an exciting first month for our science club….
Week 1 Team building and exciting demos.
Week 2 Shear thickening fluid using cornflour.
Week3 Properties of gases and testing for them. We did the pop test for Hydrogen then exploded a balloon filled with it. We also demonstrated that carbon dioxide extinguishes flames.
Week 4 Fruit batteries. We first established what a battery or more correctly what cell is then used lemons, oranges and potatoes to see how much voltage we would get using strips of copper, zinc, magnesium and iron.
The students established that copper and magnesium were best in a lemon and that it is because of differences in the reactivities of the two metals. 5 lemons connected in series also power a calculator!!
STEM Deep Learning Day
21st October 2010
On Friday 16th July 2010, during Science Festival Week, I held a whole school event – STEM Deep Learning Day. Our students worked together in vertical groups (year 7 to 10) of mixed ability, to complete a range of activities involving science, technology, engineering and maths, in relation to theme park design.
I planned a series of activities for students, including designing and preparing marketing materials for a new ride, developing knowledge and understanding of the engineering involved in ride design, model building using K’Nex, an engineering workshop, and many more!
I had the support of a handful of STEM Ambassadors, as well as professionals for advice and guidance throughout the day for marketing, and it a member of staff from the Royal Academy of Engineering.
This really is was a big event, involving over 700 students and 60 staff… I am pleased to say that it was a real success. There was a great ‘buzz’ in school, and students have commented on how interesting and fun the day was.
Look out for photographs and resources!
Garden Project
19th October 2010
Since the beginning of the new term, we have found that the site can be used for a further 18 months.
With the generousity of the construction company ( KIER ) the site was stripped back to basics and hard landscaping has been laid for the planned outdoor classroom.
A competition has been generated in the relaunch of the gardening project.
This has been opened up to all year groups, as a task to design a 2m x 3m garden, with links to Wild life friendly, Eco friendly and World wide interest, with the aim of creating the winners garden design as part of the overall project.
Further projects to be announced as the club GROWS ! !
2012 Olympic games medals
18th October 2010
A project in conjunction with the PE Dept.
Design and make medals (linked to London 2012) that could be awarded to athletes in school.
The medals should be designed on CAD (2D Design) and manufactured on a CNC machine.
Munch Bunch Re-launch
18th October 2010
After a recent change in staff members it was agreed to re-launch the project in order to encourage more pupils and refocus the group for September 2010.
The group have recently attended the Hampton Court RHS Flower shower in London in order to gain ideas and inspiration of what projects and ideas can be incorporated into the garden.
We are now going through a design and planning process with the remaining pupils in which to move the group forward, with an eco friendly focus. The remaining pupils are both eager and motivated to work as mentors with new and upcoming members to the project.
Within the future plans there is a view to incorporate all areas of the school by creating an outdoor classroom sharing an awareness of the project whilst incorporating the area into the subjects. Other ideas include wildlife preservation due to rare newts on site and encouraging more insects and animals into the site, reclaimed solar panel work and more.
The Big Bang at Duxford
14th October 2010
In July we attended the Big Bang at Duxford. Our lower school science society had spend several weeks working with our sixth form on a fireworks project. They took a display and gave a talk at the Big Bang Fair.
On the day we travelled from Southend early to make sure that we had a full day the the Fair. We then set up our display and looked around. Students were able to discuss their projects with other students and teachers. The sixth form collected ideas for activities and projects that they could use with the lower school when we returned.
When the judging started our students being boys were very competitive and waited patiently for the outcome. Unfortunately we did not win any prizes but all had an excellent day and came back e nthused ready to start projects for next years Fair.
Mousetrap cars
14th October 2010
Our Lower school science club took the opportunity to work with the D&T department and make mouse trap powered cars.
Students worked in groups of 4/5 with a sixth former to supervise/make helpful suggestions. Students mounted a mouse trap onto a plastic board then mounted this onto wooden wheels and a body. String was wound around the axel and attached to the trap. The trap was then set, when it was released it pulled the axel string and propelled the car forwards. Students investigated ways of making it go further, faster etc. Mars bars were supplied for the winners.
A fnatastic little project to forge links with the D&T department.
