Stem Clubs Activities
Slow Egg Coaster
20th October 2009
The pupils had to design and build a construction which allowed an egg to roll to the ground at the slowest possible rate.
Model Aeroplanes
20th October 2009
Pupils will be making and learning about model aeroplanes from BMFA. We will be making the Dart, Gimminmie and the Pussycat. Throughout this project the pupils will be learning about flight, propolsion and aerodynamics among a number of other skills.
Raising Money Challenge
20th October 2009
Aim: To design and make promotional products that primary schools can sell for a profit.
Day 1 – Monday 6th July 2009 – Research and Design
On the first day we split into groups and did some initial research into logo’s, slogans and images that we could use on a range of products. They were;
Carmount
Grove Junior
Sneed Green
Forest Park
St. Lukes
Our next step was to research a range of products. They included;
Mouse mats – round and square
Mini t-shirts – for the car window
Eco bags
T-shirts
Sports bags
Key fobs
Book markers
Field Research – Nine students from our group walked up to Carmountside Primary on Monday afternoon. We asked some year 5 students what they would like to see on our products. We also gather some useful information.
The school has been awarded bronze Eco School.
The school currently have no PE bags.
Logo’s – We will be sending samples of products along with an order form. Several students researched logo’s and then designed one of their own. These logo’s will go on our letter and order forms.
Day 2- Tuesday 7th July 2009 – Production
We spent all day on Tuesday working on making a wide range of products
Day 3&4 – Wednesday & Thursday 8th-9th July 2009 – Letters, order forms and posting packages
Introduction letters – When the primary schools open of their packages with lots of promotional products they will be wondering what is this about? Our group broke down into groups and came up with several different letters explaining who we were and what the schools could do with the products if they were to put an order in. While some were devising letters others were creating order forms. This included a list of products and prices.
Day 5 – Celebration
The whole school participated in Out and About week. On the fifth and final day we as a group produced a display and 10 minute PowerPoint presentation on what we did though out the week.
Cotton Reel Racers
20th October 2009
A short project designed to develop ideas regarding forces and potential energy.
Ariel Photography Helicopter
19th October 2009
Test and build a remote control aerial-photography platform, based on the Mikrokopter quad rotor design. We now have access to three Mikrokopters all owned by staff involved with the project. The school mikrokopter is ordered and is an Octokpter (8 blades) it will be fitted with the camera, transmitter, satellite navigation, compass hold, wireless telemetary, video GPS overlay, be tracked remotely, allow submersive flight and the camera could slave to the direction of the high definition goggles. True 3D images are possible with the addition of a second camera and transmitter. Thinks are getting exciting….we hope you can see and veiw our first two minute video montage.
Bird Boxes
19th October 2009
Pupils have been building bird boxes for our nature garden. The boxes are nearly complete and just need varnishing. They have different sized holes to allow nesting for different birds.
New Logo for Discovery Club
19th October 2009
Pupils have designed a new logo to go with the new name for our club – ‘DISCOVERY CLUB’.
The only stipulation was that the logo ought somehow represent some or all of the aspects of STEM.
Pupils used Design packages such as Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop to produce their designs which were entered into a competition.
School Nature Garden
19th October 2009
We are in the process of building/ converting an existing school field into a nature garden to benefit all pupils with intention of attracting native wildlife.
Hovercraft
19th October 2009
After completing several smaller projects we decided to try a more ambitious project and build a hovercraft large enough to carry a pupil.
We began by making some small CD/Balloon hovercraft and discussing the principals of how they work. Moving on we purchased a Flymo Leaf Blower but did not think the airflow was sufficient.
Contacting other STEM members for advice we are now going to try a Ryobi 2200 Leaf Blower.
Update: We found that the Ryobi Leaf blower was suitable for this project.
Using loft insulation board for the base and thick polythene for the skirt the pupils built 3 hovercrafts varying the shape of the base. We made them so that the leaf blower could be interchanged from one hovercraft to the next.
They then had races across the school gym with a pupil sat on.
They found that the round hovercraft appeared more stable than theelongated one
Pirates of Penwortham
15th October 2009
A cross discipline project focussing on the theme of Pirates. Learners complete a number of extended projects focussing upon particular aspects of life on the ocean waves.
In this approach we are able to integratae all three STEM disciplines in each project.
Pirate ships
1. Investigate floating and sinking. Take the normal experiment for measuring upthrust and develop it to beginning to model a set mass of plasticine and make it able to hold 10g in mass.
Learners find their best shape through trial and error and ten redesign.
Produce a drawing of their ideas of the best shape for a hull.
2. After a presentation on different boat design learners then begin to make a design for their model. They cut it out of wood and then use it in a vacuum former to cast the hull shape.
3. Once the plastic is formed and smoothed off the edges the learners begin to add a motor and propellors. They need to be carefull to get the motor and battery placed so that it does not capsize the boats.
They use wiring up circuits, soldering and a glue gun to get the motor inside the boat.
4. Testing to see who’s boat moves the best.
Club Badges
15th October 2009
A new school Year and we felt that it was important to get a club identity. The club had adopted the STEAM name as they felt that it was best for them. We tried clever names but they liked STEAM!
The group met together and looked at what made sucessful logos.
They then started to design their own. Each worked on an individual idea. The designs were shared and a common theme appeared to materialise.
The club members voted on the best logo and design and have then got the badges cut out of platsic.
We mounted the design against black card with different coloured plastic. The group voted on the best colour for standing out against the black (our blazer colour) and how the lettering stands out.
The badges have been cut out and mounted. The Pupils now have an officially sanctioned badge which they are allowed to wear on the blazer. Our club leaders also have the badges with a slight change to the lettering.
We believe that it will raise the profile of the club.
Scurvy Pirates
15th October 2009
Learners explore the idea of why British people are called limeys. They research the web about Scurvy, symptoms and treatments.
1. They then investigate the vitamin C content in different fruit juices by adding drops of DC PIP. It turns up some surprising results as to which juice is the best to recommend to the Pirate Chef.
2. Having seen the sucess of Jamie’s school dinners the Pirates kidnap our crusading chef and look at how different cooking methods affect the vitamin C content in green peppers. Again use DC Pip to find the vitamin C content.