Tuesday 12th May
Date: 12th May 2020 @ 11:05am
Terrific Tuesday has arrived my tremendous tinkerers!
Yesterday, I set you your very first STEM challenge (remember, STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and maths). Your challenge was to create the longest straw you could, whilst still being able to drink from it. I really hope you enjoyed trying out this challenge and you managed to achieve it successfully. Here are a few photographs that I have received of your challenge. I must say, I am blown away by those of you who have been in touch to tell me about how you found the challenge. You did a great job and I was very impressed!
I am really impressed by those straws, guys! Well done- you've absolutely smashed that challenge! If anyone else has photographs of their straws, please email them to me at our school email address so I can post them on the blog.
Now for today's challenge. I think you'll enjoy this one. In our last topic, 'Disasters', we learned about earthquakes. Today, I would like you to design your very own earthquake-proof building!
You can use whatever resources you would like to build your structure (LEGO, straws, spaghetti and marshmallows, lolly sticks, empty milk bottles, cans, etc). Then, I would like you to test out your structure by stacking up some items inside it and gently shaking the structure to see what happens (the weblink I am going to attach to the blog suggests you do this with jelly, but you really don't have to! You can choose anything you want- stack up some wooden blocks, sweets, etc). You could even challenge yourself by timing how long you can shake your structure for - just lightly - before the inside of the building (which represents the people and the internal structures) start to wobble and fall.
For an overview of the challenge, you can have a look at this website for guidance. https://www.stem.org.uk/system/files/elibrary-resources/2018/11/FINAL%20-%20STEM%20Clubs%20Resource%20Packs%20-%20Extreme%20Elements.pdf
(page 18)
This is a great challenge because it gives you the opportunity to be creative and use your imagination. Your building can look however you want it to look. If you have a good memory, you might remember a lesson we did in geography, where we looked at buildings which could withstand earthquakes. See if you can apply the principle to your structure.
If you fly through the challenge and want more work to do, don't forget there are always lots of options:
1. White Rose Maths Parties every day
2. BBC Bitesize lessons every day
3. Click CEOP resources / workpacks once a fortnight
4. Purple Mash games / Serial Mash / 2dos
5. Education City tasks
6. Daily reading (30 minutes at least)
7. Daily exercise (Joe Wicks, SuperMovers, Oti Mabuse, etc)
Good luck with your building challenge. I can't wait to see some of your structures. PLEASE email them to school- I am really missing seeing what some of you are getting up to. Receiving emails from your parents with photographs of your hard work really does brighten up my day.
Stay safe, keep smiling and I will speak to you all tomorrow.
Have a great day!
Mrs Naylor 
